Mining, haciendas and tourism in southern sugarlandia

Image of Edward J. Pfleider in the 1920s when he led some fellow US soldiers in clearing out parcels of land in Asia, Negros Occidental.

The story of land affairs in Negros is well-documented due to the occurrences of high-profile controversies involving farmers, plantations, sugar industry as well as mining issues. The controversies range from normal farmer protest to highly publicized murders of farmers. And although Negros is known to be sugarlandia, the situation in the southern portion differed from most of the island, mainly because of geographical implications.

In Southern Negros, land ownership started with the arrival of American soldiers who cleared out the forest to be able to establish their own plantations. And contrary to the trend in most of the islands haciendas, Southern Negros was not penetrated by the mono-cropping of sugar thereby creating different dynamics in terms of land relations. One of the first documented land owners in Southern Negros is Edward J. Pfleder, a US soldier who decided to settled down in Asia (now Hinobaan).

What started out as logging, later converted into coconut plantations which stood for decades. And through the years, even during the peak of the sugar industry in the Philippines, Southern Negros did not join the bandwagon and remained an area with its own kind of farms distinct from usual Negros farms. Yet similar to the usual situations in other municipalities, land ownership was held only by few families and this status quo remained through the years.

Making things more interesting to Southern Negros is the entrance of mining during the latter half of the last century. This is a period wherein some areas developed due to the sheer volume of economic activities sprouting brought about by the movement caused by the industry. Still, there are other issues, albeit adverse concerns, that persisted. Today, tourism is the new thing which serves as another interesting area of study for Southern Negros.