The Evolution of Land Tenure in Forestry Management in the Philippines

David G. Gould May 16, 2002 dggould@midmaine.com Abstract Today, 60% of Filipinos make their livelihood in some form of forestry or agriculture. Throughout history the Philippines has seen extensive tree cutting by commercial logging operations of valuable hardwoods. Heavy logging of mountain hardwoods date back to colonial times and continues today. Over 90% of the nation's primary forest have been cleared. (Croke, Thomas, & Lunt 1999) Modern logging techniques were first introduced during the United States colonial period. Most of the land being logged belonged to the state and, lacking any tenure or sense of ownership, those doing the logging had little incentive to be concerned with long-term conservation issues. The Philippines was a resource to be reaped and harvested. Today, heavy logging continues, legal and illegal, with most of the trees being exported to Japan. Timber produced in the Philippines is so economical that the Japanese timber market is almost nonexistent. (Otsuka and Place, 2001) As the country's population expanded, people have migrated into the cleared upland areas as fast as the trees came down. Presently, 55% of the population of the Philippines is located in these environmentally sensitive highlands practicing shifting agriculture. (Early & Headland 1998) This combination of rapid deforestation, population growth and uncontrolled expansion of upland agriculture has resulted in massive soil erosion and land degradation. To complicate maters many of the highland areas most in need of forest protection and other soil saving measures are hideouts of militant anti-government groups. The early Spanish rule and land tenure systems has created an oligarchic system which the Philippines have been unable to shed in its nearly sixty years of independent rule. Unique in its archipelago form, the Philippines represents the only predominately Christian nation in Asia. While a highly literate society it suffers from widespread corruption at all levels of government. In addition its geography of multiple mountainous islands and jungle terrain provide ample hiding places for political revolutionaries which have been part of the Philippines since Spains colonization. Basic Geography The Philippines consists of 7107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, only 2000 of which are inhabited. Luzon and Mindanao are by far the largest, and comprise roughly 66 per cent of the country's area. Only about 1000 islands are larger than one sq. km (0.4 sq. mi.) and 2500 aren't even named. The Philippines' nearest neighbors are Taiwan (north), Eastern Malaysia and Brunei (southwest), and Indonesia (south).(Lonely Planet 2002). The archipelago has a volcanic topography and experiences frequent seismic activity. There are 37 volcanoes in the archipelago and the highest peak is Mt Apo (2954m/9689ft) in Mindanao. There are more than a 1000 species of birds and animals, notably wild dwarf buffalo, mouse deer, crocodiles and pythons. There are over 10,000 species of tree, shrub and fern, the most common of which are palms and bamboo. (Lonely Planet 2002) The Philippines are hot and humid year-round. The weather pattern across the archipelago can be roughly divided into the dry season (January to June) and the wet season brought on by the

annual monsoons (July to December). The average annual temperature is 25C (77F). (Croke, Thomas, & Lunt 1999) Culture The Philippines has developed a mixed culture from the blending of foreign influences with native elements. Today, the Muslims, and some of the isolated tribes, are the only people whose culture remains unadulterated by early Spanish and American influences. Although traditional theatre, literature and kundimans (love songs) in the national language have experienced a resurgence since Cory Aquino's People Power movement.(Lonely Planet 2002) Less than 10% of retain their traditional culture. There are some 60 ethnological groups, ranging from the Badjao of the Sulu archipelago, who are sea gypsies, to the headhunting Kalinga in the north of Bontoc.(Lonely Planet 2002) The Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia. Over 90% of the population claim to follow Christian faiths. The largest of the minority religious groups is the Muslims, who live chiefly on Mindanao and in the Sulu archipelago. The geography and history of the Philippines have conspired to produce a multiplicity of languages, some 80 dialects in total. The concept of a national language developed after the Spanish-American War in 1898 and Tagalog was declared the national language in 1936. In 1973 confirmed Pilipino as the national language which is based on Tagalog, but has linguistic elements of other Philippine languages.(Lonely Planet 2002) One will quickly note that English remains the language of commerce and politics in the Philippines. The literacy rate is quite high with the estimates due to the influence of the Spanish and American colonizers. History and Land Tenure Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1568, land was controlled by the village community under the chief or datu. He could assign usufruct rights to free villagers, while unfree people could lease land. When the Spaniards, who took over the country in 1568, they gave the datu the rank of an administrative official responsible for collecting taxes and recruiting labor. Under the encomienda system, large plots of land and the people living there were entrusted to the conquistadors who had to administer their region, pay taxes and use the labor for agricultural production. These first large landlords lived on the dues of the small cultivators, more and more of whom becoming sharecroppers. (Dolan, 1991) As the Philippines entered the market economy the commercialization of agricultural products for the world market brought wealth and power to the landlords. Unfortunately this left the actual cultivators behind and they were soon tenants on their former land. From 1898 - 1940, the United States ruled the colony and applied a policy of free trade and commercialization. Any land registration benefited mostly the landlords who could register land rights, while the illiterate peasants did not understand the law. The introduction of 'Torrens' titles stipulated that a land user was considered to be the owner as long as nobody could prove otherwise. Again, the landlords had better standing than smallholders to successfully claim land

did. Over time the relationship between landowner and tenant farmer became less amicable and working conditions deteriorated. Soon after independence, the new government started to take measures to counter the peasants' growing dissatisfaction. However, neither the Magsaysay nor the Macapagal land reform programs had much impact. President Marcos' attempts, were more successful, especially the operation leasehold which was to raise share tenants to the position of cash tenants in Luzon. Unfortunately Marcos plan was limited in scope and only 6% of the tenant farmers had gained title to their land.(Dolan 1991) The uncompleted task of land reform would fall to the next government, that of Mrs. Aquino and of Ramos. Ferdinand Marcos was elected president in 1965, declared martial law in 1972 and ruled virtually as a dictator until 1986. His regime was attacked by both communist and Muslim guerrillas, and he was accused of ballot rigging and fraud. The assassination of prominent opposition figure Benigno Aquino in 1983 sparked massive anti-government protests. (Dolan 1991) The election in 1986 saw the opposition parties rally around Aquino's widow, Cory. Both parties claimed victory, but Aquino was widely believed to have polled most votes. After turbulent civil unrest, Marcos, in poor health left the Philippines forever. The Aquino Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of 1986 limited land ownership to 5 ha plus an extra amount for children. However, the conditions of implementation, over time, were such that they reduced the actual impact of the law: it gave the landlords much time for preparation. Instead of allowing the land to be confiscated, they could choose to transfer it to an income or product-sharing institution. Especially in the rice and corn areas, the income to be expected was too small for the beneficiaries to pay the purchase price rates. The land allotted to landless families and families having little land were usually government land. (Dolan, 1991) Most forested uplands, slopes of 18 % or more belonged to the government. They were meant to be forested or reserved to hill tribes in customary tenure, but whenever a person was willing to pay taxes for a plot of land, he could be registered as owner of permanent usufruct rights. (Dolan, 1991) In the meantime, the poverty and degradation of smallholders and tenants increased and agricultural production is stagnated in the food crop sector. The relatively widespread and powerful NGOs try to fight for the small peasant's rights. Aquino re-established the democratic institutions of the country, but failed to tackle economic problems or win over the military and the powerful Filipino elite. US interest in the country diminished following the 1991 destruction of the Clark Air Base by a volcano eruption and after the Philippine Senate refused to ratify the lease on the Subic Bay Naval Station. In 1992, Cory Aquinos Defense Minister Fidel Ramos succeeded her in office. Ramos attempted to revitalize the economy, attract foreign investment, cleanse corruption and expand provision of utilities. In 1998, Ramos was replaced as president by Joseph Estrada. Estrada. He was subsequently impeached and brought to trial in late 2000 on charges of taking bribes from gambling syndicates, and using the proceeds to line his own pockets. His former vice-president, Gloria Arroyo, was subsequently sworn in as the new president of the Philippines. In an inauguration speech, Arroyo promised to wipe out poverty end corruption and provide land reform.

Environmental Issues The environmental issues facing the Philippines are; uncontrolled deforestation, soil erosion and air and water pollution. Overall, the Philippines are highly susceptible to environmental damage. Most of the country's more than 7100 islands are mountainous with narrow coastlines and fragile soils. In addition, the country has a tropical climate that alternates between land drenching monsoons and drought-causing El Nino events which sorely tax the nation's water resources, both surface and underground. Most of these islands were believed to have been partially if not wholly covered with forest vegetation at the start of the 20th century. Of the Philippines total land area of 30 million ha, about 50% are currently classified as forestlands under the direct administration of the State. Just before World War II in 1934, the country had a total of around 17 million ha of forest cover. (Forest Management Bureau, 1998) Indiscriminate logging, slash and burn cultivation, and a combination of socio-economic and political factors, contributed to the diminution of the countrys forest cover to the present 5.39 M ha. Despite the limited remaining forest cover at present, the forestry sector remains the centerpiece of the countrys natural resource base and ecosystems, and the important pillar supporting its development efforts. Not only was deforestation affecting upland human populations its effects on natural systems and wildlife were devastating. With a rising population and rapid deforestation the Philippines, hectare per hectare has the highest number of threatened endemic species of any country in the world. (Buck Geiser Schelhas and Wollenberg, 2001) Shifting cultivation is the practice of clearing away forests to plant crops, then moving on when the soil becomes depleted of nutrients. It is a short-term solution in which farmers must continually move to new-forested areas for fertile land. The abandoned farmland begins its successional path, which may take over a century to return to its former state. The efforts of the government to control forest resources could not be enforced against the strong local needs of subsistence and income generation. In some areas where wood for fuel was a free commodity, the essentially open access prevented action for forest preservation and sustainable management. Though the government spent considerable effort to settle shifting cultivators and stabilize their farming techniques, a large share of forestland in the highlands was still cultivated using such practices. Rapid population growth and competition for land with the migrants have made shifting cultivation one of the main causes of deforestation and land degradation. The practice of slash and burn is not sustainable in that the limited amounts of forests cannot support the agricultural needs of a burgeoning population indefinitely. (Early & Headland, 1998) Upland farmers used to practicing mainly slash and burn agriculture have been reluctant to adopt such land rejuvenating and soil saving measures due to little or no tenure interests. Efforts made by the government to introduce Agroforestry have had mixed results. Upland farmers were urged to plant mulberry trees in between rows of crops. The selling point was the farmers would harvest additional income from silkworms while the government would gain by retarding further erosion and soil degradation. The project failed, however, because the silkworms died. Further efforts were discontinued because farmers who thought the trees were useless without the silkworms stopped planting them.(Croke, Thomas, & Lunt 1999) Erosion, in conjunction with population growth, has played a major role in the decrease in the amount of land available for food and forest production. The arable land availability per capita in

the Philippines is now between .05 ha and .13 ha, which is considerably lower than the world average of .26 ha. In addition, forest and woodland resources available per capita have dwindled to between .11 ha and .26 ha in comparison to the world average of .76 ha. . (Croke, Thomas, & Lunt 1999) The effect this ongoing soil loss could have on the nation's future food supply is a matter of some concern. Only 26% of the country's land is arable and 5% of that must be irrigated to be usable. Although the Philippines presently is a net exporter of food, this could change. The 74.4 millionperson population of the Philippines is already the 13th largest in the world, and growing at a rate of 2.2% a year. . (Croke, Thomas, & Lunt 1999) Over the last three decades, the Philippine forestry sector has radically shifted its orientation from a Government based approach, towards a more socially oriented strategy to forest management. This shift in orientation was primarily driven by two major factors: 1) the inability of the traditional forestry approach to address the dual crisis of poverty and forest degradation; and 2) the pressing demand, mostly from the civil society sector, towards a more democratized access to the countrys forest resources. (INFC 2000) At the center of this shift in forest management orientation is the 1995 adoption of community-based forest management or CBFM as the national strategy to achieve sustainable forestry and social justice. (INFC 2000) The Evolution of Community Forestry Policy and Practice The evolution of the policy and practice of the Philippines community forestry was influenced by its long history of colonization. Prior to the Spanish colonizers, land ownership was generally communal. Forests were free for anybody's access and "ownership" was vested on whoever cleared and cultivated the land first. Land was never owned in the same way as the present concept of land ownership. With the arrival of the Spaniards, land ownership was legalized through the institution of land titling, and the system of communal ownership and the traditional method of acquiring land through actual occupation and cultivation was superseded. From it evolved the concept of Regalian Doctrine, which vested the ownership of all land in the country under the Spanish crown. Control, ownership and administration of the forest resources were placed under the state. The Forest Service strictly regulated forest use and prohibited unauthorized encroachment into forestlands and illegal cutting of timber. A series of Royal Decrees were issued from Spain to this effect from 1866 to 1887 including the prohibition of "kaingin" making or shifting cultivation which was the main source of livelihood of most indigenous people.(Makil, 1982) When the Americans took over occupation of the Philippine islands, they continued the idea of Regalian Doctrine to maintain the state-controlled management of the forest resources. Such control benefited US commercial interests. The local administration retained the authority of classifying land into private and public domain. It also handled the decisions on licenses for forest exploitation. The Americans' demand for cheap timber became its prime motivation for formulating forest policies during its colonial administration. These policies benefited the privileged few and resulted in massive destruction of the country's forest resources. State ownership and control of forestlands was perpetuated by the first Constitution of the independent Philippine Republic in July 4, 1946. It stipulated in Section 1, Article 13 that all timber lands "belong to the State". (Boado, 1985) The situation reinforced the massive timber

exportation earlier established by the Americans. By the 1950s logging business had grown so profitable that timber licenses proliferated. From a licensed area of 4.48 million hectares in 1959, it more than doubled to 10.59 million hectares in 1971 accounting for one-third of the country's total land area. The timber license control of one third of the country's land area was sustained from 1971 to 1977 after which it gradually decreased to the current 1.4 million hectares. (Forest Management Bureau 1998) As in colonial period, timber utilization had been the monopoly of the monetized, more influential and usually politically connected representing a tiny portion of the citizenry. Meanwhile, occupants of the public domain, including indigenous peoples, were continuously treated as squatters and threatened with eviction or imprisonment if found clearing forest from public land. Sustained efforts to incorporate the idea of community forestry in the countrys forest policy occurred in the last three decades in various government programs and projects initiated during this period. The evolution of community forestry grew slowly from its beginnings in the 1970s. The first three major people-oriented forestry programs, namely, the Forest Occupancy Management (FOM), Family Approach to Reforestation (FAR), and the Communal Tree Farming (CTF). In general, these programs centered on the involvement of the local people in the reforestation activities. (INF&C 2001) People were seen more as labor-provider rather than partners in forest conservation and development. Despite this, however, it was during this period that the forestry sector started to realize that the problem of deforestation is not merely technical but also socio-political in nature. Frank Hirtz noted that the separation of land use, tenure and its social relationships would likely undermine land reform initiatives. (Hirtz, 1998) Later two people-oriented forestry programs, namely, the Integrated Social Forestry Program (ISFP) and the Community Forestry Program (CFP) were introduced. One of the important features of the program was the issuance of a 25-year stewardship contract to deserving forest occupants (individual or group) giving priority to those who have been occupying their lands prior to December 31, 1981. (INF&C 2001) These contracts however prohibited commercial extraction of timber and hence management of forest resources and its accompanying benefits remained in the hands of timber licensees. On the other hand, CFP extended the coverage of community forestry to natural forests allowing participating upland communities to commercially utilize forest resources subject to appropriate social and technical preparation. (INF&C 2001) The integration and consolidation period saw the growing recognition that upland poverty alleviation, social justice and equity in resource distribution, and forest sustainability, may be achieved through community forestry. From 1990 to the present, has been characterized by the growth of community forestry to include various land use types not originally included. In particular, community forestry coverage included degraded watershed areas, protected areas, and practically all types of forests where there were forest occupants. The era is also marked by increasing support from the international funding agencies. Efforts to provide tenurial security during this period led to the evolution of varied types of tenure instruments. Moreover, attempts to alleviate upland poverty while ensuring the sustainability of the forest resources induced the development of diverse types of income generating technologies for the uplands. Various forms of institutional arrangements also continue to evolve in the present period. From a purely government-implemented projects in the 1970s, the practice of community forestry has increasingly involved upland communities in forest management with the assistance of other

sectors such as the non government organizations (NGOs), local government units (LGUs), the academe, and other assisting organizations. The present devolution in forest management to the various units of local government including the provincial, municipal and barangay levels through the passage of the Local Government Code (LGC) on October 10, 1991. (INF&C 2001) The Code provided for the involvement of cities and municipalities in the country in the implementation of community-based forestry projects. These projects include the integrated social forestry and similar projects, management of and control of communal forests with an area not exceeding fifty (50) square kilometers; and establishment of tree parks, greenbelt, and similar forest development projects. Similarly, provinces and cities are involved in the enforcement of forestry laws, pollution control law, small-scale mining law, and other laws on the protection of the environment. (INF&C 2001) In 1992, the Philippines Congress the National Integrated Protected Area Systems Act (NIPAS) This act recognizes the land rights of indigenous peoples who previously were viewed as squatters on public land. (Buck Geiser Schelhas and Wollenberg, 2001) In July 1995, a landmark policy was issued by Philippine President through Executive Order (E.O.) No. 263 adopting Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) as the national strategy for sustainable forestry and social equity. (INF&C 2001) The institutionalization of CBFM as the primary government strategy towards the restructuring of the once Timber License Agreement (TLA) controlled timber industry. The Timber License Agreements (TLAs) used to control one third of the countrys total land area of 30 million hectares from 1971 to 1977. (INF&C 2001) As the policy shifted to CBFM logging companys areas gradually declined to the present 1.4 million hectares through the cancellation of erring licensees and non-renewal of the expired ones (INF&C 2001) The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Strategic Action Plan for CBFM envisions that 9 million hectares of forest lands will be placed under community management by the year 2008. This constitutes around 58 percent of the countrys total forestland area. On the other hand, only 0.5 million hectares are expected to be allocated for industrial tree plantations and other purposes. (INF&C 2001) Conclusions The Philippines have had a long history of being controlled by outside influences. Beginning with the Spanish conquest to the United States colonial era the countrys resources were not in its own control. Those outside influences did not seek long-term investment in the Philippines, but sought profit from extraction of natural resources. A two-tier system of land ownership and cultivation developed. As the economy changed the tradition relationship between landowner and cultivator changed. In the Post war era, when the Philippines finally did gain its own independence and land tenure was vested in the landed elite, which quickly gained additional power through political and socio-economic means. In a country where property is controlled by small percent of the population graft and political corruption are rampant. Land reform programs became a regular platform of political candidates, which could never muster the political will or endurance to see them through. Today as the country tries to solve the complex problems of environmental degradation, widespread poverty and political corruption the focus has been away from traditional single owner tenure relationships towards community based management. In addition to directing programs away from centralized government to local management programs seek to address social and cultural land tenure relationships.

REFERENCES General Davis, Lucile, The Philippines, Bridgestone Books, Mankato, MN, 1999. Dolan Roland E. Philippines, a country study, Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, June 1991. Hamilton-Paterson, James, Americas boy: a century of colonialism in the Philippines, H. Holt, New York 1999. Oleksy, Walter G., The Philippines, Childrens Press, New York, 2000. Rodell, Paul A., Culture and Customs of the Philippines, Greenwood Press, Westport, CN, 2002. Sidel, John Thayer, Capitol Coercion, and crime: bossism in the Philippines, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA., 1999. Wee, Jessie, Philippines, Chelsea House Publishers, Philadelphia, 1999. Land Tenure Benwell, George L., Understanding Indigenous Land Tenure Issues and the Process of Modernization. Berner, Erhard (2000) International Journal of Urban & Regional Research Vol 24 Issue 3 pp. 554-547 Boado, E. L. (1985). Forestry in development: Philippines and Malaysia. Ph.D. Thesis, State University of New York, Syracuse, New York. UMI Dissertation Information Service: Michigan. Buck. Louise, Biological Diversity: balancing interests through adaptive collaborative management, CRC Press, 2001. Boca Raton, FL Crisologo-Mendoza, Lorelei; Van de gaer, Dirk (2001) Economic Development & Cultural Change Vol. 49 Issue 3 pp. 631-659 Early John, D., Population Dynamics of a Philippine rain forest people: the San Ildefonso Agta, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 1998. Faeth, Paul, Agricultural policy and sustainability: case studies from India, Chile, the Philippines and the United States, World Resources Institute, Washington DC, 1993. Forest Management Bureau (1998). Philippine Forestry Statistics. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines.

Hirtz, Frank (1998) The Discourse that Silences Beneficiaries Ambivalence Towards Redistributive Land Reform in the Philippines, Development & Change Vol. 29 Issue 2, pp. 247276. Makil, P. (1982). Toward a social-forestry oriented policy: the Philippine experience. Institute of Philippine Culture, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines. Otsuka, Keijiro and Place, Frank Land Tenure and Natural Resource Management: A Comparative Study of Agrarian Communities in Asia and Africa, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore, 2001. Resnick, Stephen A., (1970) The Decline of Rural Industry Under Export Expansion: A Comparison among Burma, the Philippines, and Thailand, 1870 1938, Journal of Economic History, Vol. 30 Issue 1 pp. 51-75
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