Land 

grabbing, conflict and agrarian‐environmental transformations: 
perspectives from East and Southeast Asia 

An international academic conference 
5‐6 June 2015, Chiang Mai University 

Conference Paper No. 54

Land Resettlement Policies in Colonial and PostColonial

Philippines: Key to Current Insurgencies and Climate
Disasters in its Southern Mindanao Island 
Faina C. Abaya‐Ulindang  
May 2015 

BICAS
www.plaas.org.za/bicas
www.iss.nl/bicas

In collaboration with:

Demeter (Droits et Egalite pour une Meilleure Economie de la Terre), Geneva Graduate Institute
University of Amsterdam WOTRO/AISSR Project on Land Investments (Indonesia/Philippines)
Université de Montréal – REINVENTERRA (Asia) Project
Mekong Research Group, University of Sydney (AMRC)
University of Wisconsin-Madison

With funding support from:

Land Resettlement Policies in Colonial and PostColonial Philippines: Key to Current 
Insurgencies and Climate Disasters in its Southern Mindanao Island 
by Faina C. Abaya‐Ulindang 
 
Published by:  
 
BRICS Initiatives for Critical Agrarian Studies (BICAS) 
Email: [email protected]
Websites: www.plaas.org.za/bicas | www.iss.nl/bicas
 
MOSAIC Research Project 
Website: www.iss.nl/mosaic
 
Land Deal Politics Initiative (LDPI) 
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.iss.nl/ldpi
 
RCSD Chiang Mai University 
Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University Chiang Mai 50200 THAILAND
Tel. 66­53­943595/6 | Fax. 66­53­893279
Email : [email protected] | Website : http://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th
 
Transnational Institute 
PO Box 14656, 1001 LD Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 662 66 08 | Fax: +31 20 675 71 76
E­mail: [email protected] | Website: www.tni.org
 
 
May 2015  
 
Published with financial support from Ford Foundation, Transnational Institute, NWO and DFID.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
*Note: Portions of this paper were culled from a paper read by the author from an 
International Conference on Mindanao held at the Philippine Consulate in Honolulu, 
Hawaii last November 25, 2013  the text of which is still unpublished. 
 
 
 
 Abstract

American colonial policies aimed at increasing crop production, among others focused on opening up
frontiers in Mindanao, southern Philippines. The settlement of its virgin lands through homesteading
was considered the most contentious as it depleted government resources resulting to its abortion after
almost seven years of implementation. However, the native Filipino leadership from Quezon up to
Magsaysay regime considered that this form of resettlement not only answered the problems of
economic development but also the peasant and labor unrests of the North and Central Philippines.
Hence, the benefits, from the government’s point of view, would eventually outweigh the costs of
resettlement. Current insurgencies in the South such as that of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and
the New People’s Army are attributed to the land laws started by the American colonizers such as that
of Homesteading. It was averred by Moro scholars that resettlement had displaced the Mindanaoans
such that land conflicts had become inevitable. It is also a common notion that the government
solution to the problems of the landless farmers of the North and Central Philippines had created a
bigger problem in the South. The depletion of the frontier lands became not only a political disaster
creating insurgencies but also ecological/environmental crises. Using archival and oral history, this
paper seeks to answer the following: To what extent has the Philippine government’s adoption of
colonial land policies such as homesteading, including its current land reform program (which are its
answers to problems of landlessness) were exploited by big vested interests? Does resettlement hold
the key to native-settler land disputes? Is homesteading by landless farmer effectively answer
underdevelopment? What were the implications of these to political and ecological climate of the
South?
Introduction
The second biggest island in the Philippines, Mindanao, has for the past three years been in the radar
of national dailies : First- because of the stalled peace process between the government and the
MILF(Moro Islamic Liberation Front) due to the Mamasapano Incident. It was a botched operation
that succeeded in the capture and assassination of Marwan, and international terrorist but at the cost
the lives of 44 Special Action Forces of the Philippine National Police last January 25 at Mamasapano,
Maguindanao. Apart from this are current intermittent New People’s Army, another insurgent force,
attacks on government forces in the eastern portion of the Island; and , Second the vulnerability of the
island to typhoons- the most serious of which were the typhoon Sendong/Washi of December 17, 2011
and typhoon Pablo/Bopha of December 3,2012 that devastated lives and properties of the inhabitants
of Northern and Southeastern Mindanao. For the Mindanaoans these events were not only
economically damaging but also socially and psychologically damaging as well. Mindanao has been
stereotyped as the country’s sore thumb where problems of peace and order are chronic and at the
same time the place where the poorest of poor in the country are found.
Taking history as the take off point this paper argues that homesteading, as core land distribution
policy with its attendant resettlement projects introduced by the Americans during the early 20th
century holds the key towards understanding the current state of Mindanao, Philippines. This will be
done by: First, by tracing the role of land policies in encouraging the migration of landless peasants of
the North and Central Philippines; Second, the impact of these resettlement projects on the native-
government dynamics that had produced insurgencies; and, Third, the implications of these to
ecological disasters in Mindanao in particular and the country in general. In my conclusion, I will
attempt to offer insights on the native-settler land disputes as well as the political and ecological
climate of Southern Philippines.

Colonial and Post-Colonial Land Policies that made an Impact on

Mindanao’s Economic Development
A. RESETTLEMENT AND COLONIZATION
Spanish `reduccion’ and American `agricultural colonization projects’ were similarly aimed to
transform the natives into willing and able subjects working towards their particular colonial goals and
purposes. Spanish ecclesiastical objective of converting the native to become devout Catholics
transferred the natives into planned settlements `bajo la campana’ or under the bells for their close
watch. American homestead farms or agricultural colonies were designed like military camps under
close watch by their soldiers.
In Mindanao, the Spanish Jesuits `Tamontaka Experiment’ resonated in the `American
agricultural colonies project’ where the goals of economic productivity was made in the service of
creating a nation of willing and able subjects/citizens.1 For instance at Tamontaka, Cotabato Jesuit
missionaries developed a farm settlement where former Tiruray slaves whom they manumitted from
their Moro masters were given religious instructions and training for agricultural livelihood as well as
carpentry and masonry for the men ; and for the women, housekeeping, embroidery and other
cottage industries. Women and men lived in separate dormitories and were expected to later marry and
have families of their own. They eventually established their own dwellings and formed clusters of
communities. These communities resembled the laid-out plans in a reduccion. Thus a kind of a model

11
Faina Abaya-Ulindang “Slaves and Migrants in Mindanao During the Early 19th to late 20th
Centuries: A Comparative Social History” MSU GRADUATE FORUM. Vol.5 nos 1&2 (2007) pp.187-
205
1
town was what the Tamontaka experiement was expected to yield. Support for this project was taken
through the Obras Pias and contributions from pious citizens in Manila.
As can be gleaned from the Reports of Jesuit missionaries in the Jesuit Letters, 2 their plans were
carried out and were initially successful. Moro datus became curious and were amazed at the changes
made among their former slaves, now skilful craftsmen. They would even ask them to help in building
their torogans, or in doing some masonry. This pleased the missionaries because in coming to their
missions the moros also became curious of their religious practices and asked questions. Eventually
some of the moro chiefs became friends with the missionaries until one datu named Ali, who had been
suspicious of the missionaries took offense of an act done by the Jesuits who built their church on a
location which was supposedly a burial ground for Ali’s ancestors. It caused a military intervention on
the part of the Spanish government were Ali and his men were defeated. But the damage was already
done. The dormitories were reduced into ashes, their barns looted and their livestocks and fowls
perished. The Mission was unable to restore itself after this debacle.
This Tamontaka experiment (1873-97) initiated by the Jesuit missionaries in Mindanao which
aimed nonetheless for proselytization suggests a method for nation-building towards a self-
sufficient,homogenous citizenry similar to the `ideal citizen’ concept of the Americans in their
agricultural colony project in Northern Cotabato. Before the end of Spanish Rule actually Governor
Blanco , already had in mind the resettlement of Mindanao with people from Luzon and Visayas that
was supposedly to follow after the Lanao pacification campaign. This idea could have been inspired
by the Jesuit’s Tamontaka experiment as Blanco’s Lanao campaign was almost contemporaneous to
the this Jesuit’s resettlement project in Cotabato.
Moreover, while aiming at agricultural self-sufficiency, the Americans believe in resettling
farmers from Luzon and Visayas to assume their role as model citizens of the natives in the course of
interacting with them. Conceived as part of the Filipinization policy of Governor General Harrison to
make a `Filipino out of the Moro’, the agricultural colonies were created at the end of the pacification
campaign of Pershing. It is to be noted that Pershing’s pacification campaigns were characterized by
bloody massacres, such as the Bud Dajo incident, when it imposed its disarmament policy.
The agricultural colonies project in 1913 thus coincided with the creation of the Department of
Mindanao and Sulu ending the military rule in Mindanao. 3 At this juncture, it would be expedient to
define Homesteading and Resettlement. Homesteading refers to the opening up of public lands for
agricultural purposes to qualified citizens who will develop and make it productive. He will be
required to remain in the area he applied for for a continuous five years and show proofs that he
accomplished what was required of him. After this period of five years he could now apply for a
Torrens title of the land. Historically, a citizen can for a maximum of 24 hectares during the American
period, eventually this was reduced to twelve hectares then with the advent of the Philippine Republic
it was reduced to five hectares. Resettlement, on the other hand would mean the transfer of abode from
one to the other with the purpose of making his settlement to the new abode permanent. In this study,
the use of the word “Settlers” would refer to those who resettled from North and Central Philippines to
Mindanao who are largely Christians and had adopted the ways of the Spanish and American
colonizers. The “Moros” would refer to the Muslim natives as they distinguish themselves from the
native non-Muslims who are currently called the “Lumads” of Mindanao. In studying the peoples of
Mindanao, it became convenient to use these three categories: Settlers, Moros and Lumads or the so-

2
JESUIT MISSIONARY LETTERS FROM MINDANAO vol.1 Jose S. Arcilla, S.J. ed. Trans.,
Annotator. Q.C. University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies,
National Historical Institute and UP Press, 2000
3
See for example Peter Gordon Gowing. MANDATE IN MOROLANDS: THE AMERICAN
GOVERNMENT OF MUSLIM FILIPINOS, 1899-1920 (Q.C. Philippine Center for Advanced Studies,
1977.
2
called Tri-People of Mindanao.

B. RESETTLEMENT AND NATION-BUILDING

A lesson in colonialism tells us that a centralized bureaucracy makes for a more efficient control of
the subject nation. A stronger Filipino nation was inadvertently created by a weakening Spanish
power that was challenged by American military subjugation. Through its first civil governor, William
Howard Taft’s legalistic economic policies, resettlement was enhanced, paving the way for a
systematic inclusion of Mindanao’s untapped resources into the newly colonized nation. The Treaty of
Paris of 1898, ostensibly, gave the United States every right to occupy even Mindanao and Sulu’s
Muslim territories considered not yet fully pacified by the Spaniards. Though by 1913, these were
militarily brought under American sovereignty, a civilian rule under John Carpenter, appointed by
Governor Harrison, commenced. This was the Department of Mindanao and Sulu which effected the
first agricultural colonies in Cotabato that resettled farmers from Luzon and Visayas to Cotabato in
order to solve inadequate production of rice and corn. Corollary to this mission was for these farmers
from the North to gradually `Filipinize’ the natives in this far-flung Philippine territory. Thus, a
culturally homogenized agricultural state would be an asset that would best serve American interest in
consolidating its rule on Mindanao.
Six agricultural colonies were established in Northern Cotabato from 1913-1919. Although
considerably successful for having increased the production of rice and corn and making headway in
initiating a harmonized inter-ethnic relations in Cotabato, the succeeding Wood’s administration
considered these inconsequential compared with what it considered exorbitant government
expenditures. The resettlement projects, however, were revived during Quezon’s Commonwealth
Regime following the same objectives instituted by the Americans. Furthermore, Quezon thought this
to help ameliorate the tenants who were already restive in Luzon. Thus, the National Land Settlement
Administration (NLSA) was born on October 22,1938 with the promulgation of the Commonwealth
Act no.441.
Compared with the agricultural colonies of the Americans, this was a huge project funded by the
National Development Corporation(NDC) . Quezon borrowed from this corporation P200,000.00 to
finance the settlement project.[NDC was created in 1937. “It was allowed to contract lease agreements
with foreign and domestic investors for exploitation of public agricultural and mineral lands over and
above the 1,024 hectares limit stipulated by the 1935 Constitution. B.F. Goodrich and Goodyear Tires
pioneered in establishing 1000 ha. rubber plantation in 1919. It facilitated the development of large-
scale plantations and the policy of encouraging small settlers in the “Land of Promise” which created
contradictions in land-use policy in later years.”4 He envisioned a Mindanao that would not only serve
the government’s need for increased revenue but also a well-integrated citizenry , peaceful and law-
abiding. Through his Social Justice program, landless peasants from Luzon were given lands in
famously fertile Allah and Koronadal Valleys of southern Cotabato.
Alongside the NLSA resettlement project was a comprehensive development plan of tapping
the hydro-electric resources of Lanao’s Maria Cristina Falls for industrial purposes. We know of this
today as the National Power Corporation.

4
Hayami, Yujiro et al. TOWARD AN ALTERNATIVE LAND REFORM PROGRAM PARADIGM
(Q.C.: Ateneo de Manila Press, 1990) p.43
3
C. POST-COLONIAL LAND POLICIES-EDCOR MINDANAO SETTLEMENTS: A
Case in Point
With the end of the Commonwealth Period and the inauguration of the independent Philippine
Republic, resettlement as a panacea for social and economic ills, would, among others, engender
complex socio-political and economic problems. One of which was the resettlement of the Huk rebel
surrenderees from Luzon and Visayas to Mindanao. The Quirino Administrations’ LASEDECO (Land
Settlement Development Corporation), the successor of NLSA proved to be less effective compared
with the military’s Economic Development Corps or EDCOR. Although created under his
administration, the EDCOR was a military outfit which was autonomously administered and funded
by the Philippine Army. Ramon Magsaysay together with Edward Lansdale, conceived of an
integrated approach to insurgency where weaning supporters of Communism could be successful
should their attraction to it will cease. The primary attraction which was the communists `land to the
tillers’ was transformed into `land for the landless’; and Mindanao was pictured as that land of promise
for the surrendered Huks. In time, this EDCOR idea proved to be successful.5 At this juncture, I am
offering the story of EDCOR settlements as a typical case of homesteading and resettlement in
Mindanao.

EDCOR SETTLEMENTS IN MINDANAO

The Setting of the EDCOR settlements : Kapatagan, Lanao and Buldon,Cotabato
As the name aptly describes it (for the locals), the Kapatagan Valley is flat at the center, sloping softly
towards the south and east across the hilly Mt. Iniaon. Barrio Buriasan, where the EDCOR farm was
situated, was a vast vacant public land of 1,690 hectares which was later expanded to 3,400 hectares in
1954. Seven hundred hectares of this land were allotted to registered owners and the rest to registered
settlers. It was opened through Proclamation no.375and became a settlement for 484 settler-families,
which included sixty-four former Huks (who remained from the original one hundred rebel families in
1951), twenty-seven retired soldiers and nine civilian.6 Other sources however state another set of
figures- Alvin Scaff during his field work in Kapatagan(September 1953), mentioned that there were
one hundred settlers but did not specify how many of these were Huks. Shalom recorded that “when
the project was completed, fewer than 1,000 families had been resettled... and only 246 of these were
ex-Huks.” 7. “Huks”, incidentally, are the Communists insurgents who fought the newly established
Philippine Republic of July 4,1946. Huks is shortened for Hukbong Magpapalaya ng Bayan (People’s
Liberation Army). They were the army of the Communist Party of the Philippines, forerunner to its
contemporary counterpart- The New People’s Army or NPA.
The land was partially cleared and developed by the Army and civilian volunteers in early 1951.

5
See for example Jose V.Abueva, RAMON MAGSAYSAY: A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY (Manila:
Solidaridad Publishing House, 1971
6
Manila Times,January 19,1954. Cf. DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY OF THE PHILIPPINES.
HUMAN SETTLEMENT PHILIPPINE FRONTIER SETTLEMENT MODELS:INVENTORY AND
SUMMARY PROFILES. Prepared by the Frontier and Rural Settlement Research Team of the Rural
Transformation Project.n.d. On p.506-`that there were 139 families as original settlers. There were a
total of 352 residential lots of 600 square meters each, 140 farm lots of six hectares each by 1954,total
area developed was 799,495 hectares
7
Manila Times,January 19,1954. Cf. DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY OF THE PHILIPPINES.
HUMAN SETTLEMENT PHILIPPINE FRONTIER SETTLEMENT MODELS:INVENTORY AND
SUMMARY PROFILES. Prepared by the Frontier and Rural Settlement Research Team of the Rural
Transformation Project.n.d. On p.506-`that there were 139 families as original settlers. There were a
total of 352 residential lots of 600 square meters each, 140 farm lots of six hectares each by 1954,total
area developed was 799,495 hectares
4
Later, houses were built and roads were graded. A schoolhouse, administration building, dispensary
and medical service facilities were added to the settlement. 8 By the time the settlement became a
municipality, the total area developed was 799.4965 hectares. Named Sapad municipality later, it
comprised the barangays of Pili,Baning, Karibang, Patebon, Karkum, Taraka and Dansalan.9
The settlement procedure for EDCOR farms in Kapatagan, Buldon and later, Alamada followed
almost the same pattern:

The  townsites  were  designated  to  function  as  modern  agglomerated  communities  ‐  in  that 
house  lots  were  laid  side  by  side  in  clustered  village  pattern.    For  instance,  at  (Kapatagan)  the 
site  was  originally  situated  into  126  farm  lots  from  the  townsite,  which  had  orderly  rows  of 
thatched  cottages  and  numerous  Army  and  community  facilities.  The  dispersed  settler‐houses 
(were)  well‐constructed  on  wooden  pilings,  on  palm  leaf  sides  and  thatched  roofs.    Homelots 
(were) supposedly to have place for vegetables, flowers, fruits, shade trees, toilet, garbage pit, 
poultry  project  and  pig  sty.  Electricity  was  also  provided  including  a  radio  center  for  outside 
communication. 10 

Buldon is a hilly area with an elevation of 1,500 feet above sea level. Located along the boundary
of Cotabato and Lanao provinces where Simuay River cuts through, the Buldon (also called EDCOR)
farm is situated on the rolling foothills at the base of the sharp-peaked mountains . The climate is not
as hot and humid as in Kapatagan and the area is conducive to upland crops. Alamada EDCOR has
been carved out of Libungan municipality, 18 miles north of Midsayap town proper. It has an
undulating terrain surrounded by hills and mountains. At the same time of settlement kaingin trees
abound. This was the third EDCOR settlement to be opened in Mindanao and it received its first batch
of settlers in 1956.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE EDCOR HOMESTEADS

By hindsight and within the purview of the Spanish reduccion and American agricultural colonies,
resettlement had always been considered as integral to the consolidation of colonial power. Proceeding
from a military conquest, the population is made to serve the colonizers’ vested interests with a
combination of ameliorative , one of which is resettlement, and militarists, programs . This pattern
continued even after the supposed national liberation of the conquered nation. This time it is called
`internal colonialism’, i.e. domestic elites’ vested interests, at the expense of the majority, continue to
dominate national economic policies.
The newly established post-war Philippine Republic answer to a nation fragmented by
Communist insurgency was, among others, resettlement through the EDCOR in Mindanao.
Administratively, EDCOR was under the direct supervision of the Civilian Affairs of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines which was in charge of the Huk surrenderees. It was formally established on
December 15,1950. Funding was provided for through the Army Appropriations Act of 1951 intended
for rebel rehabilitation. By February 22,1951, the first EDCOR project at Kapatagan in Lanao was
established. Edward Lansdale, who was with the group, recounted:

8
Alvin H. Scaff. THE PHILIPPINE ANSWER TO COMMUNISM.(California: Stanford University
Press,1955)p.108
9
From “Lanao Resettlement Project no.2.n.d.,n.p.photocopy fron Sapad Municipality Deparment of
Agricultural Reforms(DAR) Records
10
Maynard Winston Dow,“Counter-insurgency and Nation-building: A Comparative Study of Post
World War II Anti-Guerilla Settlement in Malaya, The Philippines and South Vietnam”.Thesis. Ph.D
Geography . Syracuse University.January 1965. P.121
5
 Magsaysay,  Mirasol,  a  detachment  of  troops,  surveyors  and  I  went  to  Mindanao  and 
looked over the area.  It was lush, virgin jungle several kilometres inland from the sea, 
reached by an abominable muddy track of a road. A few small farms lay along this road, 
with  rich‐looking  soil  and  reportedly  abundant  crops...A  corps  of  engineers  who 
executed the settlement lay‐out plan of Magsaysay and Mirasol were with us.11 

The Political Situation in Mindanao(1955-60) and the EDCOR Homestead Settlements

In time, the evident economic prosperity of the EDCOR settlements was shown in the increase of
agricultural production,in the diversity of settler population as well as in the peace and order
prevailing in the homestead areas. The security provided by military presence in the farm settlement
ostensibly assured the settlers that they would go on living their farm life undisturbed.
The land issue, however, became the prominent bone of contention between the EDCOR and the
Moros. There were reports of Moros contesting recognized public land at the EDCOR farms.12 For
instance, upon investigation, the Philippine Constabulary learned that a certain Umpa who was
suspected to be the “landgrabber” was actually an employee of the Lanao Provincial government. He
(Umpa) reported that when EDCOR was established in Kapatagan, land for his men behind the
EDCOR area was assured; but when his men developed their parcels of land, they were forced to
evacuate because EDCOR settlers came to occupy their attached farmlands. The same report alleged
that the Maranaos(the natives of Lanao) harassed the settlers. Apparently, it was the military presence
that averted open violence in this area.

Land Conflicts Related to EDCOR and NARRA

When Ramon Magsaysay was the elected president, his image as the “man of the masses” and his
`land to the landless’ program gained prominence with the EDCOR and the NARRA(National
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority).
At the outset of his administration, Magsaysay directed Secretary Balao of the EDCOR to advise
the settlers to obtain a P750.00 per hectare loan for coffee plantation from the Rehabilitation Finance
Corporation. The purpose of this loan program, according to Magsaysay was to “enhance the
settlers`capability to contribute to production of cash crops and improve the financial condition of the
planters.” 13 As gathered from this author’s interview, the settlers in Buldon benefitted from this
program, specially at the time when rat infestation and forest fires plagued the place in the late sixties.
NARRA Mindanao projects on the other hand, just like EDCOR has to reckon with land
problems. It was reported that settlers were shipped without assurance of the lands in the settlement
where they were assigned.14 Beloso, the NARRA manager was ordered to correct the situation.
A more serious problem encountered was the land dispute between settlers and natives in the area.
A land conflict between the moro claimants and the NARRA settlers almost developed into a bloody
encounter. In August 1956, a certain Datu Sangke insisted on a claim consisting of 650 hectares
located at Kauran, Datu Piang where a NARRA reservation was located. According to Datu Sangke,
Kauran was one of the few remaining places where they, as natives, could settle. Most of the
Koronadal and Allah Valley had been occupied by Christians.15 Two hundred and sixty-four Muslim
families and one hundred and three Christian families fought over the controversial land. According to

11
Edward Lansdale, IN THE MIDST OF WARS: AN AMERICAN MISSION IN SOUTHEAST
ASIA (New York: Harper and Row Publishers,1972)p.53
12
Daily Mirror April 5,1956
13
OFFICIAL GAZETTE vol 51 no.6 (june 1955) p.cc1
14
OFFICIAL GAZETTE vol.52 no.5 (May 7,1956)p.ccvii
15
OFFICIAL GAZETTE vol. 52 no.6 (June 9,1956) p.dxiviii
6
the Christian settlers, they occupied the land in 1952 with the permission of another Muslim claimant.
The land conflict was settled through a division of farm lots, in which greater portion was allotted
to Datu Sangke’s men. An agreement called the `Pledge of Brotherhood’ was signed between the
Muslim and Christian groups. This temporarily forestalled the conflict.
At Wao, (a town of Lanao del Sur) NARRA reports of anomalies committed by Busran Kalaw
reached Malacanang in June 1898. Kalaw, according to these reports,cheated the settlers of their
supplies, sold their rice supplies at exorbitant prices, and censored their letters and radiograms to
government authorities. The settlers: Gregorio Abasta, Anita Reyes,Mariano Reyes, Amado Reyes and
Arturo Angeles, presented to the President invoices showing they were given only a few gantas of
rice a week, out of their weekly rations of fifteen gantas each.16
In Maramag (Bukidnon) NARRA, on the other hand, Jose Crisol (who conducted investigation
there) reported that there were “administrative operational deficiencies” in the settlement and
recommended the improvement of the road from Maramag to Wao. Moreover, it was also noted that
some settlers from Wao wanted to transfer to Maramag.17 OFFICIAL GAZETTE vol. 52 no.6 (June
9,1956) p.dxiviii
At Davao, a NARRA project was abolished when it was found out that this government agency
was actually the landgrabber.
Meantime, on the national level in 1957, a tragedy struck. President Magsaysay met a sudden
death. He died in a plane crash on March 17,1957 together with Secretary of Education Gregorio
Hernandez, former Senator Tomas Cabili, Gen. Benito Ebuen (Chief of the Philippine Air
Force),Congressmen Pedro Lopez,Manuel Zosa, and William Chiongbian, Jean Paredes, a lawyer, and
other passengers totalling twenty-seven persons, excluding the crew. Only one person survived the
disaster. Accordingly, the plane Mount Pinatubo, hit the side of Mount Manunggal due to `metal
fatigue breakage’.18
Such tragedy brought a sense of insecurity among the Kapatagan EDCOR settlers. Since the
termination of their subsidy coincided with the demise of the president, they thought that the
succeeding Garcia administration was not sympathetic to their plight. It was apparent due to their
unpaid loans they faced imminent foreclosure of their mortgaged land. They sought an audience with
President Garcia, but to no avail. It was a policy of his administration to impose austerity and fiscal
discipline. Thus, for the Kapatagan EDCOR settlers it seemed that the death of Magsaysay likewise
ended the EDCOR project.
Following Magsaysay’s death, the settlers in EDCOR Kapatagan, recalled seven significant
developments: Moro conflicts, selling of land and animals, settlers returning to their original places,
end of EDCOR’s days of glory, [A film was made of Kapatagan EDCOR, the “Huk sa Bagong
Pamumuhay” which starred popular actress and actor, Nida Blanca and Luis Gonzales. showing how
miraculously the people and the place was transformed through the EDCOR project. From a brief
written by Mr. Peredo, a former EDCOR settler, for this author’s research, he mentioned of the
decrease in agricultural production, local government’s takeover and the building of more houses.
Further major changes were: 1)Most of Kapatagan settlers’ support stopped; 2)Vigorous campaign to
collectsettlers’ debts to the government; 3)EDCOR’s turnover to Land Authority in 1957; and 4) Its
eventual phase-out and incorporation into the newly formed Sapad municipality in 1969.
In 1959, serious management problems beset the Gallego EDCOR in Buldon. Army Chief of
Staff Alejo Santos ordered a military investigation of the Gallego Farms regarding the reported abuses

16
OFFICIAL GAZETTE no. 52 no.12 (September 30,1956)p.ccccivi-vii
17
OFFICIAL GAZETTE vol. 52 no.6 (June 9,1956) p.dxiviii
18
Carlos Quirino .MAGSAYSAY OF THE PHILIPPINES (Manila: Ramon Magsaysay Memorial
Society,1964) p.232
7
of military personnel against settlers in the form of usurious credit, charging settlers for use of military
vehicles at exorbitant rates, confiscation of work animals, farm lots and other property of the settlers
who failed to pay borrowed money, and sale of drugs and medicines which were originally issued free
to the settlers.19
Furthermore, Senator Genaro Magsaysay, who visited Libungan (Genio EDCOR farm or
Alamada) in late 1962, confirmed landgrabbing cases there. Allotted lots for settlers were said to have
been withdrawn and finally,fell into the hands of moneyed people and certain government officials.
These landgrabbing cases were denied by the then Acting Bureau of Lands Director.20 Apparently, the
latter was implicated in the anomaly. Related to this report was the charge of illegal logging at the
EDCOR farm in Buldon.
A case was filed in 1963 against a lumber company on an EDCOR reservation of 134,041
hectares in Buldon, Cotabato. The company had been logging in Buldon since 1958, in an area
reserved by Ramon Magsaysay under Proclamation No.6(March 2,1954). The permission was given
through an official who was unauthorized to act on behalf of EDCOR, according to Defense Secretary
Macario Peralta. Forestry Director Bernal said that through a series of amendments, the company
increased its logging areas from 49,000 hectares to 107,400 hectares in a matter of two months, and
not without the official consent of the Defense Secretary.21

Natives Anxiety Over the Presence of the EDCOR settlements in their area
A concrete instance of a Maguindanaoan’s complaint over the loss of what they believe to be their land
to the EDCOR project was reflected in the following:

We  are  poor...The  government  brought  in  ex‐rebel  from  the  other  end  of  the  country, 
people  who  are  alien  to  us,  settled  them  down  on  our  land,  gave  them  everything  they 
need to farm, and (laid) out towns for them. We ask(ed) for the same consideration. We 
(were) told we do not quality...We do not know how to compete with these people...Soon 
we shall be landless people on our ownhome country.22
Quoted by Melvin Mednick from a Maguindanaoan informant in “Development Programs
and the Moslems” p. 38 cited in Maynard Dow,op cit. p.127

In such a situation, according to Melvin Mednick, an anthropologist who studied the Muslims in
Mindanao, “the effect of the EDCOR project was...a good example of a situation in which a solution
of the problems (in Luzon) turn(ed) into the breeding ground for another.” ibid. p.12823In an effort to
prevent such occurrence, the government allowed a segment on the settlement reserved for the
Maguindanaoans. By April 4,1956 the government authorized 227 Moro families to occupy and settle
lands at Genio EDCOR project which, according to Ciriaco Mirasol, EDCOR chief, “accomplished
two things: 1)it filled the project up t To capacity and 2)obviated possible Muslim charges that the
government provid(ed) more privileges to Christians than (the) native(s) of the area.” 24
Nonetheless, after the surrender of rebels Tawan-tawan and Kamlon in 1951 and 1954,
respectively, there was relative calm all over Mindanao and Sulu.

19
MANILA TIMES November 5,1959
20
DAILY MIRROR December 22,1962
21
MANILA TIMES, October 30,1963
22
Quoted by Melvin Mednick from a Maguindanaoan informant in “Development Programs and the
Moslems” p. 38 cited in Maynard Dow,op cit. p.127 
23
ibid. p.128
24
ibid.
8
THE CREATION OF THE SEMP MINDANAO HOMESTEADS
In 1959, the government created another resettlement program Socio-Economic Military Program
(SEMP)25 modelled ostensibly from the EDCOR design.
SEMP was intended to “help retired enlisted men and ex-trainees to acquire their own land which
they (would) work as homestead until they (could) have a title to it”. The program was under the
supervision of the Philippine Army which acquired public land not reserved for NARRA nor the
EDCOR. Under the same program, the Army helped the settlers by opening roads, particularly for
transporting the settlers’ machinery and equipment, cleaning the forest, planning the community,
sending tools and advancing supplies.26
Evidently, the creation of SEMP as an exclusive military resettlement project formalized the
alienation of the former insurgents-the Huks, from the rest of the settlers. The government considered
the `Huk menace’ as solved and as a precautionary measue, they had to be isolated from the
Maguindanaoans who were also potential rebels. The land issue remained a sensitive matter, specially
for the latter. In fact, in Alamada EDCOR which was the biggest settlement of`673 settlers, only seven
were former Huks while 97 were militarymen .
Moreover, it would be this SEMP-EDCOR in the Alamada settlement (also called Barrira-Genio),
in comparison with the other EDCOR settlements, which would be the last to be turned over to civilian
administration under the Ministry of Agrarian Reform in 1972.27 Cayetano Paderanga, Jr. “A Review
of Land Settlements in the Philippines” MINDANAO STUDIES REPORT no.2 (UP Center for
Integrative and Development Studies) p.1828 This fact suggests that EDCOR Alamada retained its
military nature for almost two decades. When the author visited the area in 1994, she was impressed
that much of its military settlement lay-out remained. According to Maynard Dow, an American
military officer,

 (T)he  EDCOR  ha(d)  made  significant  strides...When  it  was  apparent  that  there  were 
insufficient  ex‐Huks  and  other  settlers  for  filling  the  original  quota,  the  government 
took  definite  steps  to  include  indigenous  moro.    Moro  settler  heads  of  families  were 
incorporated into the EDCOR (Alamada) in 1956. 29 

THE IMPACT OF RESETTLEMENT PROJECT ON MINDANAO,

Philippines
A. INTERNAL COLONIZATION AND THE CONSEQUENT INSURGENCIES
The history of the migrant-settlers and their struggles for a better life underwent a period of debacle, or
a period of helplessness in the face of peace and order problems in Mindanao. While symptoms of the
impending native resistance to further attempts at internal colonization of the government of the
Republic, these brewing sentiments conflagrated into secessionists movements spearheaded by the
Moro National Liberation Front, later by its breakaway Moro Islamic Liberation Front, then the

25
Dow op.cit. p.110
26
ibid. p.113
27
Ibid.
28
Cayetano Paderanga, Jr. “A Review of Land Settlements in the Philippines” MINDANAO
STUDIES REPORT no.2 (UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies) p.18
29
Dow op cit p.138
9
terrorists Abu Sayyaf during the Martial Period up to the present. Compounding these problems would
be the presence of the New Peoples’ Army of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
By 1961,nearly thirty percent of the population of Mindanao have migrated there during the past
twelve years according to a report cited by Kit Collier30.
The Mindanao frontier, now was almost closed specially the vast tracts of land in the Central and
Southern Mindanao area. Three decades later, during the nineteen nineties, as we would find below,
the ecosystem was already showing signs of decay with the phenomenal flashfloods which were
unknown in Mindanao before.
Thus, this period is largely characterised by problems of peace and order brought about by
Marcos’ long term Martial Rule. From a research conducted by the author among second generation
migrants- intense peace and order problem was felt during this period.
Ferdinand Marcos’ rationale for the declaration of Martial Law in September 21, 1972 was,
among others, the secessionist movement i.e. Moro National Liberation Front(MNLF) in Mindanao.
This armed group was able to draw international support, particularly from the Organization of Islamic
Countries(OIC), from which both material and moral support were generously given. He, Marcos,
eventually acceded to negotiate with them. Thus, the signing of the Tripoli Agreement on December
23,1976. Mindanaoans knew what Marcos and Cory did thereafter towards this demand for autonomy
by the Muslims. Elaboration of this issue is however, not within the province of this paper.
Meantime, intensifying clashes were known between the partisan armed groups. In the Lanao
area, the clashes between the Barracudas, the alleged private army of the Dimaporos and the Ilagas, a
vigilante group formed by a some Ilonggo settlers in Cotabato became much more intense during the
Martial Law, along with the rebels Moro Islamic Liberation Front(MILF),and New People’s Army
(NPA) versus the Philippine Army.
At this instance, refugees from both Christian and Muslims fled to the cities escaping the armed
confrontation of both. Concerned women’s groups responded to this crisis by organizing themselves
and became active in providing food, shelter and clothing in Iligan City, being one of the many cities
affected by these conflicts.
Meantime, for the settlers-migrants of Mindanao the political maneuverings of the administration
were at best, attempts at prolonging the period of truce with the rebels. The Martial Law period
initiated a period of strife, a longing for a period of a stable peace and order condition accompanied
with uniform and judicious economic development. This condition is quite prolonged which, for
some, even still remained to the present.
Marcos continued the policy of resettling rebels who surrendered to the government. A micro
case in point is the Brgy Dalipuga, Iligan City. A sitio in Dalipuga is known as “landless” because the
residents in the area are former NPA rebels who surrendered to the government and were given
residential lots.
From the point of view of the settlers interviewed as well as unpublished sources used for this
paper, what used to be the government Moro policy under Ferdinand Marcos was ostensibly, continued
by Cory Aquino and her successor Fidel Ramos. The latter sought to negotiate a truce with the MILF
and peace reigned temporarily in Mindanao. However, all these came to naught with the advent of
Erap Estrada administration.
Ironically, the most intense fear experienced by the migrants particularly those in Lanao del
Norte was during the post-Martial period-the administration of Estrada when he declared an all-out-
war on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. On March 18, 2000 President Joseph Estrada declared

30
“The Theoretical Problems of Insurgency in Mindanao: Why Theory? Why Mindanao?” in
MINDANAO: LAND OF UNFULFILLED PROMISE. op cit. p.204, citing National Economic
Council Regional Survey: Mindanao Area Series (1961) pp.2-3
10
“Crush the MILF at all cost”. This was clearly a land related conflict involving the migrants and native.
We will find out more about this below. Meantime, the reason for this policy declaration was the
following:

The MILF violated the truce agreement 277 times which included the 1) kidnapping of a 
foreign priest named Father Luciano Benedetti; 2) occupying and setting on fire of the 
municipal  hall  of  Talayan  in  Maguindanao;  3)the  bombing  of  the  ship  M/V  Lady  of 
Mediatrix    of  Ozamis  City  and  4)  the  take  over  of  the  Narciso  Ramos  highway  in 
Maguindanao Province connecting it with Lanao del Sur.31 The MILF, on the other hand, 
accused of the government of the same violation of truce agreement by mobilizing its 
troops  against  the  MILF  elements.  The  Kauswagan  ,  Lanao  del  Norte  Incident  was 
apparently  the  one  that  ignited  this,  as  it  spilled  over  the  nearby  towns  of  Linamon, 
Matungao, Pantao‐Ragat and Balo‐i. Immediately after this incident was the declaration 
of all‐out‐war by Estrada. Most of these towns were inhabited by Christians who were 
the  majority, except that of Balo‐i where the  the Maranao Muslims were the majority. 
It  was  said  that  in  Balo‐i  there  were  sizable  MILF  mujahideens  as  well  as  MILF 
sympathizers  coming  from  Butig,  Batangan,  Matungao,  PantaoRagat  and  Sagiaran  in 
Lanao del Sur. 32 

Apparently, the MILF-GRP battles in Balo-i was a spill-over of the Kauswagan and towns near it
incident. On April 25, MILF forces massed in Balo-i to defend what they consider their territory.
Thus, the settlers who were minorities here had to evacuate to other areas. Even the Maranao civilians
like Magadapa, 57 years old, a farmer and livestock owner at Brgy. Sandor needed to evacuate in order
to avoid being caught in the crossfire. According to him:

When the war broke out here in Baloi, almost the whole of Baloi had evacuated and that 
everyone went to their relatives in other areas. My family and I went to Pantao Ragat in 
Lanao del Norte area. Our coconut plantation, as well as those of my neighbours, were 
all left behind. Of course, no sane person would still harvest his coconuts while war was 
going on in the surrounding areas. The war was long, for it lasted a month. Actually, it 
was some of our MILF friends that informed us to evacuate the area since they suspect 
a  huge  war  was  looming.  We  feared  to  be  included  in  the  war  so  everyone  of  us 
evacuated but left behind their sheep, carabao and other domesticated livestocks. We 
only carried anything that our hands could carry. In the course of the war, some of the 
men made quick visits to inspect their houses in the daytime but many simply waited for 
any news to come about the conditions of their left belongings and properties. Also we 
learned that most of those MILF men that went here in Baloi came from Lanao del Sur 
areas  while some  came  from  areas  of  Lanao  del  Norte.  When  those  MILF men  gained 
position in many Barangays of Baloi they scattered out, divided their troops and some 
of them even dug holes in every house’s sides. They were numerous for we estimated 
them  to  be  1000  in  all.  Their  route  was  very  long‐  they  hiked  all  the  way  from  Pat‐

31
Cf. “Speech of former President Estrada on the GRP-Moro Conflict UP-HDN forum on the GRP-
Moro Conflict Sept 18,2008 UP School of Economics Auditorium. http:hdn.org.ph/speech of former
president Estrada on the GRP-Moro conflict. March 15,2012 in Saro et al. p.23
32
Norayneh B. Saro et al. “2000 “All-Out-War” : The Balo-i Experience AB History Thesis. MSU-IIT
March 2012. Pp.20-21. Interview of Adap Pasunob
11
 pangkat  of  Sagiran  (Lanao  del  Sur)  to  Bobong,  Mamaanun,  Olango,  Lumbak,  Bsagad, 
Momongan then to Pacalundo and then some of them passed through Matampay Bulao, 
Pantaon,  Batangan,  and  Bangko,  while  some  of  them  positioned  themselves  in 
Matungao.  There  were  also  those  who  came  from  Pantao  Ragat,  Lanao  del  Norte. 
Anyway,  when  these  men  dug  the  trenches  beside  some  houses,  they  must  be  very               
visible from the sky causing the air force to drop bombs on the houses.  33 

From an MILF fighter, Ustad Ibir , 50 years old who studied in China on Islamic Studies and a
mujahidin for twenty years: “The inclusion of Baloi in the 2000 all-out-war was a military tactic of
diverting the attention of some of the AFP disabling them not to fight in full force against our
Maguindanao Camp Abubakar.” 34 Obviously, the Lanao provinces were mere collateral damage of the
MILF-GRP conflict based on Maguindanao. Damage from this war which ended one month after the
declaration of Estrada’s all out war was incalculable, specially on the part of civilians both Maranao
and Christians.

The Kauswagan Incident

It was said that the term Kauswagan means “progress or prosperity” and was derived from the term
“dalicanan” meaning “to bend” which was the root word for “Kaidalicanan” or the place of early
settlers. The Maranaos were considered the natives of the area and were followed by Christian
migrants from Visayas during the pre-war era.35
Prior to the Kauswagan Incident that ignited Estrada’s “All-Out-War” in 2000, a Tacub (a
barangay of Kauswagan) massacre involving the murder of thirty-nine dead and fifty-four wounded
Maranao Muslim on November 28,1971, in an election related violence had implicated twenty-one
army men including three officers. The latter were court-marshalled and thereafter relieved from their
duties. This was at the height of the war between the Barracuda-Ilaga during the Marcos era. As was
popularly known in Central Mindanao at that time, the Barracudas were supposed fighters for the
Muslims while the Ilagas were the supposed defenders of the Christian settlers.
Kauswagan would again be prominent as the staging ground for another conflict. This time the
issue would be about land dispute between a Christian and a Maranao. A certain Maximiano Oliverio
claimed he owns a twenty four hectare land in Brgy. Inudaran- a land which he had to abandon for
several years due to peace and order situation. A Maranao, by the name of Paudak Somocor, claim he
has a title that gives him the right over five hectares, an area within Oliverio’s claim of twenty-four
hectares. The question was that Paudak could not harvest his crop for almost twenty years, since
Martial Law, because he feared for his safety. From January
until September of 1999, nineteen, mostly Christians were killed because of this land disputes.36
The construction of an MILF camp in Inudaran while there was this ongoing land dispute, alarmed the
people. It was called Camp John Mack and was know as the base of Moro Islamic Liberation Front of
303rd Brigade under Adullah Macapaar (a.k.a) “Commander Bravo”. When a letter complaint by some
municipal officials and some residents reached President Estrada an agreement was finalized on
March 10, 2000 stating that the camp would move one hundred meters away from their existing
location. Apparently, such an agreement was interpreted by the MILF as a legitimate recognition of
their right over the area because despite the military’s demand that they move out, they remained in

33
Saro et al ibid. pp.32-33
34
Translated from Maranao ibid. p.38
35
Louie T. Geronimo and Carmelo V. Pacdol. “An Account on the Armed Conflict in Kauswagan,
Lanao del Norte.” AB History Thesis. MSU IIT. March 2002. p. 20
36
Ibid.
12
the area and refused to relocate.

B. LAND RESETTLEMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS TO ECOLOGICAL

DISASTERS IN MINDANAO
According to Kit Collier in describing the early post-Martial law era and referring to the presence of
the Communists New People’s Army in Mindanao:

The  militarization,  lawlessness  and  land‐grabbing  which  are  such  an  important  part  of 
the  Mindanao  story  provide  us  with  more  of  a  clue  about  the  nature  of  society  and 
revolution on the island. Rather than seeking to restore  traditional institutions, it seems 
possible that revolutionaries in frontier societies are attempting to create structures of 
their own to fill an institutional vacuum.[Italics mine].37 

In the instance where we saw the migrants exposed to hostile situations created inadvertently by
their presence as landowners, their response was reflexive rather than well-thought out. Apparently,
the government was deemed by the natives as the one that supports and protects the migrants and that
these outsiders who were resettled to their areas benefitted and prospered at their (the natives) expense
and developed a love-hate relationship with the latter. The realities that the migrants had to face was
stupendous. Hard-working they maybe, and pioneering has considerably allowed them the ownership
of lands never before they dreamed of owning; yet, living with chronic hostilities between the army
forces and the rebels was something they have yet to live with.
In Central Mindanao, where the frontier have long been closed the trend of settlement was
typically two-folds: urbanization and significant increase of upland agriculture. Costello avers:

The heavy inmigration which Mindanao experienced during the 1950s and 1960’s was in 
large part rural‐to‐rural movement. Now that the frontier has closed, a good part of the 
region’s population growth must be absorbed by its cities.38 

The growth of Iligan, General Santos and Cagayan de Oro cities in Central Mindanao (which is
the focus of this study) may compare favourably with the growth trend in Southern Davao, particularly
Davao city and Western Mindanao, particularly Zamboanga City,Pagadian City and Dipolog City.
“The larger cities of Mindanao were (even) growing much more rapidly than most other cities of the
Philippines of comparable size between 1960 and 1970.” 39
However, the growing scarcity of lowlands now fully occupied by settler/migrants has inevitably
increased upland migration. We have seen that the IPs such as B’laans, Tirurays, even Manobos wary
of the coming of the migrants during the 1930’s up to 1960’s preferred to retreat to the interior in order
to avoid having had anything to do with the latter. Although there were stories of harmonious
relationship between them and the migrants, they have marked the upland as their domicile.
Nonetheless, the primitive upland agriculture practiced by the IPs and more so, through plantation

37
 Kit Collier, “The Theoretical problems of insurgency
in Mindanao: why theory? Why Mindanao” MINDANAO: LAND OF UNFULFILLED
PROMISE. Ed by Mark Turner, R.J.May and Lulu Respall Turner. New Day Publishers
Quezon City. 1992 pp.197-212 passim
38
 MICHAEL COSTELLO “THE DEMOGRAPHY OF MINDANAO” MINDANAO:LAND OF
UNFULFILLED PROMISE ibid. p.31 
39
Ibid. citing Ulack p.43
13
corporate farming, land conversion by subdivision developers, widening pasture lands had drastic
effect on the environment. According to Costello,

Upland populations have generally been growing at a more rapid pace than found for 
the region as a whole, a finding which implies that most of the migrants to rural areas in 
Mindanao are currently selecting these types of destination...The inexorable increase in 
the  levels  of  population  density  in  (the  table  below)  indicates  that  the  demographic 
pressure upon Mindanao’s fragile upland ecosystem has increased dramatically over the 
past two generations.40 

Population Growth in Mindanao’s Upland Areas,1948-198041

________________________________________________________________________
Population Intercensal growth rate
Size Density Upland Mindanao Total Mindanao
________________________________________________________________________
1948 1,043,980 21.63 ----- --------
1960 1,864,598 38.63 5.0 5.2
1970 3,128,990 64.83 5.3 4.0
1980 4,400,883 91.19 3.5 3.2
_________________________________________________________________________

Magdalena 42, in his study on the effect of increasing population on Mindanao’s ecosystem found
out that- while migration may have helped in Mindanao’s economic development yet this was at the
expense of the environment, among which are forest degradation and environmental pollution; not to
mention the displacement of the Lumads and the Moros, that as we have seen above is the cause of the
insurgencies. He said:

A new ecological pattern seems to have evolved based on rapid population movements, 
the most notable being segregation, where the lowlanders have inhabited the town and 
cities or cultivated choice lands, while the Lumads and the Moros have taken refuge to 
the  interior  where  life  is  harsher.  In  many  instances,  the  change  in  the  ecological 
balance resulted in conflict as communities compete for resources, particularly land, or 
claims for (r)ights over the utilization of such resources. 43 

Furthermore, due to “ the rapid growth of upland population...due to lack of livelihood

opportunities in the lowlands, illegal logging and rampant kaingin agriculture destroy some 3,790
hectares yearly, or a total forest area of 1.02 million hectares of forest cover.”44 As a result, in 1994
from over 4 million hectares of forest twenty years ago, only 1 million hectare was left, which was
“due largely to forest depletion-210,000 hectares annually between 1969 and 1990”ibid.pp.21-22
citing Journal of Philippine Statistics 199145 Doctor Magdalena even predicted:

40
Ibid. p. 36
41
Costello, ibid p.36
42
Federico V. Magdalena, “Population Growth and the Changing Ecosystem on Mindanao” Mindanao
Journal vol.xxiii nos 1-2 (July-December 1996) pp.14-31
43
ibid. p.27
44
Ibid.
45
ibid.pp.21-22 citing Journal of Philippine Statistics 1991
14
 Unless  arrested  soon,  nature  will  take  its  own  revenge.  The  tragedy  in  Ormoc,  where 
thousands drowned in a flashflood a couple of years back; is not a far‐fetched possibility 
in Mindanao.  46 

True enough, the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro were devastated by the Sendong tragedy
last December 17, 2011 when thousands perished due to flashfloods inundating these heavily
populated Christian dominated cities of Mindanao.
Costello, on the other hand, views the growth of cities in Mindanao as the positive development,
with all its accompanying infrastructural and electrification support from the government, and projects
a scenario that is totally decidedly positive though he admits that-. there is an apparent uneven
development in Mindanao. Rural areas were mere support to the growing cities-attracting its youth
who are potential change agents in their places of origin. The violent clashes between the government
forces and the rebels result in the growing number of refugees who had to leave their homes in order
to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Furthermore, the diminishing resources afforded by the
corporate plantation economy had spelled doom to ecological balance. Thus, the over-all impact of
heavy migration into Mindanao while may have answered the need to address the developmental
concerns of the nation economically, socially and politically, the trade off was an island with chronic
armed clashes and ecological disasters. Of the latter, the largest victims would therefore be the
Mindanaoan Christian migrants who have been the dominant population for several decades.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

This paper argued that with a land policy that were born from colonial experiences that were directed
towards the development of underdeveloped areas in the country land resettlement through
homesteading became the favoured government policy. The case of EDCOR Mindanao which was
modelled from the American experience of homesteading but with a definite aim at aborting the
erosion of peasants support to the government. Apparently the former (peasants are inclined to support
insurgents such as the Communists’ “land for the landless” program. However, this paper showed that
indeed, resettlement through homesteading, was effective. Although not much was presented on the
current land reform program as another alternative to the problem of landlessness, it can be mentioned,
by hindsight that although Land Reform which was defined in its classic form as land distribution
towards real equity between the rich and the poor was attempted by President Diosdado Macapagal
and his successors. However, more studies are needed to find out why even up to the present all these
failed dismally. Resettlement through homesteading it seems from the point of view of its
beneficiaries was far more effective However, as also shown in this paper current insurgencies became
the indirect result of these, specially in Mindanao where as the southern frontier became the haven for
landless peasants from the north and central Philippines.
Moreover, land resettlements as suggested in this paper, although seemingly economically viable
for an agricultural country such as the Philippines brought with it attendant complexities-foremost of
which is the adverse reaction of the natives to the government that was responsible for the transfer of
the huge number of migrants to what they call their “ancestral domain”. Through time, the
government made efforts to ameliorate the dismal condition of the peoples of Mindanao. However,
vested interests as shown in this paper continue to further render peace efforts far more challenging
than otherwise.
Another important point that this paper presented was the consequent environmental disasters

46
Ibid.p.22
15
that unbridled development engendered . Ecological disasters became inevitable. Cyclones now
became a common occurrence. These were unheard of in the past. While population pressure in
Mindanao may have a lot to do with it, current debates center more on the unbridled development
efforts by the government without regard for ecological balance.
Finally, more studies on land issues as they impign on climate and political disaster is highly
recommended.

16
 International Conference Paper Series
Land grabbing, conflict and 
agrarian‐environmental  The  purpose  of  the  2015  Chiang  Mai  conference  is  to  contribute  to 
transformations: perspectives  deepening and broadening of our understanding of global land deals, 
from East and Southeast resource  conflict  and  agrarian‐environmental  transformations  – in 
 
the specific regional context of Southeast and East Asia, with special 
An international academic conference  attention to climate change mitigation and adaptation policies as well 
 5‐6 June 2015, Chiang Mai University  as the role of China and other middle income countries (MICs) within 
  the region. 
 
 
 
The  Conference  Paper  Series  aims  to  generate  vibrant  discussion 
  around these issues in the build up towards the June 2015 conference 
  –  and  beyond.  We  will  keep  these  papers  accessible  through  the 
  websites  of  the  main  organizers  before,  during  and  after  the 
  conference. 
 
 
 
   
   
   
   
 
 
About the Author
   
  Faina C. Abaya‐Ulindang is currently the Research Coordinator of the 
  College  of  Social  Sciences  and  Humanities,  Mindanao  State 
 
University,  Marawi  City  Philippines.  She  holds  a  Ph.D  History(1996), 
MA  in  Asian  Studies  (1982)  and  BA  in  History(1972)  –all  from  the 
University  of  the  Philippines,  Diliman  Quezon  City  Philippines.  Her  
Ph.D  Dissertation  is  entitled    “EDCOR  and  Counter‐Insurgency.  A 
Study  of  the  Economic  Development  Corps(EDCOR)  Settlements  in 
Mindanao  (1950‐70)”  is  about  the  resettlement  of  Huk  communists 
insurgents  into  Mindanao  during  the  1950s.  Among  her  published 
articles  are  “Slaves  and  Migrants  in  Mndanao”  ,  “Northwest  Chinese 
Muslims in China :A Comparative Study on Minority Policies of China 
and  the  Philippines”  “  Moros  During  the  Filipino‐American  War”, 
“Magsaysay Resettlement Programs in Southern Philippines and their 
Implications  to  Peace  Process”  which  appeared  in  MSU  Graduate 
Research Journal, Moro Kurier, Dansalan Quarterly, Mindanao Journal 
and  NHI  Kasaysayan  Journal.  Her  other  interests  apart  from  land 
resettlement  in  Mindanao  are  gender,  slaves  and  minority  social 
histories.