Republic of the Philippines

Province of Palawan

OFFICE OF THE MASICAMPO

Masicampo Ruben C. Joya is the 18th Masicampo of Palawan and currently on his 10th year of incumbency. Considered as the
highest jural and political leader to the cultural communities of the Province, his ancestry was traced by Dr. Robert
Bradford Fox while working with the National Museum during his research in Palawan. His title and position was not only
anthropologically established but he and his people continue to strive towards cultural preservation and protection. With
the support of the cultural communities of the province, Masicampo Joya strives to continuously strengthen Palawans
cultural heritage.

November 06, 2017

LISA GRACE S. BERSALES, Ph.D.

National Statistician and Civil Registrar General
17th Flr. CyberPod Centris Eton Three EDSA, Quezon City

Thru:

Atty. LOURDINES C. DELA CRUZ

Director III
4/F PSA-TAM Bldg.,
East Avenue
Quezon City, 1101

Subject: Refusal of Municipal Civil Registrars to accept registration of marriages solemnized between an IP
and a non-IP

Dear Sir/Madam,

Greetings!

This is in line with my dillema regarding non-registration of some marriages celebrated between
an Indigenous People member with a non-member as solemnized in accordance with our customary
practices. The question that must be answered is whether or not such marriage may not be registered.

In this connection, may I humbly submit some basis to clarify this issue. Firstly, the provision
under Section 9 of the IRR on RA 8371 states:

Section 8. Recognition of Customary Laws and Practices Governing Civil Relations. Marriage
as an inviolable social institution shall be protected. Marriages performed in accordance with customary
laws, rites, traditions and practices shall be recognized as valid. As proof of marriage, the
testimony of authorized community elders or authorities of traditional socio-political
structures shall be recognized as evidence of marriage for purposes of registration.
Section 8 simply provides protection for marriage solemnized in accordance with customary laws.
However, the bone of contention by the civil registrars in Palawan concerns non-affiliation with the
cultural communities of one of the contracting parties during the marriage.

Secondly, as a cultural basis, Dr. Robert Fox of the National Museum described:

xxxThe basic kinship and economic unit of Tagbanuwa society is the two generational elementary family, the
mother, father and the unmarried children. This is also the charactectic household unit. Kinship is reckoned
with both the maternal and paternal kin, yielding a bilateral type of social structure.

The potential family, which I have defined as the unit composed of a husband and a wife, is
characteristically unstable. The birth of a child, however, activates a four generational bilateral kinship
structure and strengthens the tenuous conjugal ties. Thus this kinship structure centers on the child, for
the child is an equal blood relative of both his mothers and his fathers relatives, while his parents stand
in a relatively delicate affinal relationship to each others relatives. The Tagbanuwa firmly distinguished
relationship by blood and marriage. The child, by virtue of affiliation, is eligible for inheritance,
succession, and so forth, from both his maternal and paternal kin. His parents, on the contrary, can make no
such claims on their affinal relatives. In short, the birth of the child formalizes the bilateral family.(pp 53) xxx
 As can be noted, the birth of the child formalizes the kinship structure of the Tribe. Thus, the cultural
communities concern itself not only with the marital union of both spouses but also with the child which unifies
the bilateral families of the mother and that of the father. What can be deduced as a problem for discriminating
marriage between an IP with non-IP is that the welfare of the child will ultimately be sacrificed. This can be best
illustrated by a situation where a child sired by a non-IP with an IP mother, the child will eventually grow up in a
tribal community which, culturally, he will not be considered as a member by reason of classification. It would
not only cause injustice but will necessarily result into discrimination on the part of the child, who, while having
adopted the practices of the tribal community, shall have no cultural rights by reason of invalidity of his parents
marriage.

Third and finally, the system of marriage practices of the tribe rests primarily with the customary laws of
the tribes thru their recognized leaders, as the 18th Masicampo I can personally attest to the fact that even if a
non-IP member can be married in accord with tribal practices provided that the following are complied with:

1. That at least one of the parties is a member of the tribe; and

2. That the non-IP member tenders a fee symbolizing what we call as kapangyawan/kasledan as a symbol of his
oath that he will abide by our customary laws and practices;

That this practices has been adopted even before my father became a Masicampo from 1956 until 1984
and we believe that this practice played a very significant role in the matter of expanding the domain of the
Tagbanuas in Palawan.

To conclude, it would be highly discriminative to deny the registration of this kind of marriage. The
impact of this limitation to our cultural existence would be indescribable. The cultural marriage practice of the
tender of kapangyawan/kasledan has, anyway, already been substantiated. What is now clear is that under our
customary laws this kind of union is very well recognized. To quote, as philosopher Blaise Pascal has so pithily
stated of the profundity of human love, 'love has reasons that reason cannot comprehend. Insofar as their
marriage is one recognized and allowed under our customary practices, I submit, that the subsequent duty to
register become a ministerial function only.

For your kind consideration and approval. Thank you and more power.

RUBEN C. JOYA SR.

18th Masicampo of Palawan
Palawan Cultural Communities
Bgy. Poblacion, Aborlan, Palawan