Indigenous peoples worldwide struggle for control over land and natural resources against encroachment of state
interests, external development and commercial pressures such as agribusiness, dams, logging and mining. Their
battle to protect land and natural resources is at the same time the struggle to preserve indigenous culture and
traditions often inextricably linked to the land itself. The Philippine Indigenous Peoples Rights Act recognizes
the indigenous peoples’ rights to their ancestral lands and domains and offers a way of improving their land
tenure security. The article employs case study design to illustrate the implementation gap between the rights of
indigenous peoples in law and practice and the role different stakeholders play in securing indigenous peoples’
land tenure and dealing with palm oil agribusiness and mining industries’ interests in ancestral domains on the
case of Higaonon tribe in Misamis Oriental province, Mindanao. The methodology for data collection was focus
group discussions and key informant interviews with representatives of tribal leaders and members,
non-government organizations and government bodies. Our results indicate that conflicting laws and mandates
of various government bodies and lack of coordination between them, as well as lack of resources and political
will to implement the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act are important factors behind slow issuance of ancestral
domain titles. At the same time, we show that significant factor in the land tenure insecurity of indigenous
peoples is disunity within the tribe and conflicting interests of its members and clans used by companies to
further enhance their business interests.