New Clark City Countermapping Team Presents Preliminary Findings to Community Members

by Noreen Sapalo, Project Manager, Countermapping for Periurban Social Justice Project

Faculty members and students of the UP Department of Geography presented their research findings to their community partners based in Capas, Tarlac last April 5. In attendance were community members from Sitio Kamatis, Tarlac, Sitio Alli, and Sitio Bagingan, whose small rural villages are threatened by eviction due to the construction of New Clark City.

The research presentation and validation activity are part of "Counter-mapping for Peri-urban Social Justice," a research collaboration of the University of Glasgow and the Philippine Geographical Society funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund through the Scottish Funding Council. The project aims to uncover the territorialisation of peri-urban dispossession and resistance. The project also aims to pilot a participatory mapping methodology for the production of maps that communities can use in their struggle for their land rights.

Heading the project is Dr. Andre Ortega, former faculty of the Department of Geography and currently a research fellow of the University of Glasgow. Department Chair Dr. Yany Lopez and Assistant Professor Ma. Simeona Martinez serve as co-principal investigators. Also part of the team are undergraduate student volunteers of Geography and Fine Arts as well as research staff pursuing postgraduate degrees in Anthropology and Geomatics Engineering.

Project team with community representatives and student volunteers

The program-assembly was held in the Fatima Building of the Dominican College of Tarlac, through the support of the Provincial Human Rights Desk. The program started with prayers by farmers and an indigenous Aeta.

A video that detailed the process and methodology of the project was shown as Asst. Prof. Martinez gave a brief description of the project objectives. Findings from focus group discussions and different community map outputs were validated through participatory feedback mechanisms and turned over to the community. 

Research partners validating map outputs

The results of mental mapping activities and the auto-photography/photo elicitation methods were also discussed. A photo book organized around themes of displacement, resistance, and spaces was passed around for comments and recommendations of research partners.

Representatives from various Tarlac-based organizations and the University of the Philippines Diliman delivered speeches and encouraged the participants to build solidarity through campaigns against all forms of development aggression. 

A student volunteer discusses with research partners

The program-assembly ended in high spirits, with the Provincial Human Rights Desk officer promising to coordinate with the communities for further planning.