Fr. Francis Lucas (behind the lectern), ANGOC Chairperson Emeritus, facilitates the summit.
Land governance in the Philippines remains a big challenge as land deprivation, problematic land information and valuation data, complex and tedious bureaucratic processes, overlapping tenurial policies, highly sectoral approach in addressing land issues, and absence of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms persist. These multi-faceted concerns also exacerbate the problem with land rights claim of smallholders in the country.
Earlier this year, GIZ, the Land Management Bureau (LMB) and the Asian NGO Coalition (ANGOC) organized a land summit to raise awareness of the Enhanced Land Sector Development Framework (eLSDF) and Roadmap 2019 to 2040, and to generate commitments of support from policymakers and decision-makers for its implementation. The agenda also included eliciting ideas from the academe and other relevant sectors. The summit gathered 140 representatives from national government agencies, development partners, civil society organizations, peoples’ organizations, media, the academe, and the private sector.
Meet the panelists: DENR Undersecretary Ernesto D. Adobo, Jr.; Ms. Laura Oexle, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Philippines; Congressman Francisco Paolo Ortega; Dr. Andreas Lange, Senior Adviser Land Governance; and Immanuel Gebhardt, Country Director of GIZ Philippines and Pacific Islands States. Not shown is Elmer Mercado of the Philippine Institute of Environment Planners.
Land management experiences across the world and in particular the current state of land in Asia provided an impetus for everyone to support the national adoption of the eLSDF. The framework emerged from earlier initiatives by the DENR to outline a sector-wide strategy and from numerous consultations with a broad range of stakeholders – from government, non-government organizations/ civil society, academe and professional organizations, as well as private individuals – who have high stakes in a strengthened land sector. It lays out strategies for enabling policy environment, land administration and tenure security, land management, land information system, institutional development and capacity building, valuation and market. The significance of the framework and its roadmap was highlighted by the Interagency Technical Working Group of the Responsible Land Governance in Mindanao (RLGM) project and its accompanying report was accepted by the Project Management Committee through a resolution.
Government agencies outlined their support of LSDF based on their institutional mandate and expertise. The other sectors focused on the relevance of the LSDF, and what they could contribute to realize its objectives. (RLGM/ Opalyn Agulay)
