THE BULOLAKAW CASE

Adapted from Rivas, Rene M., Cecile C. Uy, and Salve B. Borlagdan, “Women and men in an upland
project: The Bulolakaw Case,” in Gender Analysis and Planning: The 1990 IPC-CIDA Workshops, edited by
Jeanne Frances I. Illo Quezon City: Institute of Philippine Culture, Ateneo de Manila University, 1990.

Bulolakaw lies within a 3,968-hectare timberland area with elevations ranging from 600 to 800 meters.
Although the village is located on public land (that is, not alienable and disposable), about 69 percent of
the area is occupied by farming households whose claims to land rest on their payment of land taxes. Its
residents are migrants from the lowlands of the Province of Cebu.

The upland farms have been cleared and are being cultivated by whole households. The women have
always been active in farming activities, but the farms have been associated with the male whose names
appear in the tax payment papers. Many of the couples are not married and, under Philippine law, the
women have very little claim to property acquired during cohabitation.

In mid-1980’s the government launched an integrated social forestry project in the village. In this
connection, government workers organized a farmer’s association, distributed certificates of
stewardship of contracts (CSC), and trained farmers on different upland development technologies. In all
these, including the delivery of farm security, the workers involved men. Hence, men accounted for
more than 9 of 10 association members, CSC holders, and trainees.

The village, however, has other pressing concerns, such as potable drinking water, livelihood and
medical servicces