Before the Encomienda: How Filipinos Stewarded the Land Before Colonization

Long before the arrival of Spanish colonizers and their *encomienda* system, Filipinos had their own ways of living with the land—ways rooted in community, responsibility, and respect. Across the archipelago, land was not something to be bought or sold. It was not a commodity. It was life itself.

### Land Was Shared, Not Owned

In precolonial times, no Filipino would have imagined putting up fences and claiming land as private property. Land was held in common by the community, stewarded by the local *barangay*, and passed on through generations as a collective inheritance. Leadership came with the duty to protect—not exploit—the land.

Among the Tagalog and Kapampangan peoples of Luzon, land was used according to need and labor. Families farmed rice fields or practiced *kaingin* (swidden farming), with no titles or deeds. The *datu* or community elders oversaw land use, but they were stewards, not landlords.

### The Highlands Had Their Own Systems

In the Cordillera highlands, the Ifugao developed a sophisticated land management system. Their rice terraces—still in use today—are not just engineering marvels but also expressions of a deep cultural bond with the land. Through the *muyong* system, forests above the terraces were protected communally as sacred watersheds. No one could own them, but everyone had a responsibility to care for them.

Among other Indigenous groups in the region, land and water were part of *ili* or *kalinga* territory—ancestral domains that belonged to clans and were defended fiercely from intrusion.

### Visayans Practiced Communal Stewardship

In the Visayas, the people of Cebu, Panay, and Leyte also followed traditions of shared land use. While individual families cultivated plots, land itself was never treated as private property. Use was granted based on labor and community consensus, not wealth or power. Fishing grounds, forests, and salt beds were managed collectively, often with seasonal rules and taboos to protect resources.

### Mindanao: A Mosaic of Custom and Islam

In Mindanao, both Islamic and non-Islamic systems emphasized stewardship. In the Sulu and Maguindanao Sultanates, land was held in trust by local leaders and distributed to subjects for cultivation. Among Lumad and upland Indigenous communities, ancestral lands were sacred. They could not be sold or fragmented—they belonged to the people as a whole and were part of their identity.

### What Changed With Colonization

This respectful relationship with the land changed drastically with the Spanish colonizers. They introduced the *encomienda* system, where land was claimed by the Crown and parceled out to Spanish settlers. Filipinos were turned from caretakers into tenants, forced to pay tribute for land that had once been their birthright.

Centuries later, this colonial logic still shapes land ownership in the Philippines. Titles and deeds, not stewardship and community, determine who holds power over land. Meanwhile, Indigenous peoples continue to fight for recognition of their ancestral domains.

### Time to Listen Again

As we confront inequality, landlessness, and environmental degradation today, perhaps it is time we listen again to the wisdom of our ancestors—and of Indigenous communities who have never forgotten it. They remind us that land is not a commodity. It is not for hoarding or speculation. It is for sharing, for living, for leaving better than we found it.

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### Sources:

* William Henry Scott, *Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society* * UNESCO, “Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras” * National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) * Eric Casiño, *Mindanao: Land of Promise* * F. Landa Jocano, *Filipino Prehistory*