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Historical Background The Cordillera Administrative Region, located in the highlands of Luzon in the northern part of the Philippines, has rich forests and plentiful mineral resources, but the inhabitants of this region are among the poorest people of the world. Over 1.25 million people live in this region, more than ninety percent of whom are of indigenous origin, belonging to seven major ethnolinguistic groups. For generations these people have been deprived by outsiders of claims to their area's resources. First the Spaniards and then the Americans exploited mining claims and logging concessions in this region, and few benefits accrued to the original inhabitants. Even after the Philippines gained its independence from colonial rule and a national government was installed in the capital, logging and mining continued unabated in the Cordillera region. In the 1970s, close to 200 000 hectares of prime forestlands were granted for logging and pulping operations to a private corporation. This was the largest logging operation in the country, and it was owned and operated by persons from outside the region. Some of the world's biggest producers of gold, silver and copper at that time were located in the Cordillera, but the people of this region had nothing to show for the great wealth that was extracted from their lands. As the realization gained ground that they were being treated as no more than squatters on their own land, residents of the Cordillera region organized in protest against the government. As protest mounted, the military was brought in to subdue the region. Local peoples’ opposition movements that started in 1974 became widespread after the death of a local chieftain at the hands of pro-government forces. This event intensified people’s resolve to fight against all forms of development aggression. Many young Cordillerans joined hands with the militant wing of a growing Communist Party of the Philippines, and civil warfare became rife in the region. Legislative Support for Local Authority Simultaneously, students and professionals led a campaign that was aimed at obtaining formal legal recognition for the Cordillerans’ ancestral domain claims. These campaigns gained ground rapidly after a popular revolution toppled the Marcos government in 1986. They represented their case before the new Constitutional Commission and won many important legal victories. The rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands and natural resources were upheld by the Constitutional Commission and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued an administrative order in 1993 that was intended to identify, delineate and protect areas occupied by indigenous peoples. The order provides for the issuance of a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claims to eligible groups. Obtaining such a certificate confers upon indigenous peoples the right to participate in all decisions that affect land and natural resources within their ancestral domain. No development project and no commercial venture of any kind can be introduced within an area that has been certified as ancestral domain without the prior approval of local residents. Before the constitutional rights to ancestral domains are assigned to any local community, however, peace pacts must be signed with neighboring communities and resource management plans must be drawn up to the satisfaction of government staff. To gain a certificate of ancestral domain, area residents have to clearly demarcate the boundaries of their ancestral domain - after settling claims among themselves and also with their neighbours. Institutions with the legitimacy and the capacity to perform these functions are critical for undertaking these tasks effectively. Traditional institutions, such as the ator, dap-ay, and ob-bfo (indigenous cooperative groups), the councils of elders, and the bodong (peace pact systems between adjacent communities), were to provide such a base in the Cordillera but not without a great deal of adaptation and capacity building in area planning and resource management. Implementing Local Solutions Some small-scale initiatives had already been started even before the new laws came into operation. Indigenous people’s organizations and local leaders had taken it upon themselves to become intermediaries in peace negotiations among government troops and local militants. Women had played key roles in this process. The Pan-Cordillera Women’s Network for Peace and Development, or PANCORDI, was formed in 1995 as a coalition of women’s groups of the Cordillera region. PANCORDI started working in five pilot areas with the objective of reviving traditional local institutions for the purpose of delineating ancestral domains. Women volunteers served as key catalysts in this process. A three-phase programme was taken up by PANCORDI, which was supported by UNDP and other donor agencies. The first phase began in July 1995 with the preparation of a sourcebook on ancestral domain laws. Working closely with local communities, PANCORDI’s women activists became aware that while some national laws upheld and promoted customary understandings, others directly contradicted local conceptions of right and wrong. Laws that were considered oppressive and contrary to customary laws were distinguished in the sourcebook from others that would promote a constructive blend of tradition and modernity. The second phase of the programme consisted of an initiative to assist with the delineation of all ancestral domain areas, followed by a third phase in which Ancestral Domain Resource Management Plans (ADRMPs) were drawn up for these areas. One project site was chosen in each province, and women organizers were deployed in each area. They began work by strengthening the Village Women’s Consultative Councils that had been created previously during PANCORDI’s peace initiative. It was necessary to gain the cooperation of traditional village councils and their leaders, and women volunteers helped to build the bridges that were necessary to link local institutions with government agencies. It was not easy for women volunteers to penetrate the all-male domains of the ator and day-ap. It helped that these women had played critical roles earlier by serving as intermediaries between villagers and militants, and these efforts had been admired, if only grudgingly, by all villagers. Working with traditional institutions, each community team gathered documentary proof on land ownership. Genealogies were prepared for each of the major clans to document the passage of traditional rights across generations. Changes in traditional boundaries were documented. Initiatives were then taken to address boundary disputes. Often this required inter-group meetings to recall historic agreements among ancestors so as to resolve disputes locally. In areas where land disputes were satisfactorily resolved and boundaries demarcated, project staff began to organize communities for the task of preparing Ancestral Domain Resource Management Plans. Preparing the ADRMP required an analysis of current and past land use, and drew upon baseline data compiled by the women organizers on environmental, socio-cultural and economic conditions. Women organizers worked alongside traditional village leaders to organize these efforts. Several workshops, training sessions, resource mapping exercises, and other activities were arranged in each pilot area to assist with the tasks of community involvement and plan preparation. Some Early Results While results differ from place to place, on the whole, these initiatives have worked everywhere to improve the functional interplay between national law and local custom. Considerable gains have been reported from various project locations. Communities within the municipalities of Luba, Sadanga, and Balbalan have started implementing their resource management plans and they are mobilizing external support for undertaking projects which have been identified. Alternative models of development have emerged as people of different origins have asserted their separate visions for the future. Several communities have influenced the government to grant permits for micro-scale instead of large-scale mining, and for micro-hydroelectric and irrigation projects within their ancestral domain area. They have also proposed tramlines for transportation in place of road construction through fragile forests. They are planning to institute a programme of education and training that allows such concerns to be addressed among themselves and with a larger group of area residents. Peace and better governance have also followed from the same process. Newly empowered villagers have initiated dialogue with the military and with rebel groups. Revitalized local institutions have asserted the supremacy of civilian authority and militias and armed groups have retreated from these areas. The process has reinforced the recognition of the traditional peace pact system as a means of maintaining peace. Drawing up and implementing the ADRMPs have provided people in this region with an ongoing opportunity for action and interaction. People of this region come together to discuss diverse local problems within the forums that have drawn upon and strengthened their local institutions. Local government units are working in partnership with these traditional structures to support the development aspirations articulated by area residents. A federated regional body is planned to be set up next. Representatives from village and municipality councils will come together to constitute the regional body, and it will function as the apex traditional institution of the Cordillera. This regional body is expected to forge closer linkages between customary laws and practices, on the one hand, and formal government systems, on the other, both of which provide necessary institutional supports for sustainable development of the region. |
Traditional institutions are important to people in many parts of the developing world and especially though not exclusively among indigenous peoples. Traditional institutions such as indigenous cooperation groups, councils of elders, and customary laws and mediators are important for resolving disputes, enforcing widely agreed standards of behaviour, and uniting people within bonds of community solidarity and mutual assistance. As such, they embody important forms of social capital, representing forums wherein local communities can unite together and act collectively.
However, traditional institutions are rarely included within plans of development that are formulated for the most part in national capitals. Planners have mostly disregarded the potential for collective action that inheres within these institutions, partly because of ignorance and partly also because development, which is seen as "modernization," is often regarded as antithetical to tradition in any form. On their own part, too, leaders of traditional institutions have been reluctant to adapt to new concerns. The incursion of modern activities and forms of governance is often seen as challenging the prerogatives of these institutions. It is exceptional, thus, to find traditional institutions taking an active role in regional development activities. It is even more unusual to see such institutions working closely in cooperation with technical personnel of government agencies.
An effective meld between traditional institutions and technical agencies of the government was achieved in the project implemented in the Cordillera Administrative Region of the Philippines that had ancestral land demarcation and regional development as its objectives. Traditional institutions had remained alive in this region, enabling people to cope with centuries of exploitation at the hands of a distant and unsympathetic state. After the laws of the country were amended and indigenous people were given rights of self-determination over all natural resources within their ancestral domains, the same traditional institutions were called upon to enforce these rights.
It is not easy to forge such understandings and working arrangements between traditional institutions and government agencies. NGOs played a critical role in developing these linkages in the Cordillera. Women volunteers trained by PANCORDI worked with the traditional leaders and also with staff of government agencies and they helped develop mutual understanding among the members of these two sets of institutions. A changed legal environment paved the way for these changes, but it was action at the grassroots which converted a hope into a reality. Peace was facilitated by this process and also sustainable regional development.
Working within their traditional norms and institutions enables people to understand and come to terms readily with change. Having the support of technically qualified personnel facilitates capacity- and knowledge-building required for dealing competently with the new tasks of modernization and development. The resulting blend of capacity and legitimacy enables people to participate fully in development enterprises, deriving the best possible results in the process. The example of the Cordillera project illustrates how traditional institutions can be strengthened and redirected toward activities concerned with autonomous self-development and how such constructive engagements can be promoted by governments and by non-governmental organizations.
Endnote
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Materials used here have been adapted from "Women as Catalysts for Change: Revitalizing Traditional Institutions in the Cordillera, Philippines," one of nine instructive case studies included within an upcoming UNDP publication. We gratefully acknowledge UNDP's permission for our use of these materials. |
