land tenure improvement

securing filipinos land rights

Land Tenure Improvement seeks to secure the tenurial status of the farmers and indigenous people in the lands they till.

PDI has two major reform areas with respect to Land Tenure Improvement, namely:

Agrarian reform focused on agricultural lands covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) under the mandate of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR); and,
Ancestral domain advocacy in support of the IP’s claims over their ancestral domains as provided for by the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) of 1998.

These lands pertain mainly to upland and forest lands denominated as ancestral domains under the mandate of the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

With the support from Bread for the World, PDI’s partnership with farmers and indigenous peoples has produced social, economic, and political benefits to these communities in the form of transferred assets to farming households and the distribution of Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADTs) to the indigenous people.

In order to effectively assist farmers and indigenous people, PDI aided in conducting land surveys of their ancestral domains and claims, tracing ancestral lineages and negotiating with local government units and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, PDI has helped acquire hundreds of Certificates of Land Ownership and Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles. These certificates are the legal basis of ownership of their lands.

PDI’s efforts have borne fruit. From the 1990s until December 2019, 3,355 farmer-beneficiaries have acquired ownership and control of over 5,723.0192 hectares of land. Furthermore, indigenous people’s rights to their ancestral domain have been enforced and strengthened by PDI.

The organization effected the transfer of a combined total of 152, 003.9742 hectares of ancestral domain lands to 10,789 various Aeta communities in Pampanga, Bataan and Zambales as well the Dumagats of Aurora province.

Redistribution of assets are key in strengthening farmers hold over their lands. When farmers and indigenous people till their own lands and be productive members of society on their terms, there can truly be community-based asset reform throughout the country.

PDI continues to help Indigenous People and Farmers with their land rights.