Environmental Peacebuilding: an Experiential Learning Paper on The

Environmental Peacebuilding: An Experiential Learning Paper on the Participatory Social Cartography Project for Marawi City and other Localities Affected by the Marawi Siege

Atty. Michelle Angelica Go Assistant Secretary, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Republic of the Philippines

Paper prepared for presentation at the “2019 WORLD BANK CONFERENCE ON LAND AND POVERTY” The World Bank - Washington DC, March 25-29, 2019

Copyright 2019 by author(s). All rights reserved. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all such copies.

Abstract

The Participatory Social Cartography Project: Environmental Peacebuilding in Marawi City The Philippines was recently in the limelight as the site of violent conflict between government security forces and extremists affiliated with militant Islamic groups that resulted in deaths and displacement of people, and the total destruction of the commercial center of Marawi City, the Islamic City located in Mindanao which is the second biggest island of the country.

Late in the evening of day 1 of the siege of Marawi, President Rodrigo Duterte declared a State of Martial Law in the Mindanao Group of Islands and suspended the Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus. The ensuing urban warfare between government security forces and the extremists lasted for 5 months which left the city in ruins, displaced more than two hundred thousand residents and killed hundreds from both sides, including those caught in the crossfire. The conflict directly affected a total of 305,642 individuals, including the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from ground zero or most affected area which is the commercial center of Marawi City.

As the battle was winding down, the Philippine Government created a Land Resource Management (LRM) Sub-Committee under Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) which was placed under the administrative and technical supervision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary, charged with the broad mandate of managing all issues pertaining to land resource in Marawi City and other localities affected by the conflict.

The present land administration system of the Philippines traces its roots to several centuries of Spanish and American colonial period systems, which studies have shown, were not rationalized even after gaining full independence more than 70 years ago which thus left serious structural and administrative defects. The result of the research conducted by the LRM Sub-Committee showcased this defective land administration system and confirmed that indeed, land, land resources and the environment form part of the root cause of the so-called ‘Moro’ people rebellions that started several centuries ago and was recently reignited by the extremists who used this conflict to push their agenda.

The LRM Sub-Committee is thus implementing the Participatory Social Cartography Project which basically is land, property and social data mapping of the 260-hectare ground zero or most affected area of battle-scarred Marawi City. The project is among several that were conceptualized under the ‘Environmental Peacebuilding’ framework with the strategy of leveraging on land, land resources and the environment and anchored on the broader twin goals of ‘Sustaining Peace’ and ‘Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.’

The concept of ‘Environmental Peacebuilding’ as intended by the LRM Sub-Committee, emanated from the realization that a war’s magnitude is not just measured by the death toll, but how the environment and the land and property rights of the war-torn communities are affected by the violent conflict which is further exacerbated by a defective land administration system. It is thus imperative that interventions for the recovery of those communities leverage on and address the impact of the conflict on land, land resources and the environment. The author hastens to add that design of the project was heavily influenced, among others, by key learnings of the Author at the 2018 Land and Poverty Conference.

The experience of implementing the Participatory Scial Cartography Project, albeit still ongoing and still unfinished, validates the conclusions and recommendations of the World Bank and AusAID– funded Land Administration and Management Project (LAMP).

During the third stage of the Participatory Social Cartography Project, the Author will revisit the LAMP’s proposed blueprint for reform of the country’s land administration and management system. With national attention still riveted to the ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi City’s ground zero or most affected area, it is hoped that having showcased the challenge posed by this Project, the critical next steps towards the implementation of the long-term roadmap will finally be undertaken by the leaders of the Philippine Government.

Key Words: Environmental Peacebuilding Land, Land Resources and the Environment Participatory Social Cartography Sustaining Peace Torrens System

Siege of Marawi City and Declaration of a State of Martial Law Marawi, a city that is part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) located in southern Philippines, made the headlines on May 23, 2017 when an armed local extremist group led by local residents affiliated with foreign militant Islamic groups, launched a siege against the city by burning and destroying a Catholic Church and government buildings, occupying the residential and commercial structures, closing roads and bridges and declaring the city as a new caliphate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Group or ISIS, to which the government reacted swiftly.

Marawi City: The Jewel of Mindanao, Philippines Before Marawi City’s destruction, it was dubbed by visitors as the ‘Zurich’ of the Philippines because of its beauty which is framed by the impressive 170-hectare Lake Lanao, the largest lake in Mindanao and counted as one the ancient lakes of the world. According to scientists, Lake Lanao was formed through the collapse of a volcano and the tectonic movements of two mountain ranges in the area more than two million years ago. It hosts several endemic species of fish and is a major source of seafood for the residents of Marawi City and nearby areas. Its watersource enjoy a proteted area status as a watershed forest reserve.

Creation of Task Force Bangon Marawi A little over a month after the start of the siege, even as the battle was still ongoing, President Rodrigo Duterte, who was so moved by the widespread destruction and loss of lives in the Islamic city, ordered the creation of an inter-agency task force composed of several national government agencies with the mandate of overseeing the recovery, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of Marawi City and other affected localities, to be officially known as “Task Force Bangon Marawi” (TFBM). TFBM performs its functions through five Sub-Committees (Reconstruction, Housing, Health and Social Welfare, Business and Livelihood, Peace and Order).

Creation of the Sub-Committee on Land Resource Management A unique feature of Marawi City and the other affected localities which form part of the Province of Lanao del Sur that was initially overlooked during the drafting of the administrative order that created the inter-agency administrative body tasked to oversee the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the area is the legal effect of seven Presidential Proclamations establishing layers of authorities over vast tracks of land, the most notable of which is the Camp Keithley Military Reservation which traces its legal moorings to the American Occupation period that commenced in 1898 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris between Spain and the United States of America which effectively ceded the Philippines to the Americans. Notwithstanding the clear intent of the various presidential proclamations to reserve specific areas for special purposes such as for military use, land titles were issued and thousands of families are either tilling the land or residing therein – a situation that is at the heart or the crux of the ‘peacelessness’ in the area.

Camp Keithley Military Reservation in 1907 as shown by the plotting of the technical description of Executive Order 693 s. of 1907 issued by American President Theodore Roosevelt, and plotting of the technical description of the Political Boundaries of Marawi City on a Geographic Information System (GIS) using AutoCAD and Manifold, as displayed on Google Earth.

Realizing that the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts must be anchored on a clear understanding of the land and property issues, the TFBM Chairperson issued Memorandum Circular

No. 02 dated September 25, 2017 creating the Sub-Committee on Land Resource Management (LRM) headed by the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) with the broad mandate over all issues pertaining to land resource, including the provision of guidelines, recommendations and other services such as issuance of land titles and tenure instruments over Marawi City and other affected localities which form part of the Province of Lanao del Sur. The author was designated Alternate of the Chairperson tasked with overall supervision of the inter-agency group.

The Participatory Social Cartography Project: Environmental Peacebuilding The Participatory Social Cartography Project is the priority project of the LRM Sub- Committee which is intended to assist Marawi City’s ground zero and its residents in their process of recovery from violent conflict, designed under a peacebuilding architecture called ‘Environmental Peacebuilding.’ The author hastens to add that design of the project was heavily influenced by key learnings of the author at the 2018 Land and Poverty Conference and the series of consultations with the World Bank’s land experts from its Philippines and Washington, DC offices, while the use of the term ‘Environmental Peacebuilding’ was influenced by the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the subject created by the SDG Academy and delivered by EdX. The approach and the slant all came from the Author’s personal assessment of the challenge presented before her.

Environmental Peacebuilding: Recovery of Marawi City from Violent Conflict Environmental Peacebuilding in the context of assisting Marawi City recover from violent conflict is both a goal and a strategy that leverages on land, land resources and the environment in achieving the broader goals of ‘Sustaining Peace’ (A/RES/70/262 and S/RES/ 2282); and ‘Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals’ (UN 2030 AGENDA). Environmental Peacebuilding specifically aims to reduce the risk of lapse or relapse into violent conflict by addressing not just the symptoms but also the drivers and the root causes of the conflict, thereby saving the future generations from the scourge of war. It requires a coherent and comprehensive approach that views peacebuilding as part of the entire conflict cycle - from conflict prevention to post-conflict interventions. It also requires a change in mindset from reactive to preventive, from short-term output-based to long-term outcomes- based. Moreover, it further requires inclusivity and increase of women’s participation in decision- making. Furthermore, Environmental Peacebuilding recognizes that development, peace and security and human rights are interlinked and are mutually reinforcing.

The Participatory Social Cartography Project as a post-conflict management intervention for Marawi City, recognizes the critical role that land, land resources and the environment play in peacebuilding. It admits that reliable land titles is imperative to a successful redevelopment effort for Marawi City but also concedes that there must first be a reconciliation of statutory and customary land tenure systems which is a situation peculiar to the area. As such, the Project is devised to encourage community-led data-gathering and utilization of alternative dispute resolution methods, with the goal of empowering the Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) with a system that will enable them to bring their data directly to the appropriate administrative agencies in charge of the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts or to their local community leaders thus, avoiding the more formal and lengthy process of the judicial system. The appropriate administrative agencies that would need data that came directly from the IDPs would be the Land Registration Authority for rectification or alignment of plotting of the land titles, the City Government for tax mapping, the agencies in charge of rehabilitation and reconstruction for determination of property owners in expropriation proceedings and finally, the IDPs themselves as evidence for purposes of asserting right to monetary compensation for loss or destruction of properties and for relocation of their properties after demolition and debris clearing.

The 3 Components of the Social Cartography Project for Marawi City There are three major components under the Participatory Social Cartography Project: first is Research, second is Data-gathering and the third is Data-Management.

Research Component: Revelation of a Very Difficult Challenge The challenge of Land Resource Management in Marawi City and the Province of Lanao del Sur is more difficult than what the author and technical teams from the Land Management Bureau, the Land Registration Authority, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority and the Armed Forces of the Philippines initially thought. The activities under the Research Component of the Social Cartography Project required research on all presidential proclamations, all titles to land and all land classification maps and then transformation of all of the technical data into a Geographic Information System (GIS) using AutoCAD and Manifold

and displaying the GIS data on Google Earth when presenting data to the decision-makers or to the general public.

Research Component: Camp Keithley Military Reservation On Camp Keithley Military Reservation, analysis of the result of the research showed the following:

• The Camp was reserved as Camp Marahui through an Executive Order dated January 19, 1905 and General Orders 12, War Department, Washington, January 28, 1905; • Its boundaries were redefined by Executive Order 693 s. 1907 issued by American President Theodore Roosevelt consisting of 6,888 Hectares; • After gaining independence, Philippine President Elpidio Quirino issued Proclamation 453, s. 1953 reserving for Military Purposes 6,667 Hectares of Camp Keithley Military Reservation; • The Proclamation excised 221 Hectares in favor of Marawi City; • However, the entire 6,667 Hectares area were withdrawn from sale or settlement and placed them under administration of the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines, with the condition that the area is subject to private rights, if any; • Even after excising 221 Hectares, 40% of the area of Camp Keithley Military Reservation still falls within Marawi City, including portions of ground zero at the frontage of Lake Lanao; • The remaining portions of Camp Keithley Military Reservation fall within Municipalities of Saguiaran, Piagapo and Marantao all in the Province of Lanao del Sur. • After its reestablishment as military camp, several succeeding Presidential Proclamations excluded portions of Camp Keithley in favor of other uses such as for education, for a power project and as site of the provincial capitol; • The latest Presidential Proclamation declared a huge swathe of land area of around 180,000 Hectares, which includes the camp, the city and parts of the province as Lake Lanao Watershed Forest Reserve.

Camp Keithley Military Reservation in 1953 as shown by the plotting of the technical description of Presidential Proclamation 453 s. of 1953 issued by Philippine President Elpidio Quirino, and plotting of the technical description of the Political Boundaries of Marawi City on a Geographic Information System (GIS) using AutoCAD and Manifold, as displayed on Google Earth.

Research Component: Marawi City and other Affected Localities On Marawi City and other affected localities, analysis of the result of the research showed the following:

• Marawi City is the only Islamic City in the Philippines and within the administrative jurisdiction of the Province of Lanao del Sur and Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao; • Marawi City’s land area per result of Political Boundary Delineation is 8,407.9101 Hectares but 281.8975 Hectares of which are contested by adjacent Municipalities of Marantao, Piagapo and Saguiaran; • The land data on Marawi City and Lanao del Sur are not unified and managed by overlapping authorities; • Of the Land Registration Authority’s total title count of 26,743, majority have incorrect or incomplete technical descriptions and thus, could not be correctly plotted on a map;

• A photocopy of Cadastral Map Q-124 of Marawi City was discovered from the files of a local geodetic engineer which helped in the rectification and alignment of 3,159 lot parcels, some of which are within ground zero or most affected area.

Plotting by the Land Registration Authority of land titles as registered in the Registries of Deeds of Marawi City and the Province of Lanao del Sur showing misaligned and overlapping lot parcels.

II.

Data-Gathering Component: Working in an Extremely Dangerous Environment The Data-Gathering Component called ‘Kambisita 2’ covers initially the 24 out 96 Barangays comprising around 250-260 Hectares of ground zero or most affected area of Marawi City. A Barangay is the basic political unit of the government of the Republic of the Philippines that serves as the primary planning and implementing unit of government policies, plans, programs, projects, and activities in the community, and as a forum wherein the collective views of the people may be expressed, crystallized and considered, and where disputes may be amicably settled. Assistance of the Barangay Chairpersons was sought during Kambisita which requires a ‘quick visit’ of the IDPs to the exact location of their homes - the repository of their collective memories, hopes and dreams and considering that the residents of ground zero or most affected area have not been allowed to return to their homes yet, the activity has become an emotionally-charged homecoming event. The figure below shows the 24 Barangays of

ground zero or most affected area of Marawi City, site of the Participatory Social Cartography Project, divided into 9 Sectors and the planning approach adopted by the Kambisita Team in the absence of stable data that can provide the universe:

The actual data-gathering in ground zero or most affected area during the Kambisita is a short but tedious 30-minute process per property owner requiring their active involvement during the ground survey of each and every property (lot parcels, structures on the lot parcels) using Real-time Kinematic (RTK) with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) survey equipment and matching the property data with the social data of the property owners through participatory enumeration which asks for relevant personal and other data peculiar to the traditions and customs of the IDPs such as having grave sites inside their properties. What makes the process very difficult is the presence of several 500, 260 and 110 pounder armed general purpose bombs and numerous unexploded ordance. Moreover, while the siege has officially ended, remnants and sympathizers of the armed terrorist group are still reportedly just hiding within the vicinities of Marawi City. In addition, Martial Law is still in effect in Mindanao and is being implemented more vigorously in Marawi City being the flashpoint area of the siege. All of those factors mentioned made it imperative to engage the Security Sub-Committee of the TFBM during the project’s conceptualization stage up to implementation. The Kambisita Team is thus composed of technical teams from the DENR’s Field Offices, the Land Management Bureau, the Armed

Forces of the Philippines, the Local Government Unit of Marawi City, accompanied by teams from the Explosive Ordnance and the Brigade of the Philippine Army assigned to the area. The figure below illustrates the Composition of the Kambisita Team headed by the Author and co-managed by the Security Sub-Committee of TFBM, the Activities (Ground Survey using RTK with GNSS and Participatory Enumeration) and the Operations Workflow:

Data-Gathering Component: Commencement of Kambisita 2 Under normal circumstances, the degree of preparation of the Kambisita Team should have been more thorough and far longer than a one-time workshop of technical teams of geodetic engineers, enumerators and military personnel most of whom only met each other for the first time during the workshop itself. However, the emotional turbulence of the IDPs from ground zero or most affected area over the perceived slow pace of reconstruction and rehabilitation was so palpable and the open expression of support to the Social Cartography Project by the local religious (League of Sultans) and political (Barangay Captains) leaders were compelling reasons to commence with the activity.

The Author, her Technical Team and the Heads of the Security Sub-Committee, Department of National Defense Undersecretary Cesar Yano, General Ramiro Manuel Rey, Colonel Romeo Brawner Jr. and Colonel Jose Maria Cuerpo II, at the briefing for the Sultans of Marawi City

The Author, the Head of the Technical Team, Geodetic Engineer Apolinar Agustin, General Ramiro Manuel Rey, Colonel Romeo Brawner Jr. and Colonel Jose Maria Cuerpo II at the commencement of Kambisita 2.

There is a perception that the underlying cause of the Marawi Siege is religious differences. Numerous studies on the long-festering ‘peacelessness’ in Marawi City and in other lands of the Moro people traced the problem all the way back to the 400 years of colonial history of the Philippines which effectively established policies that led to socio-economic disenfranchisement of the Moro people, particulary their ownership over their ancestral lands. Even today, after nearly a century of independence from the Colonial masters, the absence of a systematic land administration system in Marawi City and the Province of Lanao del Sur is still fanning the state of ‘peacelessness.’ The iniquitous policies that have remained unchanged and the conflict over land issues have been cited as the root causes of several Moro rebellions and were taken advantage of by armed terrorist groups that recently laid siege to the city. Having been inspired by the potential impact of the Participatory Social Cartography Project to the peacebuilding efforts in Marawi City and to a wider extent, the land of the Moro people, the Kambisita Team composed of both Muslim and Christian government officials and personnel are emboldened to risk limb and life as they toil daily in ground zero or most affected area faced by a growing list of risks – from general purpose bombs and unexploded ordnance, to snakes and other wild animals that have settled in the deserted commercial center of the city, and to protruding tetanus-carrying debris.

The Author with the DENR’s Kambisita Team composed of both Muslim and Christian government personnel at the iconic heavily-damaged Grand Mosque.

Given the historical context of the roots causes of the ‘peacelessness’ in Marawi City, the Author contends that goal and strategy of Environmental Peacebuilding which leverages on land, land resources and the environment to which the Participatory Social Cartography Project is anchored on, is the pivot that can turn history to favor the neglected Moro people . Positive anecdotes of the close encounters of the Kambisita Team with the IDPs supports the Author’s contention.

The Kambisita’s Survey and Enumerators’ Team implementing the Data-Gathering Component of the Participatory Social Cartography Project for Marawi City’s Ground Zero or Most Affected Area.

The Author observing the initial screening of IDPs from Ground Zero or Most Affected Area participating in the Data-Gathering Component of the Participatory Social Cartography Project.

Data-Gathering Component: Recalibration of Kambisita 2 While the Data-gathering activities were underway, on October 30, 2018, the TFBM and its member agencies held a groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of ground zero or most affected area and announced the commencement of the initial debris clearing to be undertaken by a private contractor in Sector 1. With the recent development, the Author decided to recalibrate the approach of the Data-Gathering Component or Kambisita 2, resorting to the use of survey-grade 3D maps from real-time kinematic (RTK) drones, which can then be used by the IDPs to point out the location, as well as, the meters and bounds of their properties, thus avoiding the dangers of the development works in ground zero or most affected area while at the same time, documenting with high degree of accuracy all of the properties before these are demolished. To ensure greater accuracy of the map from the drone images, the National Mapping and Resource Information Agency (NAMRIA) established several ground control points (GCPs) in Marawi City and the Province of Lanao del Sur starting with Zero, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Orders. RINEX or Receiver Independent Exchange data (raw satellite navigation system data) are kept ready for post- processed kinematic (PPK) correction, if and when necessary. Property owners who cannot identify their lot parcels and structures from the map are still given the option of conducting the traditional ground survey. Nevertheless, word-of-mouth reports about the high accuracy of the survey-grade map, shown below, being used for the data-gathering has led to drastic reduction of requests for the traditional ground survey.

Data-Gathering Component: Ongoing until all Participating IDPs are Served This activity is still ongoing. The following photos illustrate the procedure of the recalibrated Kambisita 2:

The IDPs from ground zero or most affected area at actively participating with the recalibrated data-gathering approach, now using survey-grade maps from drone images.

III.

Data-Management Component: More Challenging Days Ahead The historical context of the root causes of the ‘peacelessness’ in Marawi City and the goal/strategy of Environmental Peacebuilding which leverages on land, land resources and the environment are the ideas that will underpin the tasks of the Data-Management Team which is the same inter-agency team that conducted the Research Component and will include legal and technical analysis of supporting documents submitted by claimants vis-à-vis titles plotted by the Land Registration Authority, alignment of plotting of active titles, legal and technical assessment of disputed properties and management of other unforeseen legal and technical issues that will emerge after the rehabilitation and reconstruction of ground zero or most affected area which can include land relocation survey.

Musings of the Author Firstly, in the event of discrepancy of the technical description on the title registered under the Torrens System and the actual plotting of the property per ground survey, which one will prevail? If the actual plotting will prevail, what is the remedy to correct the misaligned plotting in the title? Can an administrative agency effect the amendment of the technical description or is there a need to bring the matter to the formal judicial system?

Secondly, in determining the rightful owner of a lot parcel or a structure for purposes of payment for road-right of way or in expropriation proceedings, can an administrative agency accept a ‘Kapasadan’ or an agreement between the Moro people that binds the property owner to a loan over a real estate mortgage agreement that includes a stipulation of automatic appropriation by the creditor of the thing mortgaged which is valid per their customs and traditions but is prohibited as ‘Pactum Commissorium’ under the Civil Code of the Philippines?

Thirdly, what are the rights of the property owners who expressed in their enumeration forms their resistance or unwillingness to have their properties demolished by the government? Is the enumeration form by itself, have sufficient legal value that effectively asserts the right to object to the planned demolition of the government of their properties?

The Author hopes that these and other questions that will definitely arise as the Data- Management Component proceeds, can be resolved or at least have some sort of an answer perhaps from examination of conflict-management models from similarly-situated countries.

The foregoing experience albeit still ongoing and still unfinished, validates the conclusions and recommendations of the World Bank and AusAID–funded Land Administration and Management Project (LAMP). The Author quoting from the Reports of the LAMP also proffers that:

The Philippines’ Land Administration and Management System’s major structural and administrative defects are:

ü conflict between laws regulating the system and its administration; ü two processes for titling land (administrative and judicial processes); ü multiple forms of ownership rights in land; ü multiple property taxes and related disincentives to formalization of land transactions; ü multiple land valuation methods; ü significant duplication and overlap in the roles, functions and activities of the key land administration agencies. ü lack of focus in both organization design and work practices on servicing the needs of user agencies and members of the public; ü excessive layers of management overhead; ü excessive numbers of staff assigned to ‘support’ activities; ü absence of effective incentives/penalties for good/bad performance; ü widespread perceptions of conflicts of interest and corruption; ü lack of integrated policy direction and effective inter-agency coordination

Atty. Michelle Angelica D. Go, March 2019, Philippines