THE Tribal Communities Association of the Philippines (Tricap), led by its National President and joined by Indigenous elders and leaders from various ancestral domains, attended today’s necrological service at the House of Representatives in honor of former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.

TRICAP paid tribute to the former Speaker as one of the principal legislative champions of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997 — the landmark law that formally recognized ancestral domain rights, Indigenous self-governance, and cultural integrity.