INCEPTION WORKSHOP STARTS IMPLEMENTATION OF VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES ON GOVERNANCE OF TENURE

A two-day Inception Workshop on Mainstreaming the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT) was conducted on March 6 and 7, 2017 at Eastwood Richmonde Hotel, Quezon City.

The workshop, which features the respective work and financial plans of implementing agencies, officially starts the ten-month physical implementation of the project in the Philippines. Participants include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) – Foreign Assisted Special Projects Service (FASPS), Land Management Bureau (LMB), Department of Finance – Bureau of Local Government Finance (DOF –BLGF) and the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC).

In his keynote message, FAO Representative in the Philippines Jose Luis Fernandez states the VGGT’s role as an important reference in the implementation of the new Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, as well as its aim to enhance the capacities of land administration agencies and key stakeholders in pursuing and institutionalizing VGGT principles.

In addition, Paolo Groppo from the FAO Regional of Asia and the Pacific participated in the workshop to present the background of the project.

“We knew that if we want to stop poverty and hunger, we have to question the inequalities in land transformation,” he said. “The message is it is important that the official document that we are bringing together are onboard. Our Director-General wanted a more inclusive approach on the issue of governance, which means the political economy of the question of land.”

The workshop falls within the government’s efforts in addressing issues that adversely affects social stability, sustainable use of the environment, investment and economic growth.

PHOTO. Participants of the Inception Workshop include (center, left to right) LMB Dir. Emelyne Talabis, Undersecretary for International Affairs and Foreign Assisted Programs Atty. Jonas Leones, FAO Representative in the Philippines Jose Luis Fernandez, Undersecretary for Staff Bureaus Demetrio Ignacio, Jr. and Land Tenure Officer of FAO-RAP Paolo Groppo.