As part of its commitments to systematically track land conflicts in the Philippines, the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) has prepared the Interim 2024 Philippine Land and Resource Conflict Monitoring Report. In partnership with the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), ANGOC organized a validation workshop last 7 November in Quezon City Hall to discuss the said report. Thirty-six representatives from various civil society organizations (CSO), basic sectors, NAPC staff and Commission of Human Rights participated in the event.
The introduction, led by Marianne Naungayan of ANGOC, consisted of a brief review of the findings from previous years and the relevance of the 2024 report. It has been found that many land and resource conflicts remain undocumented and that there is no official agency to monitor these cases. Moreover, the monitoring initiative also documents incidents of human rights violations (HRVs)linked to the land/resource conflicts which further emphasizes the need to continue the dialogue with relevant government agencies.
Following this, Atty. Geminiano Sandoval of ANGOC gave an overview of the 2024 interim report. The methodology of the report was discussed, as well as the state of the currently collected data. Findings have shown that there is a need to address generational land conflicts spanning over 20 years and the numerous instances of land-related human rights violations.
The workshop concluded with a plenary discussion where participants shared other cases and recommendations that could be included in the report. They also added their inputs to the recommendations of the report which included some ways forward for the government, for businesses, and for other CSOs.
The insights gained from this activity will be used for the inter-agency dialogue on 27 November 2024, jointly organized by ANGOC, Commission on Human Rights (CHR), and NAPC.
This event was possible through the support of We Effect as part of its program in the Philippines, Growing Resilient Organizations Working Together towards Gender Equality, Transformative Housing, and Empowerment of the Ruralfolk (GROW Together).
