In defense of land rights: A monitoring report on land conflicts in six Asian countries 106 Philippines: Land Conflicts and Land Rights Defenders in the Philippines1 By Timothy Salomon, Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY L and and natural resources have always been sources of conflict. At the heart of the matter is the inequitable distribution of rights over resources, wherein the rural poor try to survive on the meagre land and natural resources afforded them by the State. In contrast, businesses and influential families are allowed to amass vast expanses of land, their ruinous exploitation of natural resources largely left unchecked. The rural poor are thus forced to contend with large businesses, influential families, and against each other for land and resource rights. Aggression against land and environment rights defenders, as well as rural poor communities has been on the rise in connection with land and resource conflicts. The Philippines is considered as Asia’s deadliest country, and second deadliest country in the world, for land and environment defenders (The Guardian, 2018). Violations range from killings, disappearances, detention, injuries and grave threats against land and 1 ANGOC This is an abridged version of the paper prepared by Timothy Salomon of ANGOC, with inputs from Antonio Quizon, Nathaniel Don Marquez, Dave de Vera, Maricel Almojuela-Tolentino, Marianne Jane Naungayan, Denise Hyacinth Joy Musni, Michele Robin Esplana, Danilova Molintas, James Alim, Maria Liza Almojuela, and Antonio Samaniego. This document also summarizes the major issues and recommendations emanating from a multi-stakeholder forum jointly organized by ANGOC and the Commission of Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP) to discuss the study. For more details, contact angoc@angoc.org. Citation: Salomon, T. (2018). Land Conflicts and Rights Defenders in the Philippines. In ANGOC (Ed.) In defense of land rights: A monitoring report on land conflicts in six Asian countries (pp. 106-123). Quezon City: ANGOC.