Securing Land Rights of Women in the Philippines

Presented by Brenda S. Batistiana of the Land Equity International (LEI) during the ADB Community of Practice (CoP) Seminar 17 February 2014
The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

Objectives of the Project

1. Assess the gender responsiveness of LAM, specifically:
The disposition and registration of land tenure instruments for five types of land:
Agrarian land; Alienable and disposable public land; Protected, watershed and forest lands; Fishponds; and Urban lands for socialized housing.

Land taxation and recording systems and procedures in two local government units.

2. Propose a Gender and Development (GAD) strategy for land administration and management 3. Pilot test short-term action points of the GAD strategy in two local government units

Analytical Framework
Gender Evaluation Criteria (GEC) of the UNHABITAT Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) Focused on six themes or criteria: 1. Participation (and benefit) of women and men 2. Capacity development and empowerment of women; 3. Legal and institutional considerations to ensure equality of land access and land tenure security; 4. Social and cultural considerations; 5. Economic considerations; and 6. Scale, coordination and sustainability.

Method
Presentations and discussions during a national forum of nine government agencies
1. Department of Agrarian Reform 2. Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 3. Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of DENR 4. National Power Corporation 5. Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources 6. Housing and Urban Development and Coordinating Council 7. National Housing Authority 8. Land Registration Authority 9. Bureau of Local Government Finance

Feedback of representatives of women from five sectors (farmers, fishers, urban poor, indigenous people and non-governmental organizations) of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC)

Method
Presentations and discussions in two local government units:
1. Municipal/City Agrarian Reform Office 2. Municipal/City Environment and Natural Resources Office 3. Land Management Services of DENR 4. Municipal/City Assessors Office 5. Municipal/City Treasurers Office 6. Municipal/City Planning and Development Office 7. Municipal/City Social Welfare and Development Office 8. Non-governmental organizations

Pre-testing of incorporation of gender data in land database of the two LGUs Community Forums in the two LGUs

Results: Areas of Strength

Criterion 1 (Participation): Increasing proportion of women holding land tenure instruments; Criterion 3 (Legal and Institutional considerations): Presence of laws requiring all government agencies and local government units to integrate Gender and Development (GAD) in their policies and operations; allocate at least 5% of their total budget for GAD activities; and establish a GAD Focal Point System; Criterion 6 (Scale, Coordination & Sustainability): Nationwide coverage of GAD laws and policies.

Strength #1: Participation Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries

100%
90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

92% 83% 71% 70% 64% 71%

61%

29% 30%

36% 39%

29%
Total

Male % Female %

8%

17%

Marcos Cory Ramos Estrada Arroyo Noynoy (1972 - Aquino (July (July (Jan Aquino Dec (Jan 1992 1998 2001 (July 1986) 1987 June Dec June 2010 June 1998) 2000) 2010) Dec 1992) 2012)
* Source: Department of Agrarian Reform

Strength #1: Participation Public Land Patents Claimants/Holders

70%

60%

61%

60%

50%

59% 41%

59% 41%

57% 43%

55% 45%

60%

40%

30%

39%

40%

40%
Male % Female %

20%

10%

0%

* Source: Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Strength #1: Participation Holders of PACBRMA & FLAs

Beneficiaries/Holders Land Use Agreement Male Protected Areas Community-based Resource Management Agreement (PACBRMA)* (no data from Region XI) Foreshore Lease Agreement (FLA)** (no data from Region IV) Female Total

6,173 (57%)

4,580 (43%)

10,753

2602 (70%)

1124 (30%)

3736

* Source: Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) - DENR ** Source: Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)

Strength #2: National GAD Policy Mandates

SECTION 14, ARTICLE II OF THE 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION, which states that the State recognizes the role of women in nation building and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men. REPUBLIC ACT 7192 OR THE WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT AND NATION BUILDING ACT, which promotes the integration of women as full and equal partners of men in development and nation building.

Strength #2: National GAD Policy Mandates

EXECUTIVE ORDER 273 SERIES 1995, which approved and adopted The Philippine Plan For Gender-Responsive Development, 1995 To 2025 that directs all government agencies and local levels to institutionalize GAD efforts in government by incorporating GAD concerns in their planning, programming and budgeting processes. ANNUAL GENERAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, which directs government entities to: a) formulate a Gender and Development (GAD) Plan designed to address gender issues within their concerned sectors or mandate; and b) allocate at least five per cent of the agency's or local government's total budget appropriations for the implementation of their Gender and Development Plan.

Strength #2: National GAD Policy Mandates

REPUBLIC ACT 9710 OR THE MAGNA CARTA OF WOMEN OF 2009, which provides equal status to women and men in land titling and issuance of stewardship contracts, patents, CLOAs, , among others; and promotes their equal rights to the use and management of land, water and other natural resources.

Strength #3: Scale & Coordination

GAD Policies in LAM are nationwide in coverage; Some LGUs have Gender and Development (GAD) Code, which establishes inter-agency mechanisms for the promotion of gender equality; Presence of LGU-DENR-ROD/LRA partnership in some LGUs for coordinated faster disposition and registration of public land patents

Results: Areas for Improvement

Criterion 1 (Participation): Lack of data fields on sex and civil status of applicants and holders of land tenure instruments in the land database of line agencies as well as in land taxation and registration forms, and database of local government units. Criterion 2 (Capacity development and empowerment of women): lack of awareness of LAM field personnel in two LGUs on GAD policies and guidelines related to the disposition of land tenure instruments and registration of land rights;

Areas for Improvement

Criterion 3 (Legal considerations): the promotion of gender equality is not explicit in some national laws and guidelines (e.g., Public Land Act, Implementing Rules & Regulations of the Residential Free Patent Law, Urban Development and Housing Act, Property Registration Decree, etc.); and presence of DAR agrarian policies and DENR practice in the disposition of public land patents that appear to discourage spouses to place their land tenure instruments in their names as co-owners.

Areas for Improvement

Criterion 4 (Social and cultural considerations): lack of assessment of how statutory LAM policies, systems and procedures, and customary practices have differently impacted women and men; and lack of measures to raise the awareness of women and men in communities on their equal land rights Criterion 5 (Economic considerations): inadequate support services given to poor women- and men-recipients or claimants of land tenure instruments to make their lands productive and economically benefit from their resources;

Proposal for GAD Strategy in LAM

Explicit mention of gender equality principles ,
objectives and procedures in LAM policies and guidelines amend Public Land Act, UDHA, and Property Registration Decree to integrate GAD; NAPC basic sectors, and LGUs(through the Leagues) towards partnership in securing the land rights of women; applicants, registrants and holders of land tenure instruments by incorporating data fields on sex and civil status in all LAM related forms; and assess how LAM have differently impacted women and men;

Network all GAD Focal Persons of LAM agencies, Gather and analyze sex-disaggregated data on

Proposal for GAD Strategy in LAM Ensure the inclusion and implementation

of concrete responses to the results of gender analysis of LAM; Nudge men to support womens empowerment and the pursuit of gender equality in land access and land tenure security; Develop attitudes, knowledge and capabilities of LAM personnel at the national, local and field levels on gender sensitivity and gender mainstreaming

Proposal for GAD Strategy in LAM Ensure representation and

participation of both women and men in land governance structures from the national to the local levels; set a participation quota for both women and men; Raise the awareness of LAM duty bearers and land rights holders on the importance of gender equality in land access and land tenure security, and on how to protect this.

Proposal for GAD Strategy in LAM

Link LAM with other support services needed to help secure land tenure; Allocate adequate resources for the implementation of GAD strategy; Make models and champions of gender responsive LAM. Begin with the five LGUs that participated in this study Partner with the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) in the pursuit of this national GAD strategy.

Proposed Next Phase to the Project

1. Setting up of a national mechanism (i.e., network of GAD Focal Persons of LAM agencies and basic sectors) that will jointly:
Push for the concretization, adoption and implementation of the proposed GAD strategy in LAM; Seek for the amendment of laws and policies that hinder/discourage gender equality in land tenure security; Develop common guidelines and procedures for promoting gender equality in land tenure security (e.g., placing names of spouses in land tenure instruments, harmonization of LAM forms and information/registration system, etc.) Monitor and evaluate progress of securing land rights of women in all types of land.

2. Development of common operational and trainers guide (including IEC materials) for integrating gender in LAM; 3. Training of trainers on GAD policies and procedures in LAM in selected LGUs.

Thank You!