Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen has urged college students to champion the rights of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) by studying the law and mastering its nuances to protect marginalized communities.
Leonen made the statement during his discussion with undergraduate students on 21 October 2025, at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) during Talakayang Alay sa Bayan (TALAB) held at Leong Hall in Quezon City. The talk, titled “Beyond the Regalian Doctrine: How the Indigenous Peoples Redefined the Land and the Law,” was organized by the Ateneo Student Judicial Court.
The justice explained how laws and jurisprudence have historically shaped IPs’ concepts of identity and land, noting that the Regalian doctrine — which declares that all resources on public lands belong to the State — has often conflicted with IPs’ rights to their ancestral domains.
Drawing from his experience as a public-interest lawyer, Leonen shared how living among indigenous communities helped him understand their culture and daily struggles. He emphasized the need to challenge stereotypes and generalizations about IP identity.
“It is difficult to stand and argue for marginalized groups simply because there is very little in the law for them. And whatever is in the law sometimes is too compromised that it does not capture the entirety of their reality,” he said, pointing to the persistent issue of land encroachment.
Leonen recalled leading the Legal Rights Center in 1988 to draft the Commission on Ancestral Domain Bill, which later became the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act — a landmark law correcting historical injustices against IPs. He later defended its validity before the Supreme Court in the landmark case Cruz v. Secretary of DENR, which recognized native title as distinct from the Regalian doctrine.
As a member of the Supreme Court, Leonen has continued applying social-justice principles to cases involving IPs, including his 2021 ponencia in Daco v. Cabojar, which affirmed the Tagbanua leader’s ancestral rights over “Black Island” or Isla Malajem in Palawan.
While acknowledging progress in policy and jurisprudence, Leonen warned that challenges remain. “It is never complete. The representation of law, of what is necessary for indigenous groups, is not always perfect.”
He also cited emerging concerns such as intellectual-property issues linked to artificial intelligence and reminded students of their role in ensuring meaningful justice: “What is just should be what becomes legal. Again, what is legal is not unjust, but it is not always just. And our efforts are to capture in the legal, the text of the law, or its interpretation, what is socially just.”