Filipinos applaud House Foreign Affairs Committee on efforts to combat land grabbing in Southeast Asia

The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific gathered at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona campus on Friday, Aug. 21, for a field hearing about property rights, development, and land ownership in Southeast Asia.

For years, the United States has sought to help promote security and economic growth in dependent countries like the Philippines and Cambodia. Many families in the Southeast Asia region are denied basic protections under the law, including the right to secure property, raise capital, and participate freely in the economy.

On Friday, Rep. Ed Royce (R-California), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee joined with Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Arizona), chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, as well as several US officials from various agencies and bureaus, in charge of promoting and protecting land development in foreign countries.

“We have been working very closely with [the Philippine] government to respond to the devastation of Tacloban and to reform the government. However, at some local government levels, the legacy of Marcos still remains,” Royce said in his opening statement. “But as we aim to deepen our engagement and transform our aid so that it supports sustainable, market-based economic growth, we must consider whether the underlying conditions exist to realize that growth.”

“In countries where citizens are denied basic protections under the law, including the right to secure property, those conditions simply do not exist. An outdated and inefficient land administration system has resulted in fraudulent, overlapping and duplicate or even triplicate land titles and widespread land grabbing in the Philippines. The perpetrators are local politicians, foreign investors and well-connected people,” he continued.

Royce also lauded President Benigno Aquino III for “his considerable efforts to reform and clean up politics,” but the damage brought by years of federal corruption has been done.

Over 12 million Filipinos reportedly do not own the rights to their own homes with respect to verifiable land title, calling the desperate need for proper titling to pave the way for wealth and opportunities for families.

“I was glad to see such a strong US humanitarian effort. In the aftermath of natural disasters like this, on top of losing their homes and belongings, victims can also find themselves without a shred of proof to their rights to their property,” Royce said.

Last February, Royce led a bipartisan Congressional delegation to the Philippines, where they observed the widespread destruction done by Typhoon Yolanda.

“On a previous delegation [to the Philippines] I was personally prevented, at gunpoint, from accessing the property of a constituent by what appeared to be local security forces,” Royce shared to the crowd of hundreds. “In my meeting with President Aquino, I pressed him on the importance of protecting property rights.”

“Filipinos, as well as Cambodians, have great economic potential we should be working to unlock. The question is, what can we do to change land grabbing and put an end to people being pushed off their land?”

Jonathan Stivers, an assistant administrator of the Bureau for Asia with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), talked about the Partnership for Growth program in collaboration with the Philippine government. Stivers acknowledged the “substantial economic progress” in terms of higher growth rates, but also noted distressingly high rates of unemployment, national poverty levels, and severe income inequality that persists in the country.

Protecting land rights is key to promoting growth in many struggling rural and urban communities, he said.

“In rural areas, despite the most recent comprehensive land reform program that transferred ownership rights and titles to a majority of the smallholder farmers, productivity of basic food crops has remained low, and farmers’ incomes have not improved,” Stivers said. “The high cost of property registration and the fact that seemingly routine registry processes, like correcting clerical mistakes, issuing lost titles and weeding out fraudulent certificates require lengthy court processes, are among the constraints to secure property rights.”

Stivers also pointed out the large backlog of cases, causing major delays and high costs of litigation. For example, 90 percent of the cases (of which 17 percent were land disputes) handled by the Supreme Court in 2012 took more than 20 years to make their way through the system of hearings and high court appeals.

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary James Caruso talked about the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent foreign aid agency that helps to address problems of corruption, and is working on a partnership agreement “compact” with the Philippines.

“In the case of the Philippines, should land rights and tenure emerge as binding constraints to economic growth during development of the compact, MCC will give careful consideration to interventions to address this issue,” Caruso said.

Congresswoman Rep. Judy Chu (D-California) also spoke to the subcommittee, highlighting the importance of land ownership and the rights individuals have to their own homes.

“Too often in the world, weak property rights and land titles have pushed families–especially women and children, who are most susceptible–away from their homes. Land grabs are often done by force, affecting the poor and marginalized, and creating massive displacement sites and squatting communities,” Chu said.

According to US Foreign Aid, almost $2.7 million in aid has been provided to Cambodia and the Philippines, Chu pointed out.

“Where is this money going?” she asked members of the committee at the hearing. “This is driving our need to act on this urgent matter.”

Filipinos reach out to Ed Royce, House Foreign Affairs Committee

Several witnesses and educators who know first-hand the direct impacts land grabbing has on the lives of Filipinos and Cambodians were also present at the hearing.

Faith Bautista, president and CEO of the National Asian American Coalition (NAAC), gave a testimony on behalf of one of the largest pan-Asian American advocacy groups in the US. She talked about the Belisario family, whose 44 properties were illegally seized and transferred to non-legitimate owners often without documentation. She also made a list of suggestions to improve the system to benefit displaced Filipinos, including providing proper forms, an independent auditor to examine claims, prompt reports with a specific resolution, and a comprehensive response from the Philippine government regarding the land issue.

Zosimo Laurel Contreras, a litigant in the property dispute, said his family’s property in Tagaytay had been forcibly seized, and implored the committee to work diligently with the Philippine government to help keep their rightfully inherited land.

“We cannot let the land grabbers control us. We cannot continue to feel helpless,” Contreras said. “Where is the justice? Where is the Rule of Law in our Philippine government? Where is the respect for property owners, and who will protect our rights?”

Joey Quinto, publisher of the California Journal for Filipino Americans, also told his story about his family’s property in Antipolo being locked by a powerful Philippine general, who took full control of the access road and built a home for himself.

In objection of the act, Quinto has reached out to several lawmakers, including President Aquino, members of the Philippine government, the United Nations, Rep. Ted Lieu, Rep. Judy Chu, and the House Foreign Affairs Committee led by Congressman Ed Royce.

“Congressman Royce has been the champion of these issues,” Quinto said. “When he discovered this endemic problem in our country, he reached out to our community in an effort to end corruption and land issues. Because members of Congress don’t want to see their billions of dollars in aid going to waste. When it comes to taxpayers’ money, everyone will pay attention…this affects everybody.”

He continued, “If corruption and land-grabbing continues, there is a major credit risk. The Philippines is maturing loans every month, obtaining a higher interest rate. What we need to do as a community, is to bring out our stories, and get rid of the culture of fear. Filipino-Americans are also Americans, and we won’t be hurt. We cannot be afraid. We need to rise up and take back our land.”

“It is important for the Filipino community to organize and to be an advocacy group for these issues,” Chu told the Asian Journal. “There are so many things that can be done–letters to be sent [to MCC] on the conditions placed for a second compact. We need to bring these types of things to members of Congress, and it’s more effective if Filipinos themselves, as well as victims, can bring these issues to Congress to educate them, and then have a plan of action. We need to use whatever leverage we have.”