04/02/2020
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b) the right to manage and conserve natural resources within the
territories and uphold the responsibilities for future generations;
c) the right to benefit and share the profits from the allocation and
utilization of the natural resources found therein;
d) the right to negotiate the terms and conditions for the exploration of
natural resources for the purpose of ensuring ecological, environmental
protection and the conservation measures, pursuant to national and
customary laws;
e) the right to an informed and intelligent participation in the formulation
and implementation of any project, government or private, that will affect
or impact upon the ancestral domains and to receive just and fair
compensation for any damages which they may sustain as a result of the
project;
f) the right to effective measures by the government to prevent any
interference with, alienation and encroachment upon these rights.[233]
Ownership over the natural resources in the ancestral domains remains
with the State and the ICCs/IPs are merely granted the right to "manage
and conserve" them for future generations, "benefit and share" the profits
from their allocation and utilization, and "negotiate the terms and
conditions for their exploration" for the purpose of "ensuring ecological and
environmental protection and conservation measures." It must be noted that
the right to negotiate the terms and conditions over the natural resources covers
only their exploration which must be for the purpose of ensuring ecological and
environmental protection of, and conservation measures in the ancestral domain. It
does not extend to the exploitation and development of natural resources.
Simply stated, the ICCs/IPs' rights over the natural resources take the form
of management or stewardship. For the ICCs/IPs may use these resources and
share in the profits of their utilization or negotiate the terms for their exploration. At
the same time, however, the ICCs/IPs must ensure that the natural resources within
their ancestral domains are conserved for future generations and that the
"utilization" of these resources must not harm the ecology and environment
pursuant to national and customary laws.[234]
The limited rights of "management and use" in Section 7 (b) must be taken
to contemplate small-scale utilization of natural resources as distinguished
from large-scale. Small-scale utilization of natural resources is expressly
allowed in the third paragraph of Section 2, Article XII of the Constitution
"in recognition of the plight of forest dwellers, gold panners, marginal fishermen and
others similarly situated who exploit our natural resources for their daily sustenance
and survival."[235] Section 7 (b) also expressly mandates the ICCs/IPs to manage
and conserve these resources and ensure environmental and ecological protection
within the domains, which duties, by their very nature, necessarily reject utilization
in a large-scale.
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