DOJ OPINION NO. 078, s. 2002
September 19, 2002

Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles
Lead Convenor
National Anti-Poverty Commission
Office of the President
6th/7th Floor, DHC Building
1115 EDSA, Quezon City

M a d a m:

        Reference is made to the request for opinion on the legal options which the President may undertake to expedite the recognition of ancestral domain claims within the Central Mindanao University (CMU) in Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon.

        You state that the opinion of this Department will be needed for the eventual dialogue between the President and the Board of Regents of CMU. It is your hope that an "advice on the fastest legal means will be given to the President to immediately secure claims of the Manobo communities without prejudicing their long-term option to fully enjoy their rights under the Indigenous People's Rights Act of 1997".

        The request, it appears, is made in view of the claims of the Manobo-Talaandig community on some portions of the lands which are now registered in the name of the CMU.

        The records show the following as background of the instant request:

Presidential Proclamation No. 476 was issued on January 16, 1958 by then President Carlos P. Garcia, withdrawing from sale or settlement and reserving a total of 3,401 hectares of land for the Mindanao Agricultural College, the forerunner of CMU, "subject to private rights, if any there be". In 1961, the University applied for a title before the Courts of First Instance of Bukidnon to perfect its rights over the land. On December 22, 1971, the Cadastral Court rendered a decision in favor of the school only after segregating several hectares of land in favor of several claimants, mostly Bukidnon-Manobos. The decision was further amended on October 7, 1972, and later on September 12, 1974 to accommodate other claimants. All in all, 321 hectares were segregated leaving CMU with only 3,080 hectares. Thereafter, the Register of Deeds granted the University titles over the land, namely OCT No. 0-160; OCT No. 0-161; and OCT No. 0-162 on January 29, 1975.

        It appears, however, that there are still claims by the Manobo-Talaandig community which the present CMU President, Dr. Mardonio Lao, acknowledged in his book entitled "Bukidnon Perspective"

        Proclamation No. 476 (Reserving for the Mindanao Agricultural-College Site Purposes Certain Portions of the Public Domain Situated in the Barrio of Musuan, Municipality of Maramag, Province of Bukidnon, Island of Mindanao) which was issued on January 16, 1958 provides in part:

"Upon, recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources and pursuant to the provisions of Section 83 of Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended, I, CARLOS P. GARCIA, President of the Philippines, do hereby withdraw from sale or resettlement and reserve for the Mindanao Agricultural College site purposes, under the administration of the Board of Trustees of the said College, subject to private rights, if any there be, and to future classification by the Bureau of Forestry, and to the condition that the utilization, removal or disposal of timber or other forest products therein shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Forest and Internal Revenue and Regulations, certain portions of the public domain situated in the Barrio of Musuan, Municipality of Maramag, Province of Bukidnon, Island of Mindanao . . . " (Emphasis supplied.)

        Pursuant to the above-mentioned Proclamation, which explicitly states that the "reservation" of subject properties as school site for the Mindanao Agricultural College (now CMU) is subject to "private rights, if any there be", it appears that the Manobo-Talaandig community has a right to claim the lands possessed and occupied by them as their ancestral domain. In the interpretation of statutes, nothing is better recognized than the rule that when the words and phrases of the statute are clear and unequivocal, their meaning must be determined from the language used and the statute must be taken to mean exactly what it says (Baranda vs. Gustilo, 165 SCRA 757-770, citing cases; Secretary of Justice Opinion No. 8, s. 1993). The reason is because when the law is clear, interpretation does not apply — only application (see also, Aparri vs. Court of Appeals, 127 SCRA 231; Sec. of Justice Op. Nos. 44 and 145, s. 1985).

        It is believed that the original certificates of title issued in favor of CMU cannot and should not negate the rights, if any, of the indigenous community over the subject properties. The phrase "subject to private rights, if any there be" could be interpreted as a recognition that Proclamation No. 476 may have included lands belonging to private parties, and accordingly respects their rights thereto. This view is strengthened by the fact that some 321 hectares had already been segregated from the 3,401 hectares originally granted to accommodate the claims of private individuals, among them, the Bukidnon-Manobos.

        Moreover, the 1987 Constitution mandates that the State "shall protect the rights of the indigenous cultural communities to their ancestral lands to ensure their economic, social and cultural well-being" (Section 5, Article XII). To implement and to give meaning to this constitutional provision, R.A. No. 8371, otherwise known as the "The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997" was enacted into law to institute and establish the necessary mechanisms to, inter alia, "adopt and implement measures to protect their rights to their ancestral domains" (Sec. 2, R.A. No. 8371).

        "Ancestral domains" as defined in R.A. No. 8371, refer to those lands, including inland waters, coastal areas and natural resources therein, held under a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed by indigenous cultural communities or indigenous peoples (ICCs/IPs) by themselves or through their ancestors, communally or individually, since time immemorial, continuously up to the present except when interrupted by war, force majeure, etc. (Sec. 3 [a], id.). On the other hand, "ancestral lands" refers to lands occupied, possessed and utilized by individuals, families and clans who are members of the ICCs/IPs since time immemorial, by themselves or though the predecessors-in-interest, under claims of individual or traditional group of ownership, continuously to the present, except when interrupted by war, force majeure, etc. (Sec. 3 [b], id).

        Pursuant to Section 7 of R.A. No. 8371, the rights of ownership and possession of ICCs/IPs to their ancestral domains shall be recognized and respected. The government agency created to implement the policies, plans and programs to promote and protect the rights and well-being of the ICCs/IPs and the recognition of their ancestral domains as well as their rights is the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) (Sec. 38, id).

        Considering that the claimants herein are members of the indigenous cultural community, the validity of their claims should be determined with the indispensable involvement of the NCIP, particularly its Ancestral Domains Office (ADO) which is the particular Office under the NCIP which is responsible for the identification, delineation and recognition of ancestral lands/domains (Sec. 46 [a], R.A. No. 8371).

        The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) should likewise be made directly involved in the determination of the aforesaid claims as it exercises "exclusive jurisdiction on the management and disposition of all lands of the public domain and serve as the sole agency responsible for classification, sub-classification, surveying and titling of lands in consultation with appropriate agencies" (Sec. 4 (15). Chapter 1, Title XIV, Book IV, Administrative Code of 1987; see also Sec. 52, R.A. No. 8371).    cASEDC

        Once the validity of the claims of the Manobo-Talaandig community is determined in accordance with the provisions of R.A. No. 8371 and its implementing rules and regulations, the properties claimed by them and duly established and validated pursuant to R.A. No. 8371 will be segregated from the CMU reservation as established under Proclamation No. 476.

        In the meantime, since the process of determining the claims of the Manobo-Talaandig community under R.A. No. 8371 may take some time, the President, pursuant to the provisions of Section 14 [1], Chapter 4, Book 3, of the Administrative Code of 1987, could issue a Proclamation segregating a certain portion of the CMU reservation established under Proclamation No. 476 and reserve the same for use and settlement of the Manobo-Talaandig community and other indigenous peoples, subject to the provisions of R.A. No. 8371, otherwise known as the "Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1987".

        Attached is a draft Proclamation which you may consider submitting to the President for this purpose.

        Please be guided accordingly. 

Very truly yours,

(SGD.) HERNANDO B. PEREZ

Secretary