Cruz and Europa v. Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources

2. The State may enter into co-production, joint venture or production-sharing agreements with Filipino citizens or qualified corporations; 3. Congress may, by law, allow small-scale utilization of natural resources by Filipino citizens; 4. For the large-scale exploration, development and utilization of minerals, petroleum and other mineral oils, the President may enter into agreements with foreign-owned corporations involving technical or financial assistance. As owner of the natural resources, the State is accorded primary power and responsibility in the exploration, development and utilization of these natural resources. The State may directly undertake the exploitation and development by itself, or, it may allow participation by the private sector through co- production,[224] joint venture,[225] or production-sharing agreements.[226] These agreements may be for a period of 25 years, renewable for another 25 years. The State, through Congress, may allow the small-scale utilization of natural resources by Filipino citizens. For the large-scale exploration of these resources, specifically minerals, petroleum and other mineral oils, the State, through the President, may enter into technical and financial assistance agreements with foreign-owned corporations. Under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, (R.A. 7942) and the People's Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991 (R.A. 7076) the three types of agreements, i.e., co-production, joint venture or production-sharing, may apply to both large-scale[227] and small-scale mining.[228] "Small-scale mining" refers to "mining activities which rely heavily on manual labor using simple implements and methods and do not use explosives or heavy mining equipment." [229] Examining the IPRA, there is nothing in the law that grants to the ICCs/IPs ownership over the natural resources within their ancestral domains. The right of ICCs/IPs in their ancestral domains includes ownership, but this "ownership" is expressly defined and limited in Section 7 (a) as: "Sec. 7. a) Right of ownership-- The right to claim ownership over lands, bodies of water traditionally and actually occupied by ICCs/IPs, sacred places, traditional hunting and fishing grounds, and all improvements made by them at any time within the domains;" The ICCs/IPs are given the right to claim ownership over "lands, bodies of water traditionally and actually occupied by ICCs/IPs, sacred places, traditional hunting and fishing grounds, and all improvements made by them at any time within the domains." It will be noted that this enumeration does not mention bodies of water not occupied by the ICCs/IPs, minerals, coal, wildlife, flora and fauna in the traditional hunting grounds, fish in the traditional fishing grounds, forests or timber in the sacred places, etc. and all other natural resources found within the ancestral domains. Indeed, the right of ownership under Section 7 (a) does not cover "waters, minerals, coal, petroleum and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna and all other natural resources" enumerated in Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution as belonging to the State. The non-inclusion of ownership by the ICCs/IPs over the natural resources in Section 7(a) complies with the Regalian doctrine. (a) Section 1, Part II, Rule III of the Implementing Rules Goes Beyond the Parameters of Sec. 7 (a) of the IPRA And is Unconstitutional. The Rules Implementing the IPRA[230] in Section 1, Part II, Rule III reads: