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ARTICLE X
Ancestral Domain, Ancestral Lands and Agrarian Reform
SECTION 1. Ancestral Domain; Lands of Indigenous
Cultural Communities. – Subject to the Constitution and existing
laws, the Regional Government shall undertake measures to
protect the ancestral domain and ancestral lands of indigenous
cultural communities.
All lands and natural resources in the autonomous region
that have been possessed or occupied by indigenous cultural
communities since time immemorial, except when prevented by
war, force majeure, or other forms of forcible usurpation, shall
form part of the ancestral domain. Such ancestral domain shall
include pasture lands, worship areas, burial grounds, forests and
fields, mineral resources, except strategic minerals such as
uranium, coal, petroleum; and other fossil fuels, mineral oils,
and all sources of potential energy; lakes, rivers, and lagoons;
and national reserves and marine parks, as well as forest and
watershed reservations. Until laws are enacted that provide
otherwise, fifty percent (50%) of the revenues derived from the
utilization and development of such strategic materials shall
accrue to the Regional Government and the provinces, cities,
municipalities, and barangay in the autonomous region. The
sharing between the Regional Government and the local
government units in the revenues derived from the strategic
materials mentioned above shall be apportioned according to the
formula set out in Section 5, Article XIII of this Organic Act.
Lands in the actual, open, public, and uninterrupted
possession and occupation by an indigenous cultural community
for at least thirty (30) years are ancestral lands.
SEC. 2. The constructive or traditional possession of lands
and resources by an indigenous cultural community may also be
recognized subject to judicial affirmation, the petition for which
shall be instituted within a period of ten (10) years from the
effectivity of this Organic Act. The procedure for judicial
affirmation of imperfect titles under existing laws shall, as far as
practicable, apply to the judicial affirmation of titles to ancestral
lands.
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