Separate Concurring Opinion 13 G.R. No. 224469 Unfortunately, certain government policies threaten the Filipino indigenous peoples' way of life. There are those who are denied the resources found within the very land they have occupied and cultivated for many years. As a result, the economic base upon which their survival rests is put at risk. 54 I concur in the result. Petitioners should be acquitted. I For almost 21,500 years prior to Ferdinand Magellan's arrival in 1521, the Philippines had already been inhabited by different tribal groups. 55 These groups have "developed a wide array of legal norms, leadership structures ... dispute settlement processes[,]" 56 and property norms. 57 These matters reflect enviropmeptal, cultural, and historical factors which were unique to the pre-conquest natives of the Philippine archipelago. 58 These indigenous property concepts were present throughout the Philippine archipelago, and was concerned with generalized patterns of territorial behavior relating to ownership of land. 59 There was, however, a dearth of literature pertaining to land ownership during the pre-conquest era. This notwithstanding, it had been a widespread custom that any person who acquires for himself and his close kin long term rights over a land, maintains such right so long as he continues to use the land. This practice made sure that the land would not remain indefinitely idle, since non-use of the land would mean forfeiture of one's right over it. 60 The arrival of the Spaniards, and the subsequent subjugation of the different groups under Its authority, paved the way for a new rule concerning land ownership over the Philippine archipelago. Through discovery and conquest, Philippines passed to Spain. As a result, all lands of the Philippine archipelago came under the dominion of 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 John Jerico Laudet Balisnomo, Ancestral Domain Ownership and Disposition: Whose land, Which Lands, 42 ATENEOL. J. 159,202 (1997). Owen James Lynch, Jr., Native Title, Private Right and Tribal Land Law: An Introductory Survey, 57 PHIL. L. J. 268,272 (1982). Owen James Lynch, Jr., The Philippine Indigenous Law Collection: An Introduction and Preliminary Bibliography, 58 PHIL. L. J. 457, 459 (1983). Owen James Lynch, Jr., Native Title, Private Right and Tribal Land Law: An Introductory Survey, 57 PHIL. L. J. 268,272 (1982). Owen James Lynch, Jr., The Philippine Indigenous Law Collection: An Introduction and Preliminary Bibliography, 58 Phil. L.J. 457,459 (1983). Owen James Lynch, Jr., Native Title, Private Right and Tribal Land Law: An Introductory Survey, 57 Phil. L.J. 268, 272~273 (1982). Id.