Separate Concurring Opinion 11 GR. No. 224469 derive their sustenance. 45 In choosing their fields, they consider the floral composition of the site to determine soil properties. They avoid the headwaters of streams to protect the water source. In the kaingin, a fireline is made so that the fire will not spread. Instead of starting from the lower portion, the burning is started from the top. Then, the lower portion is burned. In such case, the fire could not spread upward, preventing the other areas from getting burned. Before, there was no necessity to make a fireline in the kaingin because of the abundance of trees. Now that the trees are getting depleted, the elders encouraged the community to use a fireline to protect the forest. Big trees are covered with saha ng saging (banana trunks) so that heat will not destroy them if the same is within the Kaingin area. They also do not use explosives and high-powered inflammable substances. During the early times, they use stones and/or bamboos rubbed against each other to create fire. Lately, they resorted to the use of matches. 46 The intricate knowledge of the Iraya-Mangyans in terms of the tropical ecosystem indicates the existence of practices and traditions which date back to the pre-colonial period. These practices and traditions serve as a material basis of their cultural integrity. In this regard, the IPRA takes into account the ICCs/IPs cultural well-being, among others, by recognizing the following rights: (1) the applicability of their customary laws relating to property rights or relations; (2) the significance of their culture, traditions and institution on formulating national laws and policies; and (3) the assurance that ICCs/IRs benefit equally with respect to opportunities which the laws and education, health, and other services beneficial to ICCs/IPs. 47 45 46 47 Id. at 635. Id. Republic Act No. 8371 (1997), sec. 2 provides: SECTION 2. Declaration of State Policies. - The State shall recognize and promote all the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) hereunder enumerated within the framework of the Constitution: a) The State shall recognize and promote the rights ofICCs/lPs within the framework of national unity and development; b) The State shall protect the rights of ICCs/IPs to their ancestral domains to ensure their economic, social and cultural well being and shall recognize the applicability of customary laws governing property rights or relations in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain; c) The State shall recognize, respect and protect the rights of ICCs/IPs to preserve and develop their cultures, traditions and institutions. It shall consider these rights in the formulation of national laws and policies; d) The State shall guarantee that members of the ICCs/IPs regardless of sex, shall equally enjoy the full measure of human rights and freedoms without distinction or discrimination; e) The State shall take measures, with the participation of the ICCs/IPs concerned, to protect their rights and guarantee respect for their cultural integrity, and to ensure that members of the ICCs/IPs benefit on an equal footing from the rights and opportunities which national laws and regulations grant to other members of the population; and t) The State recognizes its obligations to respond to the strong expression of the ICCs/IPs for cultural integrity by assuring maximum ICC/IP participation in the direction of education, health, as well as other services ofICCs/IPs, in order to render such services more responsive to the needs and desires of these communities. Towards these ends, the State shall institute and establish the necessary mechanisms to enforce and guarantee the realization of these rights, taking into consideration their customs, traditions, values, beliefs, interests and institutions, and to adopt and implement measures to protect their rights to their ancestral domains. f