Legal protection of indigenous communities from natural resource exploitation: a comparative study of Indonesia and the Philippines
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.38035/jlph.v6i3.3139Keywords:
Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resource Exploitation, Legal Protection, Customary Land Sovereignty, Indonesia, Philippines, Moi People, Lumad CommunitiesAbstract
The large-scale exploitation of natural resources in Southeast Asia has generated a wide range of legal, social, and ecological challenges, particularly for indigenous communities living in resource-rich areas. This article seeks to analyze and compare the forms of legal recognition and protection afforded to indigenous peoples in Indonesia and the Philippines, with a focus on their sovereignty over customary lands and their participation in decision-making processes related to natural resource governance. Employing a normative and comparative legal approach, the study examines statutory frameworks, judicial decisions, and selected case studies involving the Moi people in Papua (Indonesia) and the Lumad communities in Mindanao (Philippines). The findings indicate that, although both countries formally recognize the existence and rights of indigenous peoples, the extent of legal protection and its implementation differs significantly. The Philippines adopts a more explicit and progressive legal framework through the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA), which recognizes collective land ownership and upholds the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). In contrast, Indonesia relies largely on administrative recognition and lacks a legally binding FPIC mechanism within its national legislation. Despite these differences, indigenous peoples in both countries continue to face substantial challenges, including criminalization, militarization, and marginalization from development processes. This article therefore recommends strengthening national legal frameworks particularly through the enactment of a comprehensive Indigenous Peoples Law in Indonesia, institutional reforms of oversight bodies in the Philippines, and the promotion of ecological and participatory justice in natural resource governance.
References
Andiko. (2014). Peluang dan tantangan pengakuan masyarakat adat dalam konteks UU pemerintahan daerah. Jurnal Konstitusi, 11(1), 84–100.
Anaya, S. J. (2004). Indigenous peoples in international law (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Baviera, A. M. L. (2015). Mining and indigenous peoples in the Philippines. Kasarinlan: Philippine Journal of Third World Studies, 30(2), 21–39.
Bulatlat. “These bribes being given by the company… violate the principles of the Free, Informed and Prior Consent (FPIC).”
Carino, J. K. (2018). IPRA and the indigenous peoples of the Philippines: Twenty years on. Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact Journal, 12(1), 11–14.
Carino, J. K. (2023). Institutional weaknesses and state-corporate collusion in Philippine IPRA implementation. Asia Pacific Journal of Legal Studies, 15(2), 45–49.
Colchester, M., & Chao, S. (Eds.). (2013). Conflict or consent? The oil palm sector at a crossroads. Jakarta: Forest Peoples Programme, Sawit Watch & TUK Indonesia.
Colchester, M., et al. (2015). Hutan adat dan perkebunan sawit di Tanah Papua. Bogor: Yayasan Pusaka dan Forest Peoples Programme.
Davis, L. M., & Rivera, T. (2021). Legal autonomy and indigenous peoples in international law: A decade of UNDRIP. Journal of International Human Rights, 12(2), 125–127.
Fitriani, M., & Santoso, D. (2018). Eksploitasi SDA dan masyarakat adat di Papua: Perspektif keadilan ekologis. Jurnal Sosial Humaniora Indonesia, 14(1), 8.
Gaspar, K. M. (2020). Reframing indigenous rights in the Philippines: Towards social justice and development. Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
GIZ–RECOFTC. (2011). Free, prior and informed consent in REDD+: Prinsip dan pendekatan. Bangkok: FORCLIME/ReCOFTC.
Harefa, F. (2019). Sengketa masyarakat adat dalam UU Minerba dan implikasi yuridisnya. Jurnal Hukum Ius Quia Iustum, 26(1), 142.
Harefa, F. (2021). Implementasi FPIC dalam proyek SDA di Indonesia. Jurnal Penelitian dan Advokasi Hukum, 22(1), 112–115.
Harefa, F. (2022). Fragmen hukum dan dominasi negara atas sumber daya alam di Indonesia. Jurnal Agraria dan Tata Ruang, 10(1), 33–36.
Herrera, A. L. (2021). Legal vacuums and mining claims in Philippines’ ancestral domains. Philippine Journal of Environmental Law, 11(2), 103–107.
Hukum UKSW. (2022). “Partisipasi masyarakat dalam kegiatan pertambangan… belum diatur secara detail dalam UU Minerba 2009.” hlm. 19.
Ibrahim, J. (2006). Teori dan metode penelitian hukum normatif. Malang: Bayu Media.
Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997, section “Key Provisions.”
Journal of Participatory Governance. (2022). Vol. 9 No. 2, hlm. 45–48.
Krajewski, M. (2019). Free, prior and informed consent in the Philippines: A Fourth World critique. Journal of Indigenous Rights, Vol. XX No. X, 294–295.
Li, T. M. (2007). The will to improve: Governmentality, development, and the practice of politics. Durham: Duke University Press.
Mining Act of 1995.
Mohanty, S. (2020). FPIC principles and ‘free’ participation in indigenous communities. Journal of Environmental Governance, 15(3), 115–118.
Molintas, J. M. (2014). The Philippine indigenous peoples’ struggle for land and life: Challenging legal texts. Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, 21(1), 269–306.
Padilla, L. (2021a). CADT and customary governance under IPRA. Philippine Journal of Public Policy, 29(2), 220–224.
Padilla, L. (2021b). Free, prior and informed consent in the Philippines: A review of the legal framework. Philippine Journal of Public Policy, 29(2).
Padilla, L. (2022). FPIC in practice: Challenges in the Lumad communities of Mindanao. Philippine Journal of Policy Studies, 30(1), 89–93.
Putri, A., & Gumilar, Y. (2017). Status legal tanah ulayat: Studi kasus Suku Moi di Papua Barat. Jurnal Hukum dan Pembangunan, 15(2), 150–153.
Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 35/PUU-X/2012, dalam Risalah Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia, hlm. 61–64.
Rachman, N. F. (2013). Krisis agraria di Indonesia. Jakarta: Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria.
Rachman, N. F. (2016a). Politik agraria dan fragmentasi hukum masyarakat adat. Jakarta: Epistema Institute.
Rachman, N. F. (2016b). Politik agraria dan masyarakat adat: Fragmentasi hukum dalam pengelolaan sumber daya alam di Indonesia. Jakarta: Epistema Institute.
Rachman, N. F. (2021). Politik agraria dan fragmentasi kelembagaan masyarakat adat di Indonesia. Epistema Institute, hlm. 112–115.
Rodil, B. R. (2012). The Lumad's struggle in the face of globalization. Davao City: Alternate Forum for Research in Mindanao.
Salazar, M. (2019). Conflict over resources: The struggle of Lumad communities in Mindanao. Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, 7(2), 222–226.
Saptari, R. A. (2021). Legal recognition without structural transformation: Indigenous land rights in Indonesia. Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences and Humanities, 23(1), 19–38.
Sempo, V. (2024a). Hak masyarakat hukum adat di tengah modernisasi. Lex Privatum, 13(5), 1–3.
Sempo, V. (2024b). Hak masyarakat hukum adat dan batasan konstitusional Indonesia. Lex Privatum, 13(5), 4–7.
Setyawan, A. (2020). Kajian perlindungan hukum masyarakat adat di Indonesia. Jakarta: Rajawali Pers.
Simarmata, R. (2014). Kebijakan pengelolaan hutan adat pasca Putusan MK No. 35/PUU-X/2012. Bogor: Neliti.
Sitabuana, T. H., & Sanjaya, D. (2023). Urgensi pembentukan UU masyarakat adat. Prosiding Serina, hlm. 2–5.
Sugiswati, B. (2022). Perlindungan hukum terhadap eksistensi masyarakat adat di Indonesia. Perspektif, 17(1), 10–12.
Susana, W. (2019). Pemerintah, investasi, dan masyarakat adat di Indonesia. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Ombak.
Tania, V. (2020). Menggugat negara: Studi politik hukum RUU masyarakat adat di Indonesia. Jurnal Konstitusi, 17(2), 308–310.
Tania, V. (2021). Peran PMHA dalam verifikasi adat lokal: Studi di Kalimantan dan Papua. Jurnal Konstitusi, 18(2), 246–249.
Tauli-Corpuz, V. (2017). Indigenous peoples and the extractive industries. Third World Quarterly, 38(5), 1133–1148. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2016.1257903
The Diplomat. “FPIC stipulation is an insufficient means… local governments have been found to circumvent the FPIC clause…”, hlm. 1–2.
Undang-Undang Nomor 4 Tahun 2009 tentang Pertambangan Mineral dan Batubara.
Undang-Undang Nomor 41 Tahun 1999 tentang Kehutanan.
Wennerström, E., & Santos, M. (2022). Indigenous consent and development projects: Impacts of UNDRIP Article 32. Development and Change, 51(3), 710–713.
Widner, B. (2018). Corporate power and indigenous resistance in Indonesia. Asia Pacific Journal of Environmental Law, 21(2).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Hairunnisa Rahmi Fadiyah, Fadhel Ally Muhammad
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish their manuscripts in this journal agree to the following conditions:
- The copyright on each article belongs to the author(s).
- The author acknowledges that the Journal of Law, Poliitic and Humanities (JLPH) has the right to be the first to publish with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
- Authors can submit articles separately, arrange for the non-exclusive distribution of manuscripts that have been published in this journal into other versions (e.g., sent to the author's institutional repository, publication into books, etc.), by acknowledging that the manuscript has been published for the first time in the Journal of Law, Poliitic and Humanities (JLPH).
