Mindanaw, Institute of Land Governance (ILG), and Philippine Association
for Intercultural Development (PAFID) jointly organized through the Joint
Action for Land Rights Project (JALR), the policy dialogue on “Overlapping
Land Claims in Northern Mindanao and Bukidnon” last 20 June 2017 in
Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental.
This paper has been presented and finalized by PAFID after the said regional
policy dialogue.
Introduction to Northern Mindanao: Region X
The island of Mindanao has a total land area of 9,753,000 million hectares.
Of these, six million hectares are classified as forests, of which 4.1 million
hectares are classified as alienable and disposable (A&D) lands.
Table 1. Mindanao Land Area and Classification (in hectares)
Alienable and
Disposable
Mindanao
Region X
% of Mindanao
Forestland
Total
4,131,306
6,068,580
10,199,886
817,669
897,134
1,714, 803
19.7
14.7
16.8
Northern Mindanao is an administrative region in the Philippines located
in the island of Mindanao. Designated as Region X, the area is composed of
five provinces, namely, the island of Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del
Norte, Bukidnon, and Misamis Occidental and two cities classified as highly
urbanized. All of these provinces are situated in the north-central section
of the island of Mindanao including the island-province of Camiguin.
Cagayan De Oro is the Regional Center of Northern Mindanao.
According to the latest Philippine Forestry Statistics of the DENR, Northern
Mindanao has a total land area of 2,045,851 hectares with at least half (or
52 percent) of its land area classified as forestland.
Population
Based on the 2015 Census of Population (PSA, 2015), Region X has a total
population of 4,689,302, broken down as follows: Bukidnon with 1,420,000
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The Joint Administrative Order No. 01 series of 2012: A Policy Review