Community-led watershed-based water resources management: The case of Balian, Pangil, Laguna

Abstract

In Balian, the presence of indigenous institutions borne by a well entrenched and historically rooted and highly developed sociopolitical arrangement has enabled the local community to effectively link their governance and production activities to the watershed resource, despite opposition from some local political interests. The core of this is the Samahan ng Balian para sa Pagpapauwi ng Tubig, Inc. (SBPTI), a barangay based peoples organization formed in 1926 with the goal of managing the water system sourced from a spring within a small watershed in the Sierra Madre Range. The historical roots of SBPTI have enabled present-day actors, with the assistance of NGO mediators, to deal with conflict and challenges, as they establish order (i.e., govern) in their