Dissenting Opinion 7 G.R. No. 224469 regulations show the aggressive measures of our government to regulate the protection of our forests and trees. Eighth. There is no indication that indigenous people are excluded from the broader regulatory powers~of the State. It appears that the Court, in the past, had already been confronted with the same dilemma of harmonizing lack of instruction and cultural minority with criminal liability. In People v. Macatanda, 11 the accused therein was convicted of the crime of cattle rustling under PD No. 533. In his appeal, he faulted the court a quo for refusing to appreciate the "mitigating circumstances of ( 1) lack of instruction, and (2) [his] being a member of a cultural minority, being a Moslem." The Court rejected such argument and ruled that: Appellant, however, prays for a lenient approach in consideration of his being an ignorant and semi-uncivilized offender, belonging to a cultural minority, the two separate circumstances to be joined together to constitute the alternative circumstance of lack of instruction to mitigate his liability x x x. xxxx Some later cases which categorically held that the mitigating circumstance oflack of instruction does not apply to crimes of theft and robbery leave us with no choice but to reject the plea of appellant. Membership in a cultural minority does not per se imply being an uncivilized or semi-uncivilized state of the offender, which is the circumstance that induced the Supreme Court in the Maqui case, to apply lack of instruction to the appellant therein who was charged also with theft of large cattle. Incidentally, the Maqui case is the only case where lack of instruction was considered to mitigate liability for theft, for even long before it, in U.S. vs. Pascual, a 1908 case, lack of instruction was already held not applicable to crimes of theft or robbery. xx x. 12 Even in the earlier 1914 case of United States v. Juan Maqui, 13 the Court refused to completely exonerate the accused who was considered as an "uncivilized Igorot." The Court still convicted him but mitigated his penalty, to wit: We are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused, but we are opinion that in imposing the penalty the trial court should have taken into consideration as a mitigating circumstance the manifest lack of "instruction and education" of the offender. It does not clearly appear whether he is or not an uncivilized Igorot, although there are indications in the record which tend to show that he is. But in any event, it is very dear that if he is not a member of an 11 12 13 pursue an aggressive forest protection program geared towards eliminating illegal logging and other forms of forest destruction which are being facilitated with the use of chain saws. The State shall therefore regulate the ownership, possession, sale. transfer, importation and/or use of chain saws to prevent them from being used in illegal logging or unauthorized clearing of forests. 195 Phil 604 (1981 ). Id. at 609-610. 27 Phil. 97 (1914).