04/02/2020
E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly
certain documents issued by the DENR, tried to acquire possession of the land they
applied for, including the portion occupied by herein petitioners. Petitioners also
allege that the heirs of Carantes removed some of the improvements they
introduced within the area they actually occupy and if not for the petitioner's timely
resistance to such intrusions, the petitioners would have been totally evicted
therefrom.
Hence, this petition for prohibition originally filed with the Court of Appeals to enjoin
the respondent DENR from implementing the assailed administrative issuances and
from processing the application for certificate of ancestral land claim (CALC) filed by
the heirs of Carantes on the ground that the said administrative issuances are void
for lack of legal basis.
The Court of Appeals[6] held that the assailed DENR Special Orders Nos. 31, 31-A,
31-B issued in 1990 prior to the effectivity of RA 7586 known as the National
Integrated Protected Areas Systems (NIPAS) Act of 1992, are of no force and effect
"for pre-empting legislative prerogative" but sustained the validity of DENR Special
Order No. 25, and its implementing rules (DAO No. 02, series of 1993) by the
appellate court on the ground that they were issued pursuant to the powers
delegated to the DENR under section 13 of RA 7586, which reads:
"Section 13. Ancestral Lands and Rights over Them.- Ancestral lands and
customary rights and interest arising therefrom shall be accorded due
recognition. The DENR shall prescribe rules and regulations to govern
ancestral lands within protected areas: Provided, that the DENR shall
have no power to evict indigenous communities from their present
occupancy nor resettle them to another area without their consent:
Provided, however, that all rules and regulations, whether adversely
affecting said communities or not, shall be subjected to notice and
hearing to be participated in by members of concerned indigenous
community."[7]
The petitioners filed with this Court a petition for review of the appellate court's
decision on the ground that the Court of Appeals erred in upholding the validity of
Special Order No. 25 and its implementing rules. The petitioners seek to enjoin the
respondent DENR from processing the application for certificate of ancestral land
claim filed by the Heirs of Carantes. Petitioners contend that in addition to the failure
of the DENR to publish the assailed administrative issuances in a newspaper of
general circulation prior to its implementation, RA 7586, which provides for the
creation of a National Integrated Protected Areas System, does not contain the
slightest implication of a grant of authority to the DENR to adjudicate or confer title
over lands occupied by indigenous communities. It is contended that the said law
only grants DENR administrative and managerial powers over designated national
and natural parks called "protected areas" wherein rare and endangered species of
plants and animals inhabit.[8] The petitioners further allege that the subsequent
passage of in 1997 of Republic Act 8371, otherwise known as the Indigenous Peoples
Rights Act, wherein the power to evaluate and issue certificates of ancestral land
titles is vested in the National Commission on Indigenous Cultural Communities/
Indigenous People (NCIP) is unmistakable indication of the legislature's withholding
of authority from the DENR to confer title over lands occupied by indigenous
communities.[9] Finally, the petitioners claim that the validity of the questioned
DENR special orders cannot be based on the constitutional provisions regarding the
elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/50008
2/7