Separate Concurring Opinion 32 G.R. No. 224469 Section 21 159 of IPRA provides that ICC!IPs shall be accorded rights, protections, and privileges enjoyed by the rest of the citizenry with due regard to their distinct characteristics and identity. 160 As a result, classification of ICC/IPs by reason of ethnicity shall be deemed impermissible, unless it is made "in due recognition of the characteristics and identity." Classification may be allowed only when its purpose is to provide affirmative action in favor of the ICC/IPs. 161 V(B) Another salient principle introduced by IPRA is the ICC/IPs' right to claim ownership over their land as well as the resources found there. To recall, the ICC/IPs' rights to their arn;estral domains and ancestral lands have been recognized as early as Carino. The doctrine introduced in that case, had the effect of extending to any person who has occupied a parcel of land since time immemorial-with or without documentary title, the right to enjoy the protection extended to private property rights since the land is "presumed to have been held in the same way. . . and never to have been public land." 162 Carino 's implication is to shift to the State the burden of proving that a parcel of land or territory falls within the public domain, when the same had been held since time immemorial by the undocumented possessor. 163 The doctrine espoused in Carino has not yet been overturned and remains a valid basis of the ICC/IPs' claim of ownership. 164 159 160 161 162 163 164 Republic Act No. 83 71 (1997), sec. 21. SECTION 21. Equal Protection and Non-discrimination of ICCs/IPs. - Consistent with the equal protection clause of the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights including the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and International Human Rights Law, the State shall, with due recognition of their distinct characteristics and identity, accord to the members of the ICCs/IPs the rights, protections and privileges enjoyed by the rest of the citizenry. It shall extend to them the same employment rights, opportunities, basic services, educational and other rights and privileges available to every member of the society. Accordingly, the State shall likewise ensure that the employment of any form of force or coercion against ICCs/IPs shall be dealt with by law. The State shall ensure that the fundamental human rights and freedom.s as enshrined in the Constitution and relevant international instruments are guaranteed also to indigenous women. Towards this end, no provision in this Act shall be interpreted so as to result in the diminution of rights and privileges already recognized and accorded to women under existing laws of general application. Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples: An Overview of Recent Developments in Policy, 1998PHIL.PEACE&HUM.RTS.REV. 159,161 (1998). Id. at 162. Id. at 170. Id. Id.at17I. I