Our Works
Project Title: ProGreen Grant Support for the DAR SPLIT Project. “Tenure Security: Underpinning Sustainable Landscape Management in the Philippines.”
April 2022 – August 2023
Client: The World Bank
In support of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) SPLIT Project, the World Bank, through its PROGREEN Grant Facility, commissioned a study to assist DAR in navigating through the legal and technical aspects of implementation on land holdings issued with CCLOAs that overlap with forest lands and AD lands. The aim is to provide technical, procedural, and policy recommendations to settle overlapping claims. Its objective is to attain clear and secure land tenure with different classification and typologies, particularly those that are within forest lands. The goal is to provide tenure security to agrarian reform beneficiaries.
LGI conducted the study from April 2022 to June 2023 in two pilot sites: Barangay (Brgy.) Aramaywan in the Municipality of Narra in Palawan and Brgy. Dagumbaan in Maramag, Bukidnon. The study sites confirmed the issuance of CCLOAs on lands that are not agricultural in classification, although agricultural in current use. Several types of overlaps were identified during the study: 1) some CCLOAs were observed to completely or partially overlap with forest lands; 2) some overlap with identified or claimed Ancestral Domain/lands; and 3) some s overlap with both forest lands and Ancestral Domain/lands. The study has put forward recommendations in three key areas: (1) inclusive mapping and verification, (2) legal and institutional support, and (3) forest land use planning tools.
Project Title: The Mekong Region Land Governance Project
June 2014 – December 2022
Client: Land Equity International (LEI) for the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation
Implemented by Land Equity International (LEI) in partnership with GRET Professionals for Fair Development and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) is a project of the Government of Switzerland, through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), with co-financing from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Now on its third and final phase of implementation in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam, the MRLG project began in March 2014 with the goal of “Smallholder women and men farmers have secured and equitable access to and control over agricultural land and forest in the Mekong Region.”
LGI’s most significant contribution to the MRLG project is the establishment and management of its Grant Facility.
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Project Title: Support to Local Government Revenue and Land Administration Reform (ADB-JFPR REGALA Project, Phase 1 and 2
August 2011 – September 2015
Client: Asian Development Bank (ADB), Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF)
The REGALA Project took advantage of the newly developed valuation standards, systems and practices produced in LAMP to support fourteen (14) LGUs in strengthening their local revenue generation. It provided grants to pilot LGU’s to initiate, implement and institutionalize focused interventions and processes leading to reforms in local land administration and management and improved service delivery at the provincial, city, municipal level.
The REGALA Project demonstrated a viable alternative pathway to instigating local economic development through increases in local revenues and hence, increased spending for socio-economic development – especially for education.
Project Title: External Impact Evaluation of Forest Foundation of the Philippines Projects, 2017 - 2021
October 2021 – June 2022
Client: Forest Foundation of the Philippines
The Forest Foundation of the Philippines commissioned LGI to conduct an External Impact Evaluation (EIE) aimed at supporting Forest Foundation to assess the medium-term relevance of its supported projects in achieving the overall goal stipulated in the Results Framework 2017 – 2021. As designed, the Results Framework prioritized four (4) forest landscapes within the geographic areas of Sierra Madre in Regions 2, 3 and 4-A; Palawan in Region 4-B; Samar and Leyte in Region 8; and Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental in Region 10 due to their high ecological and economic significance to neighboring provinces and regions. Supported projects operated at three levels of governance: national level (i.e., outside of the four focal landscapes), multiple landscapes (i.e., covering two or more focal landscapes), and focal landscapes (i.e., focusing on one focal landscape). Forest Foundation's support at the national level focused on small islands, mangroves, and critical habitats.
Overall, the evaluation findings showed that the 45 selected projects have generally performed well to achieve the target objectives and outputs within approved implementation periods and budgets, especially the 20 projects which were completed/closed before and during the pandemic.
Project Title: Strengthening Urban Resilience for Growth with Equity (SURGE)
August 2015 – April 2019
Client: USAID
The Strengthening Urban Resilience for Growth with Equity (SURGE) Project was the flagship project of USAID’s Cities Development Initiative (CDI), a crucial component of the broader Partnership for Growth (PFG). A five-year, $47 million project, which aimed at fostering the development of conditions for broad-based, inclusive and resilient economic growth for a critical mass of cities and surrounding areas outside Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao.
This supported selected 2nd tier cities in adopting land tenure strategies such as Rapid Land Tenure Appraisal, a wholistic GIS-based land information system incorporating financial planning, land use and disaster-risk planning for increased property tax coverage, better administration of property taxes, updated and equitable valuation. Noteworthy are the issuance of special land patents spearheaded by the LGU and the DENR, the development of the first LGU-based open access Land information kiosk facility in Cagayan de Oro City as well as the organization of the broad-based multi-sectoral coalition of stakeholders for land governance, the international Land Governance Conference and the ASEAN Mayors’ Conference.
USAID augmented this project with support for strategic Asset Management at the LGU level. LGI built on and reinforced the SURGE land tenure initiatives through the inventory of LGU owned properties, their titling and analysis for best use, development of strategic AM plans and asset and investment portfolio, creation of local land management offices and inter-agency partnerships.
These initiatives resulted in better matching of services to local needs or allocative efficiency and providing services at lower costs for production efficiency.
Project Title: Rapid Assessment of Performance & Obstacles & Possible Entry Points in Land Related Functions in Suva Based on Experiences in the Philippines & on Global Best Practice
February - March 2018
Client: Asian Development Bank
Technical Assistance to perform a rapid assessment of the performance of the Land sector in Suva & to describe possible interventions, their expected benefits & associated risks.
Project Title: The Mindanao LGAF and Jobs Report
September 2015 – March 2016
Client: The World Bank
The World Bank commissioned LGI to conduct a study “Analysis of Influence of Land Governance and Employment Creation in Mindanao” (herein referred to as Min-LGAF and Jobs) aims to contribute to the analytical work that was carried out under the MJR through a more focused assessment of land governance in Mindanao. The take-off point was the 2013 Philippines LGAF Report mainly to set the policy and institutional climate, while working with Mindanao data, to assess the various indicators.
The assessment made through the LGAF process revealed that the state of land governance in Mindanao is much below international best practice, and worse than the state of the Philippines’ land governance.
Project Title: Understanding Land and Related Constraints in the Provision of Affordable Housing in Metro Manila; and the 1st National Housing Summit and Urban Development
March 2014 – May 2015
Client: The World Bank
The magnitude of Informal Settler Families (ISF) population in major urban center of the Philippines has posed a challenge for both national and local governments, in a bid to provide secure tenure, decent housing and service provision. The Urban Land Constraints Study was conducted to generate better understanding of land related constraints that hamper implementation of viable and sustainable housing and identify measures to progressively address these.
The ULCS pilot studies in Quezon City and Muntinlupa highlighted key land constraints such as: inadequate access to land information; limited land availability, limited land tenure options and housing rights; and absence/weak implementation of planning guidelines and standards. Key recommendations were proposed by the study such as: revision of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of BP 220; improving land administration and management systems for rigorous land inventory and information sharing; and developing innovative options for securing tenure rights of ISFs, such as the use of Special Patent.
The ULCS was also consequential to the 1st Housing Summit and Urban Development organized in May 2015 which brought together key leaders and representatives of stakeholder, groups in the housing sector – government agencies, local government units, private sector, civil society, faith-based groups, professional associations, and academe – in a collaborative endeavour toward identifying key policy and institutional reforms to address the critical need for ISF shelter and close the gap in the delivery of affordable shelter for the disadvantaged.”
Project Title: Provincial LGUs Baseline Data Verification and Enhancement of Local Tax Revenues – Provincial Roads Maintenance Facility
March 2014 – January 2015
Client: The World Bank
LGI was engaged by Louis Berger Group International to provide technical assistance (TA) on the PLGU Baseline Data Verification and Enhancement of Local Tax Revenues particularly the Conduct of the Tax Compliance Study for two pilot provinces under the Provincial Roads Management Facility from March 2014 to January 2015.
The technical assistance successfully delivered the following: 1) the verification of baseline data of the 10 PRMF Provincial LGUs; 2) training of 10 PLGUs on the conduct of Real Property Tax Compliance Study and assisted the Provinces of Agusan del Sur and Guimaras complete their Tax Compliance Studies; 3) assistance to 10 PLGUs in developing action plans for the imposition of administrative remedies to collect delinquencies from real property taxes; and 4) assistance to the Province of Guimaras in preparing a Resource Mobilization/Revenue Generation Plan.
Project Title: LGU Pilot Land Governance Monitoring
January 2014 – April 2014
Client: The World Bank
To demonstrate how land governance play out and impacts at the LGU context, a pilot study was conducted from January to April 2014 focused on generating data on key indicators at the local government level, that were identified as critical based on the LGAF. The review documented the actual and potential sources of data on selected indicators, assessed reliability and quality of data available, and determined whether these are routinely collected, and in the form that can be meaningfully used for reporting and analysis. The study likewise highlighted issues with data collection, the policy implications of the initial results as well as priority actions to upscale data gathering and reporting at the national level.
The initial findings of the study were presented during the Land and Poverty Conference, held in Washington DC in March 2014. The insights and suggestions from World Bank staff and Conference participants were considered in the final report.
Project Title: Developing a Public-Private Earthquake Pool in the Philippines
September 2012 – March 2013
Client: Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Realizing the need to establish a Philippine Catastrophe Insurance Pool, the ADB commissioned LEI and its local affiliate (LETS) to conduct a study on building replacement values in 3 selected cities in MM. The goal of DEIP is to meet the needs of the middle-income homeowners and SME through insurance to safeguard existing assets against an earthquake disaster event. The idea is to build a pool of insurance with wide spatial distribution to spread the risk.
The results of the building surveys have shown that up to date reference archive and field-based spatial datasets are crucial to attaining accurate replacement values. The study introduced innovations such as satellite imagery, Web-based Data Entry, RDBMS and GIS Solutions and made data processing and analysis more flexible and efficient. An important element in institutionalizing an Earthquake Insurance Pool Program is to come up with appropriate legal framework. It should incorporate how an earthquake insurance would be made compulsory (or partially compulsory) in nature and ensuring a strong financial support mechanism.
Project Title: Building the Resilience and Awareness of Metro Manila Communities to Natural Disaster and Climate Change Impacts (BRACE) Program: Preparatory Phase: Architecture and Engineering Team
March 2012 – November 2013
Client: DFAT
In an effort to build the resilience of Metro Manila communities to the impacts of natural disasters and climate change, the BRACE Program Preparatory Phase was implemented to: 1) build the capacities of local government counterpart staff and 2) implement supplemental and preparatory activities ensuring a seamless and effective transition to the main BRACE Program. It provided grant aid to initiate the preparatory architectural and engineering (A&E) design activities for the Building Safer Settlements component and for capability building of the Taguig City, its stakeholders and the affected community.
The LGI Technical Assistance Team assisted the City Government of Taguig in the assessment and final selection of the resettlement site (Ruhale). Also successfully delivered were two (2) options of architectural designs and engineering plans (2-buildings and 4-buildings scheme) for the resettlement site.
Project Title: Improving Land Sector Governance in the Philippines – Implementation of the Land Governance Assessment Framework Study
December 2012 – August 2013
Client: The World Bank
The Local Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) was developed by WB and development partners to diagnose and benchmark land governance and to contribute to improving it over time. It was based on comprehensive review of available conceptual and empirical material regarding experience in land governance.
The Philippine country study commenced in December 2012 with the engagement of LGI as the Country Coordinator. The scope of the Philippines LGAF covered seven modules. In all, the assessment covered 30 indicators involving 108 dimensions of the LGAF. Its implementation followed the general steps described in the Manual which consist of expert investigation to prepare background materials and panel briefing notes; panel workshops to review the preliminary scoring by Experts; technical validation workshop to discuss the initial results with stakeholders; and policy dialogue to present the key findings and recommendations to government officials and other sectors. In all, about 90 individuals from 39 agencies and organizations from academe, private sector, government, NGO groups, LGUs and the World Bank participated in the LGAF discussions. The Philippine LGAF has also been presented in several development forums.
Project Title: Support to Philippine Basic Education Reforms Independent Completion Review Phase I - School Building Construction Assessment (SBCA)
January 2013 – April 2013
Client: DFAT
The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) supports the Philippines Department of Education’s (DepEd) Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA) through the project Support for Philippines Basic Education Reforms (SPHERE) from 2008 to 2013. Around 35% grant funds provided through the SPHERE have been allocated to construction and/or rehabilitation of classrooms for basic education (i.e. elementary and high school) in identified priority schools in Southern Philippines.
AusAID, contracted LGI on January 2013 to conduct an Independent Completion Review of Phase 1 of SPHERE, particularly for the School Building Construction Assessment. Assessments were done for 72 classrooms in Regions VII and XI that were constructed under Batches 1 and 2 where the principal-led approach was used by DepEd. Regions VII and XI were purposively selected due to the number of classrooms built and the recent calamities that affected the area. Assessments were likewise done for five LRMDCs, four of which were newly constructed in Region XI - Compostela Valley, Region IVA – Cainta, Region IVB – Pasig and NCR and one was refurbished (Region VII – Cebu City). It focused on the soundness of the structures built and the potential risks these may pose so that repairs can be done before SPHERE is completed. The findings of the assessment also serve as inputs to Phase II design.
