Traditional cultural heritage of IPs must be protected at all cost – Legarda

Former 3-term Senator and Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda filed House Resolution 1549 following news reports on counterfeit garments coming from abroad that have appropriated weaves from the Cordillera.

“This influx of counterfeit goods poses a risk to rural livelihoods of indigenous cultural communities in terms of market competition and is also to the detriment of sustaining their culture and creative productivity. We must look into the protection of their traditional intellectual property,” Legarda stated.

The resolution also suggested the need to create a comprehensive cultural archive of cultural properties of the different ethno-linguistic groups of the country, to record, classify, organize and protect them.

“There is a need to revisit our laws on the protection of traditional property rights of all our indigenous peoples, wherever located,” Legarda added.

Legarda also filed HB 7811 or An Act Safeguarding the Traditional Property Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which aims to create a comprehensive cultural archive and mandates the payment of royalties for the use of the cultural property of the IPs.

“Explicit systems, procedures, legal protections and remedies should be made available and easily accessible to our indigenous peoples and communities who are threatened by such imports,” Legarda concluded.**