Corporate operations displacing communities, curtailing livelihood, and degrading the environment. Almost 17,000 households were recorded to have been evicted from their residence as a result of land and resource conflicts from 2017 to June 2018. Most of these displacements are linked to land and agricultural investments, through the entry of plantation investments and mining in ancestral domains in Mindanao, and infrastructure projects. Infrastructure projects also pose the most threat of displacement among communities (Salomon, 2018). Irresponsible corporate and mining operations have been identified, warned, and issued closure orders by then Secretary Lopez of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). One of these companies is the Semirara Mining and Power Corporation operating at Caluya, Antique. The company has been asked to explain why it should not be held liable for several violations due to its operations in the province (Geronimo, 2016). The information used by the DENR to demand a show cause order from the mining company has been provided by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). The CHR used the UNGP on Business and Human Rights in conducting investigations and in convening an inter-agency working group with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), and Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), among others. The UNGP BHR and Land Governance in the Philippines Introduction of UNGP BHR in the Philippines On 25 March 2014, key stakeholders from business, civil society, and government came together in a forum titled “Business and Human Rights: Introducing the UN Guiding Principles of the Ruggie Framework as a Tool for Risk Management.” The main objective was to introduce the UNGP BHR and how these can be implemented and realized in practical terms. Participants from the business sector expressed their willingness to implement and incorporate UNGP BHR in their business policies and practices and even agreed to look at the principle of extra-territoriality. More dialogues and consultations were planned towards finding a common ground on some issues, such as, the negative effects of mining or illegal logging. During this event, the German Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) expressed its support for the development of a Philippine National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights (HSF, 2014). 74 Upholding Land Rights amidst the Land Rush

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