Separate Opinion 13 G.R. No. 224469 The IPRA recognizes the ICCs/IPs right to the sustainable use of the natural resources found in ancestral doniains A thorough reading of the rights recognized under the IPRA reveals that the IPRA allows ICCs/IPs to utilize the natural resources that may be found in ancestral domains. This is rooted in the indigenous concept of ownership, recognized by the IPRA, which is significantly different from the concept of ownership under civil law. According to the IPRA, [the indigenous] concept of ownership sustains the view that ancestral and all resources found therein shall serve as the material bases of their cultural integrity. The indigenous concept of ownership generally holds that ancestral domains are the ICC's/IP's private but community property which belongs to all generations and therefore cannot be sold, disposed or destroyed. It likewise covers sustainable traditional resource rights. " 31 In turn, sustainable traditional resource rights refer to the rights of ICCs/IPs to sustainably use, manage, protect and conserve a) land, air, water, and minerals; b) plants, animals and other organisms; c) collecting, fishing and hunting grounds; d) sacred sites; and e) other areas of economic, ceremonial and aesthetic value in accordance with their indigenous knowledge, beliefs, systems and practices. 32 For IPs, this is easy to understand, as nothing provided for in the IPRA is new to them. The IPRA' simply recognizes what their practices are. This recognition of the rights of IPs is not confined only in the domestic setting it is reflected as well in the international sphere. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 33 (UNDRIP) states that the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) "recogniz[es] the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources." 34 Moreover, the provisions of the UNDRIP itself state that: 31 32 33 34 IPRA, Sec. 5. IPRA, Sec. 3(o). Although non-binding as it,is merely a UNGA Declaration, it constitutes evidence of state practice on the matter. The United Nations describes UNDRJP as the "most comprehensive international instrument on the rights of indigenous peoples" as 144 states have voted in its favor, including the Philippines, and the 4 countries that initially voted against it have "reversed their position and now support the Declaration." See: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights of-indigenous-peoples.html UNDRJP, preambular clauses.