Separate Concurring Opinion
30
G.R. No. 224469
settling of the precise boundaries of the appellees' claim ... At all events,
they found that the appellees and their ancestors had held the claim and
worked it to the exclusion of all others down to the bringing of this suit,
and that the boundaries were as shown in a plan that was filed and seems
146
to have been put in evidence before the trial came to an end.
Reavis recognized the extent of the natives' rights over their ancestral
territories. It acknowledged that their rights extend not only to the lands, but
likewise include the natural resources found in them. 147 Accordingly, the
State's power over these resources extend onlfto its regulation. The State,
as laid down under Section 57 of IPRA, can only provide for the guidelines
and limitation on how these resources can be utilized, thus:
SECTION 57. Natural Resources within Ancestral Domains. - The
ICCs/IPs shall have priority rights in the harvesting, extraction,
development or exploitation of any natural resources within the ancestral
domains. A non-member of the ICCs/IPs concerned may be allowed to
take part in the development and utilization of the natural resources for a
period of not exceeding twenty-five (25) years renewable for not more
than twenty-five (25) years: Provided, That a formal and written
agreement is entered into with the ICCs/IPs concerned or that the
community, pursuant to its own decision making process, has agreed to
allow such operation: Provided, finally, That the NCIP may exercise
visitorial powers and take appropriate action to safeguard the rights of the
ICCs/IPs under the same contract.
V
There are at least six prov1s10ns in the 1987 Constitution which
protect the rights of indigenous peoples to their customs, heritage, and
traditions: 148 (1) Article 2, Section 22; 149 (2) Article VI, Section 5(2); 150 (3)
Article XII, Section 5; 151 (4) Article XIII, Section 6; 152 (5) Article XIV,
146
147
148
149
15
°
151
152
215 U.S. I 6 (1909).
Dominique Gallego, Indigenous Peoples: Their Right to Compensation Sui Generis for Ancestral
Territories Taken, 43 ATENEO L. J. 43, 55 (1998).
See J. Puno, Separate Opinion in Cruz v. Secretary of Natural Resources, 400 Phil. 904, 932-1016
(2000) [Per Curiam, En Banc].
CONST., art. II, sec. 22 provides:
SECTION 22. The State recognizes and promotes the rights of indigenous cultural communities
within the framework of national unity and development.
CONST., art. VI, sec. 5(2) provides:
(2) The party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per centum of the total number of
representatives including those under the party list. For three consecutive terms after the ratification of
this Constitution, one-half of the seats allocated to party-list representatives shall be filled, as provided
by law, by selection or election from the labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities,
women, youth, and such other sectors as may be provided by law, except the religious sector.
CONST., article XII, sec. 5 provides:
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.
CONST., art. XIII, sec. 6 provides:
SECTION 6. The State shall apply the principles of agrarian reform or stewardship, whenever
applicable in accordance with law. in the disposition or utilization of other natural resources, including
I
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