Land conversion has been present and rampant in the Philippines for the past few years especially in areas surrounding Metro Manila. To clarify the term land conversion, it is defined by the Department of Agrarian Reform as “the act of authorizing the change of the current use of a piece of land into some other use” (Nantes 130). In this context, it would be focus on the conversion of agricultural land into some other use.
A brief history of land conversion around the region could be traced to the various developments in the city of Manila. When the Philippines was handed over from the Spanish to the Americans, the City of Manila was made and was composed of the former Imperial City which itself consisted of Intramuros, the Arrabales, Tondo, and Sampaloc (Tolentino). In order for the city to grow, the Americans hired an architect named Daniel Burnham to create the plan for the city (Tolentino). Unluckily, the Second World War took place which resulted to the destruction of the plan and the city (Tolentino). After the war and gaining independence on July 4, 1946, the country experienced good growth until the late President Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972 (Tolentino). During this time, the president united the city of Manila and 16 other municipalities (Tolentino). Today, we know these municipalities as the cities that compose Metro Manila except for Pateros which has remained a municipality. Based on that, we could notice that a lot happened in just three decades to have 15 municipalities turn into cities.
Apart from Manila, several other areas, more specifically provinces, were also affected by the developments. These provinces which experienced the massive conversion from agricultural lands into “residential, commercial a...
... middle of paper ...
...yrkb.com/main/resources/facts-and-figures>.
Shively, Gerald. "Agricultural Change, Rural Labor Markets and Forest Clearing: An illustrative case from the Philippines." Land Economics. 7.2 (2001): 268-284. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. .
Suarez, Danilo. "The Plight of Coconut Farmers." Manila Standard Today 28 May 2013, n. pag. Web.
12 Dec. 2013. http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/05/28/the-plight-of-coconut-farmers/.
Teves, Maria Althea. "Resolving the Food Shortage." ABS-CBN News [Manila] 30 July 2009, n. pag. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. .
Virola, Romulo. "Rice Self-Sufficiency or Rice Security? Some Statistics on Rice and
Exports." National Statistics Coordination Board. N.p., 08 Aug 2011. Web. 12 Dec 2013. .
In my opinion The United States ordeal with Annexing the Philippines and the idea that we had of going into war with them was great mistake and should have been avoided. The Filipinos and Americans were deadlocked in war with each other. This all became a controversy with the two nations in 1898 when the Treaty of Paris between Spain and the United Stated ceded all seven thousand islands of the Philippine archipelago to the United States, for just a mere twenty-million dollars. Congress had approved the treaty with Spain, by February of 1899. Mckinley was on the verge of calling for the annexation of the Philippines which brought on a bloody two year struggle. In my opinion the United States was the cause of all of this because of three different reasons, for one our government would not...
Kamara, Mariatu and Susan McClelland. The Bite of the Mango. New York: Annick Press Ltd., 2008. Print.
Kamara, Mariatu and Susan McClelland. The Bite of the Mango. New York: Annick Press Limited, 2008. Print.
The United States should not annex the Philippine islands, the Philippines, already a country of their own should not be forced to adapt to American culture and civilization. Prior to the annexation of the Philippines, America had major conflict with Spain in order to free Cuba from their brutal tactics for dominance. Tension continued to rise, until President Mckinley decided to take action and go to war against Spanish forces to enable a more stable government as well as provide protection for the citizens of Cuba. After months of fighting, the Spanish admitted defeat and began discussing peace terms of the Treaty of Paris. In this treaty Cuba was guaranteed independence, also the Spanish were forced to give up Guam and Puerto Rico. They Spanish also complied to selling the Philippines to the U.S for 20 million. However, the Filipinos wanted independence, not just a change in who governed them, this desire led many Philippine citizens to break out, beginning the Philippine- American war, which lasted three years, and caused the death of over two hundred thousand American and Filipino citizens.
...at small farms constitute 90 percent of the world’s farms and employment of 1.3 billion people. This dominates agriculture in developing countries because two-thirds of the 3 billion rural people in the world live off the income generated by farmers managing some 500 million small farms (Halberg & Müller, 2012, p.21). Additionally, there are benefits to land conservation for local communities that involves reduced environmental hazards, improvement of water quality from ground recharge, economic gains from agricultural production from exporting, and the natural settings that bring tourism generating the economy (McMahon & Urban, 2010 p.2). It is only through the awareness of this informational insight into the differences between community types and their transitions throughout time that the public can explore and discover economic incentives for rural communities.
Looking back at the first term paper that was assigned, much of the paper dealt with many economical characteristics of the developing country. In this case I chose the country of Paraguay because I found the geography of the country to be interesting. I was also intrigued by the environmental changes and land use changes that occur not only in Paraguay, but all of Latin America. In the first term paper I discussed general topics about the countries location, surroundings, and current population. This lead to the living standards of Paraguay and looking at data for the health, education, and income of the country. This gives me something to compare to surrounding countries or the Latin American region as a whole. I also discussed the countries demographic transition, which involves the trends in death, fertility, and birth rates. With concerns to the countries economics, I covered the changes in GDP per capita and the income elasticity of food demand. In the second term paper I start out by describing Paraguay’s vast geography and identify some factors that would effect agricultural development. Much of this paper dealt with many different trends that are happening in Paraguay. For example, the land use trends in agricultural areas or the trends in the forest area, which happens to be a negative one due to deforestation. Fertilizer, irrigation, and mechanization trends also help to understand the agricultural development for a region or country. The (TFP) the total factor productivity of agriculture will tell you if Paraguay’s agricultural sector is doing well and how important it is to the countries economy. With the second term paper dealing with the agricultural sector one important part is the trend in per capita food output. ...
Blood has been spilled all over the ground of the Philippines. The United States fought a small war with Spain in 1898. The United States ended up getting Cuba and the Philippine Islands as a war prize. Cuba got their independence, but the United States decided to keep the Philippine Islands by annexing them (Background Essay). Should the United States have annexed the Philippines? Annexed means to join or combine a smaller country with a bigger country. The United States should have annexed the Philippine Islands because they needed guidance to become a better country, couldn't give the Philippine Islands to other countries, and there was nothing else the United States could do with them.
Throughout the past 60 to 70 years there has been speculation as to the involvement of the United States in the overthrowing of Jacobo Arbenz’ regime. The United States, through the CIA, although not officially confirmed, did participate in overthrowing Arbenz and his government. It was because of Arbenz’ land reforms, including that of United Fruit Co., that the CIA decided to invade Guatemala. They intervened to prevent Guatemala from falling to Communism by invading her to overthrow Arbenz’ government, which they believed was already following Communistic ideals. The main reason the intervention has been criticized is because it makes it confusing for people to know whether the CIA’s intervention actually helped Guatemala. The CIA’s intervention
Seminar: Asian America: History and Writings of Chinese and Japanese Americans by Prof'in. Dr.Susanne Opfermann
Nierenberg, Danielle. "Factory farming in the developing world: In some critical respects, this is not progress at all." World Watch 1 May 2003: n. pag. eLibrary. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. .
With its tropical climate, heavy rainfall, and naturally fertile soil, the Philippines is predominantly agricultural. It also has other industries that help boosts its economy: textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, electronics assembly, petroleum refining, and fishing.
The first inhabitants of the Philippines arrived from the land bridge from Asia over 150,000 years ago. Throughout the years, migrants from Indonesia, Malaysia, and other parts of Asia made their way to the islands of this country. In the fourteenth century, the Arabs arrived and soon began a long tradition of Islam. Many Muslims are still living in the Philippines today.
The tropics are effect by many weather conditions which makes the jobs of farmers difficult. Overall subsistence and the GNP are effected by changes in weather, which for the most part is not always predictable. In a world that is divided up into the haves and the have nots, government influence is crucial in regulating practices and the overall distribution of wealth Despite this fact, programs implemented did not always succeed in benefitting the Filipinos. One major attribute of the Philippines is the wide variety of crops produced in this region. Crops which many not be able to grow during the rainy season may grow during in the period of December - May when there is little rainfall (and vice versa).
The Philippine Revolution was a military conflict between the Filipinos and Spanish colonial regime that started in the year 1896. The Filipinos were growing exhausted of the Spaniards’ rule over them. A charismatic leader, Andrès Bonifacio, formed a ghost propaganda movement, The Katipunan, to battle the Spaniards for independence. The Katipunan leaders and everyone associated with the revolution all knew the risks of getting captured: dying and risking the chance at freedom. War and bloodshed was the only decision for freedom; it was necessary to gain independence from Spain. The Filipino people joined as a whole to overthrow their Spanish dictators. It was a long fought war that seemed to last an eternity but on Dec. 15, 1897, the pact of Biak-na-Bato was declared. Though it wasn’t the perfect deal for each side, the pact brought a temporary end to the Philippine Revolution. The Philippine Revolution was a frightening, but necessary action by the Filipinos to pave way to their independence from Spain.
Cruz, Maria C., et al. Population Growth, Poverty, and Environmental Stress. Frontier Migration in the Philippines and Costa Rica. N.p. : World Resources Inc. Institute, a.k.a. 1-92.