04/02/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly shall be alienable. We quote below the relevant provision:[13] "SEC. 3. Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural, forest or timber, mineral lands, and national parks. Agricultural lands of the public domain may be further classified by law according to the uses to which they may be devoted. Alienable lands of the public domain shall be limited to agricultural lands. Private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of the public domain except by lease, for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not more than twenty-five years, and not to exceed one thousand hectares in area. x x x." Mr. Justice Kapunan upholds private respondents and intervenors in their claim that all ancestral domains and lands are outside the coverage of public domain; and that these properties -- including forests, bodies of water, minerals and parks found therein -- are private and have never been part of the public domain, because they have belonged to the indigenous people's ancestors since time immemorial. I submit, however, that all Filipinos, whether indigenous or not, are subject to the Constitution. Indeed, no one is exempt from its all-encompassing provisions. Unlike the 1935 Charter, which was subject to "any existing right, grant, lease or concession," the 1973 and the 1987 Constitutions spoke in absolute terms. Because of the State's implementation of policies considered to be for the common good, all those concerned have to give up, under certain conditions, even vested rights of ownership. In Republic v. Court of Appeals,[14] this Court said that once minerals are found even in private land, the State may intervene to enable it to extract the minerals in the exercise of its sovereign prerogative. The land is converted into mineral land and may not be used by any private person, including the registered owner, for any other purpose that would impede the mining operations. Such owner would be entitled to just compensation for the loss sustained. In Atok Big-Wedge Mining Company v. IAC,[15] the Court clarified that while mining claim holders and patentees have the exclusive right to the possession and enjoyment of the located claim, their rights are not absolute or strictly one of ownership. Thus, failure to comply with the requirements of pertinent mining laws was deemed an abandonment or a waiver of the claim. Verily, as petitioners undauntedly point out, four hundred years of Philippine political history cannot be set aside or ignored by IPRA, however well-intentioned it may be. The perceived lack of understanding of the cultural minorities cannot be remedied by conceding the nation's resources to their exclusive advantage. They cannot be more privileged simply because they have chosen to ignore state laws. For having chosen not to be enfolded by statutes on perfecting land titles, ICCs/IPs cannot now maintain their ownership of lands and domains by insisting on their concept of "native title" thereto. It would be plain injustice to the majority of Filipinos who have abided by the law and, consequently, deserve equal opportunity to enjoy the country's resources. elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/36882 138/148