E/CN.4/2003/90/Add.3 page 10 recognizes the importance of Task Force 63, established and chaired by the President of the Republic, which deals with emergency issues regarding indigenous peoples, and is expected to dissolve shortly. Considering the current importance of these issues, the Special Rapporteur believes that Task Force 63 should continue to operate for some time. 14. NCIP is the primary government agency responsible for the formulation and implementation of policy, plans and programmes to promote and protect the rights and well-being of indigenous peoples and the recognition of their ancestral domains. NCIP has not yet been able to live up to the expectations and aspirations of indigenous peoples regarding the full implementation of IPRA. This results in part from insufficient funding, bureaucratic hitches, and the inexperience of NCIP itself, as well as from delays in implementation. NCIP appears to be ready now to fulfil its mandate as the primary government agency responsible for the implementation of IPRA. It has yet to consolidate its specific role and leadership in the promotion of indigenous peoples’ rights within the framework of the Administration, and should be able to establish itself firmly as the lead agency in protecting and promoting indigenous rights, in coordination with other government agencies, particularly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. 15. Accordingly, NCIP has set a range of policy priorities and goals for the upcoming years in order to implement IPRA, which include: delineation and titling of ancestral domains; ancestral domains development and protection; delivery of basic social services for indigenous peoples; support services for the preservation, protection and promotion of indigenous traditional knowledge systems and practices; and enforcement and protection of the human rights of indigenous people. This ambitious programme is still in its formative stages. C. Certificates of ancestral domains title and ancestral lands title 16. The question of land rights is at the centre of the concern of Philippine indigenous peoples, as mentioned often during interviews with their organizations. It is a matter of primary national interest and relates directly to the implementation of the relevant provisions of IPRA. 17. Chapter III, section 5, of IPRA provides that “the indigenous concept of ownership sustains the view that ancestral domains and all resources found therein shall serve as the material basis of their cultural integrity ... [as their] private but community property which belongs to all generations and therefore cannot be sold, disposed of or destroyed. It likewise covers sustainable traditional resource rights”.8 18. The right to claim ancestral domains and lands must therefore be seen as an important provision for the protection of indigenous rights. Whilst some progress has been made in this respect, it is also clear that the legal recognition of ancestral domains and land titles has been a slow and cumbersome process, full of pitfalls and ambiguities, which often drive indigenous communities to despair of the usefulness of IPRA as an effective legal instrument.9 Many indigenous communities in the Philippines, for various reasons, have not yet made application for the recognition of their ancestral land rights. One reason for this is the lack of information. Another reason relates to past negative experience in which communities anxious to emphasize