SC voids ancestral land titles in Baguio forest

BAGUIO CITY: The Supreme Court has nullified the Certificate of Ancestral Land Title (CALT) of an Ibaloi family covering portions of a forest reservation because it said Baguio is excluded from the protections guaranteed by the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 8371 or the “Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997.”

However, the high court pointed out that the rights of Indigenous Peoples will continue to be safeguarded by the United States Supreme Court decision in 1909 called the native title doctrine that recognizes ancestral lands during the American colonial period.

The said decision was enshrined in the Supreme Court’s latest decision on July 11, 2023, but was only posted on its website recently where it reiterated its previous rulings that Section 78 of RA 8371 exempts the Baguio townsite reservation from its coverage since the city will continue to be governed by its charter that is why no ancestral title may be issued in favor of claimants from the city.

The decision, penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, addressed the government’s petition for review of a 2013 Court of Appeals (CA) ruling that upheld the issuance of four CALTs inside a Baguio forest that was granted by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in 2008.

The decision said the IPRA did not overturn the native title doctrine that was laid down in Cariño versus Insular government that recognizes ownership of land occupied and possessed since time immemorial.

The aforesaid doctrine arose from a lawsuit filed by Ibaloi tribal leader Mateo Cariño against the America colonial government for allegedly taking over his property within Camp John Hay.

The US high tribunal stated that Cariño may not have titled his lands while the country was governed by Spain but he retained his native rights because he occupied his property since time immemorial.

“The NCIP has no authority to issue ancestral titles over territories declared part of Baguio City prior to the enactment of IPRA. Only when Congress reclassifies these properties through law will the

NCIP have the authority to issue ancestral titles over Baguio City,” the decision said.

The decision also pointed out that when land had been held under private ownership, it is presumed to have been held in the same way from before the Spanish conquest.

The high tribunal argued that by providing occupation for a long time, the land is presumptively private and the burden of proof shifts to the government to show that the land was ceded to the State.

The Supreme Court explained that claimants may still pursue registration of titles and prove their ownership pursuant to the Cariño doctrine despite the city being exempted from the coverage of IPRA.