Competing Land Conflict Resolution Mechanisms in the Bangsamoro: Case Study in Maguindanao

This case study comparatively analyzes the various dispute settlement bodies identified by the researchers and these include the: National court system, the government-backed Shari’ah court system, known as PD 1083, the Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (LMB-DENR) systems, and the MILF (shadow) Shari’ah court system in the Bangsamoro, particularly in the province of Maguindanao. It generally examined the process, speed, effectiveness, efficiency, and equitability of the land dispute settlement bodies existing in the province. Specifically, it tried to explain the following Objectives: Knowing the land dispute cases filed in these settlement bodies and the nature and current status of these cases; and getting the perceived level of preference on the existing dispute settlement bodies in terms of economics, convenience and accessibility. The respondents of this study are 18, eight (8) of them served as the key informants who were involved in the land disputes, while the other ten (10) are the respondents for the self-administered quick survey. This study made use of the qualitative approach and employed the descriptive-evaluative method of research in order to determine the existing best practices of the justice systems in the Bangsamoro. The Major findings of the study are: A total of 46 land dispute cases in Maguindanao province filed in Cotabato City Civil Court from 1991-2014. Only 22 or 48% of the 46 cases were resolved, 24 or 52% were unresolved. This means that about one (1) land dispute case is resolved per year for 18 years. There are 72 land dispute cases happened in Maguindanao from 1991 to 2014 filed at the Shari’ah Circuit Court in Cotabato City. 68 or 94% were resolved. 4 or 6% were unresolved. For Land Management Bureau (DENR), only 5 cases were filed from 2013– 14 due to unavailability of record. From 2004-2014 there were 389 cases filed at the MILF Shadow Supreme Shari’ah Court in Camp Darapanan alone. 97% were resolved. Records from 1991to 2003 were not recovered due to All-Out-War of the Estrada administration.