Cruz and Europa v. Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources

resources are owned by the State. With the exception of agricultural lands, all other natural resources shall not be alienated. The exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the State. The State may directly undertake such activities, or it may enter into co-production, joint venture, or production-sharing agreements with Filipino citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens. Such agreements may be for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not more than twenty-five years, and under such terms and conditions as may be provided by law. In cases of water rights for irrigation, water supply, fisheries, or industrial uses other than the development of water power, beneficial use may be the measure and limit of the grant. The State shall protect the nation's marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens. The Congress, may, by law, allow small-scale utilization of natural resources by Filipino citizens, as well as cooperative fish farming, with priority to subsistence fishermen and fishworkers in rivers, lakes, bays and lagoons. The President may enter into agreements with foreign-owned corporations involving either technical or financial assistance for large-scale exploration, development and utilization of minerals, petroleum, and other mineral oils according to the general terms and conditions provided by law, based on real contributions to the economic growth and general welfare of the country. In such agreements, the State shall promote the development and use of local scientific and technical resources. The President shall notify the Congress of every contract entered into in accordance with this provision, within thirty days from its execution. Under IPRA, indigenous peoples may obtain the recognition of their right of ownership[60] over ancestral lands and ancestral domains by virtue of native title.[61] The term "ancestral lands" under the statute refers to lands occupied by individuals, families and clans who are members of indigenous cultural communities, including residential lots, rice terraces or paddies, private forests, swidden farms and tree lots. These lands are required to have been "occupied, possessed and utilized" by them or through their ancestors "since time immemorial, continuously to the present".[62] On the other hand, "ancestral domains" is defined as areas generally belonging to indigenous cultural communities, including ancestral lands, forests, pasture, residential and agricultural lands, hunting grounds, worship areas, and lands no longer occupied exclusively by indigenous cultural communities but to which they had traditional access, particularly the home ranges of indigenous cultural communities who are still nomadic or shifting cultivators. Ancestral domains also include inland waters, coastal areas and natural resources therein.[63] Again, the same are required to have been "held under a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed by ICCs/IPs, by themselves or through their ancestors, communally or individually since time immemorial, continuously to the present".[64] Under Section 56, property rights within the ancestral domains already existing and/or vested upon effectivity of said law "shall be recognized and respected." Ownership is the crux of the issue of whether the provisions of IPRA pertaining to ancestral lands, ancestral domains, and natural resources are unconstitutional. The fundamental question is, who, between the State and the indigenous peoples, are the rightful owners of these properties? It bears stressing that a statute should be construed in harmony with, and not in violation, of the fundamental law.[65] The reason is that the legislature, in enacting a statute, is assumed to have acted within its authority and adhered to the constitutional limitations. Accordingly, courts should presume that it was the intention of the legislature to enact a valid, sensible, and just law and one which operates no further than may be necessary to