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A sizeable number of households have experienced displacement as a result
of land and resource conflicts. There were 99 cases involving displacement
and 29 cases with threats of displacement. Cases of displacement included
the eviction of 17,000 households from their residence, and damages to
livelihood or displacement from their sources of livelihood for nearly 75,000
households. Business investments, particularly in mining and forestry indirectly
caused more than 47,000 livelihoods to be damaged by pollution, or caused
land and natural resources used for livelihood to become vulnerable to natural
disasters.
Threats of displacement were also documented. More than 47,000 households
experienced threat of eviction from their residence and close to 44,000
households experienced threat of displacement from or damage to their
sources of livelihood.
Economic violence in land and resource conflicts was observed to have also
been committed against rural communities, with 56 incidents documented. A
majority (89 percent) of the incidents of economic violence found in the study
involved businesses manipulating farmers to enter into unfair Agribusiness
Venture Arrangements (AVAs). Such arrangements deprive the farmers of land
rights and/or bury them in debt. Other forms of economic violence are labor
issues in haciendas/plantations and the refusal to pay royalties by mining
operations in ancestral domains.
Data analysis also showed one hundred twenty six (126) incidents of forcible
entry into ancestral domains without FPIC. A majority (78 percent) of these
incidents occurred in Mindanao. These violations were committed by businesses
or migrants wanting to claim ownership and/or use of land for purposes not
properly discussed with the existing Indigenous Political Structure (IPS) in the
area. Other forms of political violence documented were criminalization of
activities of community leaders and members, and the denial of access to
decision-making processes affecting land and resource rights.
Impact on the environment
Damage to the environment is considered a pronounced yet indirect effect
of land and resource conflicts arising from investments. Some investments
have major impacts on public health such as contamination of bodies of water,
while others are felt by communities by way of damage to biodiversity. The
clearing of forests makes communities vulnerable to natural disasters and
Land Conflicts and Land Rights Defenders in the Philippines
and denial of participation in decision-making processes affecting land and
resource rights.
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