Friar lands remain a legal curse a century of disputes after By Chito Lozada 03/26/2012

Friar lands remain a legal curse a century of disputes after

By Chito Lozada 03/26/2012

After more than a century of legal disputes since the US government tried resolving the friar lands question in the Philippines, the vast estates owned by Spanish Catholic monastic orders remain a labyrinthian issue among local courts and the much-assailed irregularities in the bureaucracy and the justice system had further made life difficult for those staking their claims on these prime pieces of land.

When the Americans took over the Philippines from 300 years of Spanish rule in 1898, among the first problem that confronted the new colonizer was the disposition of the so-called friar lands.

These huge tracts of land are owned mostly by three predominant Spanish religious orders, the Dominicans, Augustinians, and Recollects, and comprise about one-tenth of all the improved lands in the islands.

The Philippine Revolution prior to the American takeover was mainly fueled by discontent among local peasants with the feudal practices among these estates..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120326hea3.html