sovereignty of their mother State; this is because most of these companies do not have local registration or counterparts in the Philippines.5 The issue of jurisdiction states that a country may apply criminal law to domestic companies for conduct abroad – that is, the principle of extraterritoriality (Global Witness, 2011). continue to increase. These investments are driven by the growing demand for food, the incentives given to biofuel production and the opening up of the economy to agricultural trade and investments. Unfortunately, these investments have resulted to instances of physical and economic displacement of farmers by investors. UNGPs and Philippine Agriculture The Land Governance and Assessment Framework study of the World Bank in 2013 found that policies and guidelines in the Philippines encourage direct negotiations between rights holders and investors; in The UNGPs are of particular importance to Philippine agriculture as investments, both foreign and domestic, Box 2: The OFFWA Association’s Protracted Pursuit of Their Right to Land I n 1998, 400 hectares of Hacienda San Lucas in Barangay Hilamonan were first covered under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). With an enumerated population of 12,212 in 2010, Barangay Hilamonan is the most populous of the 32 barangays in Kabankalan City (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2010). The Overflow Farmers and Farmworkers Association (OFFWA) is an organization of farmers and laborers of Hacienda San Lucas in Sitio Overflow, Barangay Hilamonan. OFFWA, which emerged from the reorganization of Katilingban sang Mangunguma kag Mamumugon sang Overflow (KAMMO), was formally established in 2012, and was registered with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in 2015 with the help of the Social Action Center–Kabankalan. As of July 2017, OFFWA has 56 members engaged in the cultivation of rice, sugarcane, and banana. When Pablo Luis Azcona, current administrator of the hacienda, became aware of the land’s coverage under the CARP, he demanded that the farmworkers vacate the hacienda. With the help of hired armed goons, Azcona began to drive the farmworkers away to prevent them from working on the hacienda. Purportedly, two farmers were slain by these armed goons during these operations. The farmers’ families were forced to move to a relocation site that had been allegedly purchased by the local Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) from the National Housing Authority (NHA). The farmers believe that, in the year 2000, Mr. Azcona himself applied for the conversion/reclassification of CARPcovered land. The farmers do not know, however, whether the land use of the areas in question has actually been changed from agricultural to either residential or industrial in the municipality’s zoning plan. In 2012, the agrarian reform process for Hacienda San Lucas Inc. went back to step one. First, a new notice was issued for some 130 hectares of land under title number T-46616, which was published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) on 4 October 2012. In 2014, new notices for more than 270 hectares of land under title numbers T-208006 and T-208008 were issued by DAR and published by the Philippine Star on 22 May 2014. However, since these lots are affected by the previously-mentioned application for land conversion, the land acquisition and distribution (LAD) process for the two titles has halted. To this date, the DAR Municipal Office (DARMO) maintains that it has not received any conversion order from the DAR Central Office. However, despite the unclear status of the conversion application and the opposition of potential agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), several construction projects have emerged and persist on allegedly Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Extension with Reforms (CARPER)-covered land, including a subdivision named after the original owner of the hacienda. As of the moment, construction of the La Villa Concha subdivision has nearly been completed and the units are almost ready for occupancy. The construction of the villa has been commissioned to HLJ Construction and Enterprises, headed by a certain Henry Jordan. In September of 2016, DAR reported that the issuance of the Notice of Coverage (NOC) for title number T-46616, the first one to be issued, had been erroneous. Mr. Azcona claimed that the NOC had not been served to him as the administrator of San Lucas Inc. Since the NOC has yet to be served to and received by the landowner, land acquisition has yet to commence. OFFWA members then confronted the DARMO about Azcona’s claim, but even the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officers (MAROs) were unable to provide proof that the NOC had actually been received by Azcona. Further, OFFWA’s land claim folders could no longer be found at the office. Interview with Jackie Canlas, Legal Consultant, Commission on Human Rights, 10 March 2017. 5 6