The Joint Administrative Order No. 01 series of 2012: A Policy Review Background O n 25 January 2012, the Joint Administrative Order #1 (JAO 1) on “Clarifying, Restating and Interfacing the Respective Jurisdictions, Policies, Programs and Projects of DAR (Department of Agrarian Reform), DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources), LRA (Land Registration Authority) and NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous Peoples) in order to address Jurisdictional and Operational Issues between and among the Agencies” was effected. JAO 1 aims to address issues of overlapping jurisdiction, operational issues and conflicting claims by and among the aforementioned agencies. Furthermore, the JAO shall apply to the coverage of lands and/or processing by DAR, DENR and NCIP and registration with LRA of Land Titles embracing lands or areas which are contentious or potentially contentious. A Joint National Committee which include DAR, DENR, LRA, and NCIP has been created to address or resolve such issues. On a similar vein, regional committees of the same nature have been established. Five years have passed but the incidence of land conflicts due to overlapping claims persist. This situation has led to violence (at times death) among the rural poor. At the same time, there is a need to assess the implementation of JAO 1, whether it has been an effective mechanism to manage or resolve conflicts, particularly at the local level. It is in this context that the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC), Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, BALAOD ANGOC and PAFID 7