In the Philippines, while a number of legislations on land have already existed, their approach to land allocation, use, and, management are often sectoral and fragmented, resulting in many land use conflicts, while ignoring the issue of sustainable use. Hence, the Campaign for Land Use Policy Now, of which ANGOC is a member, has been pushing for the passage of the National Land Use Act (NLUA).
In support of its passage, three desk studies were commissioned, and the proceedings of the high level forum on agricultural lands entitled, “Philippine Agricultural Lands Are They Worth Protecting? Expert Roundtable Discussion on Agricultural Lands for Food Security” held last June 4, 2015 with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), were published to bolster the importance of NLUA. These publications are now in its abridged versions, and will be utilized as lobby kits for the NLUA bill’s passage.
The publications may be downloaded below:
Striking a balance: Agricultural interests vis-à-vis housing concerns in the National Land Use Act – This paper examines the seemingly conflicted need for food and housing in the country. The writer – Carmina Flores-Obanil – describes that from 1982 to 1997 massive land conversions in the urban fringes of Bulacan and Cavite attribute to policies encouraging the expansion of industries in rural areas. The paper recommends that government intervention through a national physical framework plan is needed, not only to halt the expansion of development into prime agricultural lands deemed protected by current land laws, but more importantly, systematically balancing the need for food and shelter through a participatory and strategic allocation of our country’s land resource.
Land, property and tenurial rights in a changing coastal environment – This desk study is a brief policy research on the relationship of land use planning with damages to the coastal environment due to climate change done in partnership with NGOs for Fisheries Reform (NFR). It narrates that coastal areas in the Philippines are heavily contested due to lax enforcement of existing laws, and with the impacts of natural hazards from climate change, hazard exposure and disasters, vulnerability from risks of fishing communities within the coastal areas increase.
Land use and development in Northern Mindanao – This publication provides an overview of the inadequacies of current policies on regulating, conserving and utilizing land resources in Northern Mindanao, at the same time, it evaluates how the proposed National Land Use and Management Act may impact at the local level. It contextualizes the discussion on land governance issues in relation to the Typhoon Sendong aftermath.
Philippine agricultural lands: Are they worth protecting? – As one of the major outputs of the high level experts forum held last June 4, 2015, this abridged version of the proceedings highlights the experts’ discussion, answering the following key questions related to agriculture:
The result of the forum, specifically on “Prime Agricultural Lands”, as defined by participants and experts, will be used as input to the on-going discussions on the pending NLUA bill in the Senate this 16th Congress, and for further discussion on agriculture and rural development in the future.
These publications were prepared with support from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale (GIZ) GmbH, Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE), International Land Coalition (ILC), and MISEREOR.
