PROTOCOL P-23 | Inclusion & Safe Expression

Free, Prior & Informed Consent (FPIC) Protocol

TRIGGER When the project area overlaps with ancestral domain, indigenous cultural communities, or any area where FPIC requirements apply under Philippine law (IPRA) or international standards.

STEPS

1. Confirm whether FPIC applies

   Confirm whether the project area overlaps with or is adjacent to ancestral domain or areas with indigenous cultural community populations. Coordinate with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to confirm applicability and identify the relevant IP community and their recognized representatives.

2. Identify the appropriate IP community representatives

   Work with the NCIP to identify the recognized IP leaders and decision-making structures. Do not assume that barangay officials speak for the IP community. Understand the community's own governance structures and how decisions are made collectively.

3. Conduct a community-led information phase

   Before any consent is sought, the community must have full access to information about the project in a form they can understand. This phase is community-paced. It cannot be rushed by project timelines. Provide: project description in local language; maps showing project footprint in relation to ancestral domain; environmental and social impact information; rights information (what the community is entitled to, what they can consent to or withhold consent from).

4. Allow adequate time for community deliberation

   FPIC deliberation must follow the community's own process and timeline. Do not set external deadlines for the consent decision. The community decides when they are ready to give or withhold consent.

5. Use the Consent Quality Assessment

   Apply T-19 throughout the FPIC process. Regularly assess whether participation is genuine or coerced. Be alert to resignation language, conditional acceptance, or consent given in the presence of inducements.

6. Document consent formally

   If consent is given, document: what was consented to, the conditions attached, the representatives who gave consent, the process that was followed, and the date. FPIC is consent to a specific project with specific conditions. Not blanket consent to all future activities.

7. If consent is withheld, respect it

   FPIC includes the right to withhold consent. If a community withholds consent, document this formally and inform the project team. The project cannot proceed in the affected area without consent. Explore whether modifications to the project design could address the community's concerns.

PURPOSE

To provide a structured process for obtaining genuine Free, Prior, and Informed Consent from indigenous peoples and cultural communities, ensuring that consent is free (without coercion or inducement), prior (before project decisions are finalized), informed (based on full and accessible information), and documented in a form that reflects genuine community agreement rather than procedural compliance.

Roles and Responsibilities

Primary:

Actor: ComRel Officer / PCO
Responsibility: Coordinates the FPIC process in partnership with the IP community and NCIP; documents all phases.

Oversight:

Actor: NCIP
Responsibility: Provides regulatory guidance; certifies the FPIC process; issues Certification Precondition if consent is given.

Decision-Maker:

Actor: IP Community Representatives
Responsibility: Leads the deliberation process; expresses consent or non-consent on behalf of the community; sets the pace of the process.

Supporting:

Actor: CSO / Legal Aid
Responsibility: Supports the IP community in understanding their rights and the project information; ensures the community has independent access to information.

Field Notes and Adaptation Guidance

• Field Note — FPIC is a process, not a document

  An FPIC Certificate is the output of a genuine process. It is not a document to be obtained, it is the formal record of a process that, if conducted correctly, results in community ownership of the consent decision. Projects that approach FPIC as a regulatory hurdle to clear rather than a genuine engagement process often obtain the certificate but not the social license, with predictable consequences.

• Field Note — Inducement and genuine consent cannot coexist

  Livelihood assistance, employment, and CSR activities provided during the FPIC period create conditions in which communities cannot give genuinely free consent. This is not a hypothetical concern, at multiple sites across the Philippines, community members have described expressing support for projects they had reservations about because they feared that opposition would cost them employment or assistance. Separate benefit delivery timelines from FPIC timelines wherever possible.

• Adaptation Guidance

  For projects near but not within declared ancestral domain areas, apply the spirit of FPIC even where it is not legally required. Communities with indigenous cultural heritage may have customary resource rights that are not formally documented. Early application of FPIC principles (genuine information, adequate time, genuine choice) prevents the escalation patterns associated with projects that rely only on formal legal requirements.

Required Output / Documentation

• NCIP Certification Precondition (if consent is given)

• FPIC documentation: process record, information provided, deliberation period, consent decision with conditions

• Ongoing monitoring plan for FPIC conditions throughout project life