Indigenous Peoples’ Struggle for Secure Land Tenure in the Philippines: Case Study of Higaonon Tribe in Opol, Mindanao

Petr Drbohlav,Jiri Hejkrlik

doi:10.5539/ass.v13n7p38

Abstract

Indigenous peoples worldwide struggle for control over land and natural resources against encroachment of state interests, external development and commercial pressures such as agribusiness, dams, logging and mining. Their battle to protect land and natural resources is at the same time the struggle to preserve indigenous culture and traditions often inextricably linked to the land itself. The Philippine Indigenous Peoples Rights Act recognizes the indigenous peoples’ rights to their ancestral lands and domains and offers a way of improving their land tenure security. The article employs case study design to illustrate the implementation gap between the rights of indigenous peoples in law and practice and the role different stakeholders play in securing indigenous peoples’ land tenure and dealing with palm oil agribusiness and mining industries’ interests in ancestral domains on the case of Higaonon tribe in Misamis Oriental province, Mindanao. The methodology for data collection was focus group discussions and key informant interviews with representatives of tribal leaders and members, non-government organizations and government bodies. Our results indicate that conflicting laws and mandates of various government bodies and lack of coordination between them, as well as lack of resources and political will to implement the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act are important factors behind slow issuance of ancestral domain titles. At the same time, we show that significant factor in the land tenure insecurity of indigenous peoples is disunity within the tribe and conflicting interests of its members and clans used by companies to further enhance their business interests. r, regarding weaving and finishing the rim, it should be done neatly without visible welded joints, and also 5) the product quality: each part is assembled fixing by leather, inside of the product is attached by cloth as well as filled with leftover fabric. Besides, the sewing should be considerably emphasized the strength to carry weight. In addition, the overall assessment of handcraft vetiver seat cushion model is at a high level.

Highlights

Indigenous people worldwide struggle for control over what they claim as their land and their natural resources
The primary data were collected in April and July 2016 with additional data collection in February 2017 combining several methods – 6 focus group discussions with tribal council and barangay representatives, 2 focus group discussions with staff of local NGOs working with indigenous peoples in Northern Mindanao, 6 in-depth interviews with tribal leaders, 6 in-depth interviews with local NGO workers, 8 key informant interviews with representatives of provincial National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), national and provincial Commission for Human Rights (CHR) and provincial office of Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) as well as dozens of informal discussions with members of Higaonon tribe
This paper has sought to clarify the difficult situation faced by indigenous communities in the Philippines when confronted by State-backed efforts to promote agribusiness and mining in their ancestral lands and domains

Summary

Introduction

Indigenous people worldwide struggle for control over what they claim as their land and their natural resources. In the times of globalization, they encounter encroachment of state interests, external development and commercial pressures such as large-scale agribusiness, logging and mining into their traditional lands. This accelerates deforestation and exploitation of natural resources in what has remained from their ancestral domains after the colonial period during which indigenous peoples had lost vast amounts of their ancestral lands. As shown by Göcke (2013), Perera (2009), Carino (2009) and many others, the loss of land has led to social, political and economic marginalization; indigenous peoples have become disadvantaged by almost every standard compared to the dominant society - including income, education, housing, health, and life expectancy. Lands that governments claim as idle, marginal and uncultivated and target for land concessions, investment or development are in reality often existing agricultural lands in ancestral domains where various customary land tenure arrangements are already in place (White et al, 2012; Borras & Franco, 2011; Schneider, 2011; Scoones et al, 2013; AFRIM, 2011)

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Conclusion