Cruz v.

Secretary of DENR
GR. No. 135385, Dec. 6, 2000
DOCTRINE:

Examining the IPRA, there is nothing in the law that grants to the ICCs/IPs
ownership over the natural resources within their ancestral domains.
Ancestral domains and ancestral lands are the private property of indigenous
peoples and do not constitute part of the land of the public domain.
The right of ownership and possession by the ICCs/IPs to their ancestral
domains is a limited form of ownership and does not include the right to alienate
the same.

FACTS:

Petitioners Isagani Cruz and Cesar Europa filed a suit for prohibition and
mandamus as citizens and taxpayers, assailing the constitutionality of certain
provisions of Republic Act No. 8371, otherwise known as the Indigenous
Peoples Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA) and its implementing rules and regulations
(IRR).
The petitioners assail certain provisions of the IPRA and its IRR on the ground
that these amount to an unlawful deprivation of the States ownership over lands
of the public domain as well as minerals and other natural resources therein, in
violation of the Regalian Doctrine embodied in Section 2, Article XII of the
Constitution.
The Solicitor General is of the view that the IPRA is partly unconstitutional on the
ground that it grants ownership over natural resources to indigenous peoples and
prays that the petition be granted in part.

ISSUE:
Do the provisions of IPRA contravene the Regalian Doctrine?

HELD:
No, the provisions of IPRA do not contravene the Constitution.

Examining the IPRA, there is nothing in the law that grants to the ICCs/IPs
ownership over the natural resources within their ancestral domain. Ownership

over the natural resources in the ancestral domains remains with the State and
the rights granted by the IPRA to the ICCs/IPs over the natural resources in their
ancestral domains merely gives them, as owners and occupants of the land on
which the resources are found, the right to the small scale utilization of these
resources, and at the same time, a priority in their large scale development and
exploitation.
Additionally, ancestral lands and ancestral domains are not part of the lands of
the public domain. They are private lands and belong to the ICCs/IPs by native
title, which is a concept of private land title that existed irrespective of any royal
grant from the State. However, the right of ownership and possession by the
ICCs/IPs of their ancestral domains is a limited form of ownership and does not
include the right to alienate the same.