Separate Opinion 7 G.R. No. 224469 To my mind, these definitions do not cover the concept of ancestral domains. Ancestral domains are neither "public" nor "private land" as contemplated by Sec. 77 of P.D. 705. Ancestral domains were recognized in the 1987 Constitution when it stated that Congress may' provide for the applicability of customary laws governing property rights in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domains. Article XII, Sec. 5 of the 1987 Constitution on National Economy and Patrimony states: SECTION 5. The State, subject to the provisions of this Constitution and national development policies and programs, shall protect the rights of indigenous cultural communities to their ancestral lands to ensure their economic, social, and cultural well-being. The Congress may provide for the applicability of customary laws governing property rights or relations in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain. Implementing the foregoing, Congress enacted the IPRA, which defined ancestral domains as "all areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising lands, inland waters, coastal areas, and natural resources therein, held under a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed by ICCs/IPs, by themselves or through their ancestors, communally or individually since time immemorial xx x." 16 These areas even include "forests, pasture, residential, agricultural, and other lands individually owned whether alienable and disposable or otherwise xx x." 17 Sec. 3 of the IPRA states: SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. following terms shall mean: For purposes of this Act, the a) Ancestral Domains - Subject to Section 56 hereof, refer to all areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising lands, inland waters, coastal areas, and natural resources therein, held under a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed by ICCs/IPs, by themselves or through their ancestors, communally or individually since time immemorial, continuously to the present except when interrupted by war,force majeure or displacement by force, deceit, stealth or as a consequence of government projects or any other v0luntary dealings entered into by government and private individuals/corporations, and which are necessary to ensure their economic, social and cultural welfare. It shall include ancestral lands, forests, pasture, residential, agricultural, and other lands individually owned whether alienable and disposable or otherwise, hunting grounds, burial grounds, worship areas, bodies of water, mineral and other natural resources, and lands which may no longer be exclusively occupied by ICCs/IPs but from which they traditionally had access to for their subsistence and 16 i1 IPRA, Sec. 3. Id.

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