LEVELS OF PROPERTY-RIGHTS, LEVELS OF LAW - A CASE-STUDY FROM THE NORTHERN PHILIPPINES

Among the upland Ibaloi of the northern Philippines, political and economic integration into the Philippine state has been informed by simplistic notions of local patterns of resource control and use. The view that minority tribal groups are "communal', and the subsequent state efforts to privatize resource control, have resulted in the emergence of multiple levels of property rights. These, in turn, are manipulated by individuals in their economic strategies, a process which enhances and reinforces legal pluralism. The result has been to reduce agricultural productivity and to increase the level of conflict among community members. -from Author