Pursuing LAND Partnerships in the Philippines: Finding Common Ground to Address Land Conflicts between Farmers and Indigenous Peoples

Proponent: Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development
Amount: 150,000.00
Project Start Date: August 31, 2005
Project End Date: August 31, 2006
Grant Type: Constituency - Building Grants
Area: National
Grant Status: Past

Project Goals and Objectives

The project aims to: convene inter-sectoral and multi-stakeholder discussions on the issue of overlapping land claims at the national and filed levels; agree on policies and mechanisms for resolution of land conflicts, especially between farmers and IP groups; test the viability of the proposed mechanisms for land conflict resolution in three areas; and document the process of conflict resolution to help refine the mechanism and generate the lessons learned from the experience.

Outputs and Outcomes

Local consultations were only able to surface the complex and emotionally charged issues and not specific mechanisms that could resolve the conflict. Based on two sites, Oriental Mindoro and Bukidnon, resolution or mechanism should be initiated in the national level to direct the respective provincial agencies from DAR and NCIP to work out IP-farmer land conflict. In general, the project was able to accomplish the following: leveled-off aspirations and issues of two very poor sectors on overlapping claims to land, and the need for further education of each other's rights and motivations; surfaced the dire effects of policy overlaps between CARL and IPRA and the lack of effective mechanisms to resolve conflicting claims to land by farmers and IPs; and reinforced the role of CSOs to rekindle processes of dialogue and negotiation between struggling communities and with concerned government agencies. Moreover, a memorandum order from the office of the president [is now] underway to resuscitate a special task force addressing IP-farmer land conflict. In a national consultation attended by at least 70 individuals, the extent of issues on conflicting claims was clarified, recommendations for conflict resolution were proposed, and a joint IP-farmer statement was drafted. The said event made it evident that land conflicts could be attributed to the following: a) lack of understanding on cultures, b) conflicting policies and interpretations of laws, and c) poor implementation of laws. A policy dialogue happened between 34 representatives from the farmers and IP sectors and NGOs and five government agencies (DAR, NAPC, NCIP, DENR, COSLAP). Follow up consultations were also conducted.