Cruz and Europa v. Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources

private establishments, ecclesiastical or civic bodies, or any other associations having legal capacity to acquire and possess property in the aforesaid territories renounced or ceded, or of private individuals, of whatsoever nationality such individuals may be. [94] The statute reads in part: Section 12. That all the property and rights which may have been acquired in the Philippine Islands under the treaty of peace with Spain, signed December tenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, except such land or other property as shall be designated by the President of the United States for military and other reservations of the Government of the United States, are hereby placed under the control of the Government of said Islands, to be administered for the benefit of the inhabitants thereof, except as provided by this Act. [95] McKinley's Instructions to the Second Philippine Commission, in MENDOZA, FROM MCKINLEY'S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE NEW CONSTITUTION: DOCUMENTS ON THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM (1978) p. 71. [96] Id., at 65-75; Section 5, Philippine Bill of 1902. [97] Solicitor General's Memorandum, Rollo, p. 668-669. [98] Id, at 668. [99] Section 1, Article XII, 1935 Constitution reads: All agricultural, timber, and mineral lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, and other natural resources of the Philippines belong to the State, and their disposition, exploitation, development, or utilization shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of the capital of which is owned by such citizens, subject to any existing right, grant, lease, or concession at the time of the inauguration of the Government established under this Constitution. Natural resources, with the exception of public agricultural land, shall not be alienated, and no license, concession, or lease for the exploitation, development, or utilization of any of the natural resources shall be granted for a period exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for another twenty five years, except as to water rights for irrigation, water supply, fisheries or industrial uses other than the development of water power, in which cases beneficial use may be the measure and limit of the grant. [100] Central Azucarera Don Pedro v. Central Bank, 104 Phil 598 (1954). [101] Sec. 5, Article XII. The State, subject to the provisions of this Constitution and national development policies and programs, shall protect the rights of indigenous cultural communities to their ancestral lands to ensure their economic, social, and cultural well-being. The Congress may provide for the applicability of customary laws governing property rights and relations in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domains. [102] See Memorandum of Petitioners, Rollo, pp. 863-864. [103] SIBAL, PHILIPPINE LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIA, p. 893.