Aptly titled “Iska Pamilya, Iska Boto Kontra Mina,” the jingle – written by homegrown talent singer-songwriter and producer Zandro C. Urbiztondo – is original, crisp and upfront.

And unlike most campaign jingles whose music and lyrics are copycats of popular songs like Gangnam Style, Macarena, among others, “Iska …” talks of the fight of Carcanmadcarlanons against mining and the destruction it brings to the province’s waters and agricultural lands. Urbiztondo, called “Popoy” by family and friends, says that mining thus affects the people’s principal source of livelihood – fishing and farming.

Carcanmadcarlan stands for the five towns in Surigao del Sur affected by mining – Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza. Carcanmadcarlanons are the people residing in these municipalities.

The townsfolk, including the indigenous peoples (IPs), are in the forefront in the fight against the continued operations of Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC).

Cantilan, known as the “Cradle of five towns” in Surigao del Sur, leads the pack in this fight, and the election period is the arena for the pro and anti-mining camps.

Urbiztondo, in an interview Tuesday night, admitted it took him a month to conceptualize the song and put it into music for two days, producing it in his own studio, Studio Z in Los Angeles, California, and uploaded it on YouTube on April 9.

Since it was uploaded, it already generated 1,961 likes as of Wednesday evening.

All comments posted on YouTube and the Cantilangnon FB page were favorable. Here are a few, in their original form, in netspeak, typos, errors and all, with this writer’s attempt at translation:

rafael102493: daan pa ako anti sauna.,mga tao man gud ya mag huna2x ang ila tag huna2x ky ang kwrta ra..e2n..di kon damage..Marajaw ky ni kontra ra gjud tnan tao dd.on (I was already anti even before. But the people, they don’t think. What they think about is money. Now, the environment is damaged. It’s good all the people there are now against it.)

scot cale: idol….grabe ka ganing na kanta. ka abtik mo gajud…henyo ka idollllll. (Idol … the song is great! You’re really good … you’re a genius idol)

riverstyxhcb: kontrahon ta gjud ang mina…. sa tagsa tagsa nato ka pamilya. (We will fight mining … in each of our families.)

jasonseril: like times 10000000. padajon ta! (onwards!)

Prince Arreza: Poy ak ini gajod patukaron sa ato radyo….salamat sa pag share, (Poy, I will really air this in our local radio. Thank you for sharing.)

The ditty came out in the Cantilangnon Facebook page and on YouTube on the same day and has since made rounds in local radio stations in Tandag City. It is also used in campaign sorties of Cantilan reelectionist Mayor Genito Guardo.

A dance routine is also starting to create a following from young students who danced “Iska…” during the recently held “Save our Surigao Run for the Environment” Earth Day celebration in the same town.

The song is upbeat and has a dance tempo with lyrics written in the Cantilangnon vernacular. It urges CarCanMadCarLanons to unite for the protection of the environment and vote against politicians who are pro-mining.

It urges voters not to get blinded by money with the lines “Koman eleksyon paninguhaon ta, sa kwarta dili ta magpakabuta.” (Let us strive during this election that we will not be blinded with money.)

Here’s the lyrics of the song “Iska Pamilya, Iska Boto Kontra Mina” and this reporter’s attempt at translation:

I.

Dali na magkahiusa ta tanan (Come on let us unite)
Tanan higaya tanan kalumonan (All our friends, all our relatives)
Protektahan ta an kinaijahan (Let us protect the environment)
Dinhi sa Carcanmadcarlan (Here in Carcanmadcarlan)
Koman eleksyon paninguhaon ta (Let us strive for this election)
Sa kwarta dili ta magpakabuta (That we will not be blinded with money)
Carcanmadcarlanon magkahiusa ta (Carcanmadcarlanon let us unite)
Iska pamilya iska boto kontra mina (One family, one vote, against mining)

II

Uno na an mga bukid ta (What has happened to our mountains)
Sauna karajaw kagana (Before it was beautiful and splendid)
Kuman nanga upos guba na (Now they’re gone and destroyed)
Kay ila man tagtiwasan (Because they finished it off)
An kadaut dili hunungan (They will not stop the destruction)
Mga kabang sa Cabangahan (The patches of earth in Cabangahan)

III

An Carac-an na tapad ra (Carac-an which is beside it)
An tubig kuman nalipa na (The water now is dirty)
Irigasyon way kapuslanan (Irrigation is useless)
An ato mga basakan kasagulan na nan kaitan (Our farmlands are now mixed with orange clay mud)
Uno pa may ato katamnan (What is left for us to plant)

(Balik Koro)

IV

Uno man kinta nan sauna (How come in the past)
Pila ka henerasyon ta (For how many generations)
Yay mina tagsaligan ta (There was no mining that we relied on)
SA pagtanom sa pangisda ra nakalampos naka eskuyla (Through farming and fishing we  succeeded and got an education)
Sa mga mahinlo na pangita (Through clean and decent living)
An mga suba nangapuya (Our rivers have gone red)
Klaro sa mga pokot ta (It is clearly seen in our fishnets)
Uno pay gusto mo makita (What more do you want to see)
Simbako kun magbaha naman (God forbid that a flooding occurs)
Mapareho ta sa Cagayan (We will end up like what happened in Cagayan)
Hain ra kaha ta puyuta (Where do you think we will end up)

(Rap)

Lugar na hinigugma imo lang ba pasagdan (The place that you love, will you just neglect it)
Sa mga estranghero imo lang palipaan (To strangers, you will allow them to pollute it)
An ato kadayanan (Our roads)
An ato kadagatan (Our seas)
Hasta na kalangitan (Even our skies)
Puno na nan kaitan (Is already filled with orange laterite mud)
Pero pagbantay darling (But be careful darling)
Sa mga paling paling (Those who are indecisive)
Sauna mga anti kuman mga pro mining (Who were anti but are now pro-mining)
Kay lagi sa mina mahamok na kwarta (Since there is so much money in mining)
Ugsa namag-ilog mga nganga nolinya (That’s why they wrestled and line up)
Ugsa man tatay nanay mano mana pagbantay (That’s why dad, mom, sister and brother be careful)
An pilion nato siguradohon anti (Let us make sure we chose the anti)
Kay kun imo pilion iton mga bakakon (Because if you choose the liars)
Nagpa bibang-bibang (Sneaky like the monitor lizard)
Im bungsuyan minahon! (They’ll mine your front yard!)

Koro

Dali na magkahiusa ta tanan! (mintras sajo pa) (Come let us unite [while it is still early]
Tanan higaya, tanan kalumonan (kalumonan dali na!) (All friends, all relatives [all relatives come!]
Protektahan ta an kinaijahan (Protektahan ta!) (Let us protect the environment [Protect it!])
Dinhi sa Carcanmadcarlan (Iska Pamilya, Iska Boto Kontra Mina)   (Here in Carcanmadcarlan [One family, one vote against mining])
Kuman eleksyon paninguhaon ta (Paninguhaon ta!) (Today’s election let us make sure [Make sure!])
Sa kwarta dili ta magpa kabuta (Ajaw!) (We will not be blinded by money [No!])
Carcanmadcarlan magkahiusa ta (Dali na, Dali na) (Carcanmadcarlan let us unite [Hurry, hurry]
Iska Pamilya Iska Boto Kontra Mina! 3x (One Family One Vote Against Mining)

Here’s the song on YouTube:

Richard Ampo, who represented his stepbrother,  Martin Ampo Jr., Cabangahan barangay chair, said Wednesday that 18 “hawudons” or tribal elders in the barangay held a dialogue with residents and workers who were rendered jobless, and agreed to come up with a resolution asking Gov. Johnny Pimentel to stop the human barricade set up since April 6.

Some 50 supporters of the Bat-ao and Hunanhunan clans led by Datu Jimmy “Dagsaan” Bat-ao set up a human barricade and tent along the  road leading to the mining operations of Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC), paralyzing operations and temporary stopping soil extraction activities for about a week now.

Bat-ao demanded P150 million in damages for the alleged desecration of the clan’s burial site and water source and the closure of the nickel-mine firm while upholding its claim on the ancestral land of Cabangahan and outlying areas where the protected watershed is also located.

Ampo countered Bat-ao’s claim saying the latter is not the sole claimant of the area since there are other clans who share the rights over the land which is also the subject of protest of anti-mining groups led by the Social Action Center Vicariate of the Carrascal-Cantilan-Madrid-Carmen-Madrid and Parang (CarCanMadCarLanPar) Zone.

MMDC’s has a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement No. 016-93-XI which covers 4,799 hectares, approved on October 23, 2009 “on interim basis.”

The tribal chieftains also met Leo Orquina, a mayoral candidate described by critics as “pro-mining” Orquina told MindaNews that the company will be filing a case of damages against the “anti-mining groups.

In an earlier email message, MMDC vice president Jegie Pereda told MindaNews the company is thinking of filing charges against those responsible for the barricade.

Amid the discord between pro- and anti-mining Manobo supporters, the SAC issued its “solidarity to the Manobo community” by holding a mass at the barricade site on Saturday.

Fr. Raymond Ambray, executive director of the SAC said “it may be that they are now in different positions, but it is the task of the church to let them understand of the real situation that befalls them.”

Chito Trillanes, SAC spokesperson,  said what is happening is a manifestation of  the deception committed by the mining company against the Manobo’s through a questionable free and prior informed consent (FPIC).

“It only proves what we earlier pointed out in the early days of our struggle that the FPIC was done with the intent to deceive the people,” said Trillanes, who also joined the Saturday solidarity mass in the barangay.

Both officials admitted that amidst the ongoing ‘conflicting’ sentiments of the people, is the need to emphasize the reality amongst tribesmen and even the public that they are exploited as a group and continue to be one should the issue will not be resolved.

During Saturday’s dialogue with Bat-ao, several residents voiced concern that the barricade will cause the closure of the mining firm.

But Bat-ao told them the alleged violations committed by the company against their tribe should make them indignant.

Margarito Ondao, a teacher at the Cantilan National High School, said he was not against the mining firm at the start of the operation. But with its continued failure to honor its commitment based on the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), then he would rather that the mine will close down.

“Well if nothing is agreed then it’s useless. All the same we are still being looked down anyway,” Ondao said referring to the unfulfilled MOA.

Francisco Sumbiran said the mining company should have delineated the area as it earlier promised so the conflict could have been avoided.

Some Manobos who lost their jobs due to the barricade, expressed fears they would not be reinstated if they join the “anti-mining” barricade.

But Ampo said his brother and the ‘hawudons’ are not pro-mining but “are only looking at the interest of the people.”

“If the mining company will close, what will happen to the people?” he asked.  (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews)

Datu Jimmy “Dagsaan” Bat-ao said the Bat-ao and Hunahunan clans want  MMDC out of their ancestral lands and to pay them damages amounting to P150 million for the desecration of their burial grounds and other sacred places and the destruction of their main water source.

MMDC vice president for operations Jegie T. Pereda said the company was “considering filing cases against those responsible for the barricade.”

In a statement emailed on Sunday night, Pereda said “MMDC has no existing violation, the barricade is illegal and goes against RA 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act”.

He said the barricade violated Section 107 of the law, which states, “Any person who, without justifiable cause, prevents or obstructs the holder of any permit, agreement or lease from undertaking his mining operation shall be punished…”

On Monday last week, MMDC management issued a memorandum temporarily suspending mining operations as the tribal members set up a tent in the middle of the road. By Tuesday, MMDC lawyer Noel Libres came together with security guards, police and military personnel to stop the barricade.

WHY THE BARRICADE. Datu Jimmy “Dagsaan” Bat-ao, tribal chieftain of the Manobo tribes in Lobo and Cabangahan in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur, explains to residents of Barangay Cabangahan why they barricaded the road leading to the mine site. MindaNews photo by Vanessa L. Almeda

But Bat-ao questioned the presence of the military and police since “he (Libres) could have just talked to us and not order somebody to call me that they are coming. He could have just called me and talked to me directly me so we can talk.”

Three barangay officials stopped Libres and the policemen and soldiers from breaking up the barricade as some women and children were seen sitting on the road, barangay officer-in-charge Gilbert Duero said.

“I had to tell them that they cannot forcibly evict the protesters because there are women and children who are taking part in the barricade,” Duero said.

But Pereda said the presence of the soldiers and policemen was justified “because the barricade is illegal.”

Reason for barricade

Bat-ao said they were forced to barricade the road because MMDC has refused to heed their demand for the past three years asserting that his clan is the rightful claimant to the land.

“This area where they are now extracting earth is ours since the time of our forefathers. Why will they dictate us on what we should do when we are only doing what is right. This is our constitutional right,” Bat-ao, who is also an evangelical pastor, told MindaNews in an interview at his house Friday.

Pereda said the company had talked with the Bat-ao clan last March 18.  But he said that since the issue is on the sharing of the royalty paid by MMDC to the tribe, the company asked the Lumads to “to resolve this matter first among themselves with the assistance of the NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous Peoples).”

“The company is willing to assist in the resolution of the issue,” the official added.

The tribal chieftain denied MMDC had talked to them, although he admitted that they were demanding royalty.

Clan and tribal conflict

Duero said the barricade stemmed from a misunderstanding among tribal chieftains and ‘hawudons’ or elders of the clans over the memorandum of agreement signed between tribal leaders and MMDC which excluded Datu Dagsaan Bat-ao.

Dagsaan’s brother Teodoro, a signatory to the agreement, is said to have the support of MMDC and receives the royalty allegedly without giving his other siblings their share of the 1% fee, Duero said.

Dagsaan has reportedly demanded a 10% royalty for the alleged damage to the burial sites as well as to Pangiyawan Creek, the community’s water source.

Duero urged local government officials to not side with any group, and management to see the real situation of the people in Cabangahan.

“It’s good this will be put in the news so they’ll know what is happening here,” the official said.

“For the first year, the promise was fulfilled but later on they have not been doing anything,” he said.

Duero said the company has stopped giving monthly allowances to tribal elders as well as the scholarship grants for honor and deserving students.

Instead of the previous arrangement where tribesmen would be hired as regulars, they have been dismissed from their jobs, and the water system project was left unfinished, he added.

Pereda denied Duero’s statements.

STOP OPERATIONS. Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation decided to stop its operations at a mountain in Brgy. Cabangahan, Cantilan, Surigao del Sur when a group of Manobos barricaded the road leading to the mine site. MindaNews photo by Vanessa L. Almeda

Meanwhile, MMDC still has to compute the revenue losses caused by the ongoing barricade and their decision to put on hold mining activities.

“There is no opportunity loss computation yet but it must be substantial,” Pereda said.

Court order

Cabangahan sits within the tenement of MMDC which is also the subject of a temporary environmental protection order (TEPO) issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 41.

The Social Action Center of the Diocese of Tandag, local residents and environmentalists are also protesting the mining operations in the area as it is part of a declared forest reserve.

On April 6, some 50 supporters of Bat-ao set up a human barricade and tent along the mining road leading to the extraction area, a thickly forested mountain which is the headwater of Carac-an River, the main source of water that irrigates the towns of Cantilan, Madrid and Carmen.

The Pangiyawan and Cabangahan creeks, which originate in the same area, are now heavily silted, according to the Social Action Center and other anti-mining groups.

“We were able to acquire a TEPO but did they honor it?” Bat-ao said.

“So our strategy now is to undertake this barricade because this is our constitutional right,” he added. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Some 400 protesters barricade the gate of Mines and Geosciences Bureau regional office in Surigao City Friday afternoon. The protest which started last March 11 stemmed from the refusal of the MGB to enforce a court order preventing the MarcVentures Mining Development Corporation from operating in a watershed in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur. Mindanews Photo by Erwin

The protesters from various civil society groups, lambasted MGB regional director Roger de Dios for apparently disregarding a new directive from the MGB main office in Manila to implement the court order.

The MGB main office, in a letter dated March 15 issued by acting assistant director Elmer Billedo, reminded De Dios that he should not disregard the TEPO issued by the Regional Trial Court of Cantilan, Surigao del Sur in 2010

Since March 11, residents from Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte provinces have been picketing the MGB regional office to demand the TEPO’s implementation.

“The regional director [De Dios] promised us during our dialogue last March 13 that he will inform us of any order that will come from Manila on the matter of the TEPO. But he hid this new order from us, It is only recently that we’ve discovered the [new] letter addressed to his office. This is a clear sign of how treacherous he is,” said Chito Trillanes, Diocesan Social Action Center spokesperson.

At the time of the dialogue, De Dios declined the protesters’ demand to implement the TEPO because he has not received any direct order from the court or the MGB main office. He then promised the protesters he will inform him them of any order from the main office.

Trillanes said they felt cheated by De Dios when he did not inform them about the March 15 letter from the MGB main office.

On March 19, De Dios decided to conduct a community inspection, inviting leaders of the protesters, whom he later left behind in Carrascal town “because of the bad road condition,” Trillanes recalled.

Trillanes said they later found out that De Dios did not visit the affected area and did not  interview community members.

Citing farmers, irrigators and the people waiting for the MGB official in the area, Trillanes added that De Dios reportedly went instead with MMDC personnel who guided him to “areas the company only wants to be inspected.”

Outraged by what they described as betrayal by the MGB regional officials, an estimated 300 people from various organizations joined Friday those who have been picketing the agency’s office for two weeks now.

Dr. Isidro Olan, executive director of Lovers of Nature Foundation, Inc. called De Dios’ action a “clear sign of disregarding the law.”

“The court order has been given, and an order from the MGB central office has been forwarded, but De Dios had remained steadfast on his stand not to facilitate and implement the TEPO. For someone who is supposed to be protecting the environment, this is a clear disregard [of the law],” said Olan.

Olan, who survived an ambush last year, called for various sectors to join in and condemn De Dios’ action.

“This is abuse of authority, a court ruling has been made but he has taken us for a fool. It is very obvious what he is doing, and the reasons his office had given for not implementing the TEPO are very shallow and he should be investigated,” said Olan.

Rogelio Montero, provincial chairman of Kapunungan sa mga Mag-uuma sa Surigao del Norte or KAMASS, stressed the need for the TEPO’s implementation to avoid threatening the food security in the area.

“Laterites have been creeping into farm lands in the area, affecting our farmers’ annual yields. This is not only a threat to the farmers but to the people who rely their food supply from us,” Montero said.

Elvie Arrubio, president of the Cantilan Irrigation System Federation of Irrigators Association, backed his claims, noting that because of laterite siltation, only 1,555 hectares (ha) can now be irrigated from the previous 2,000 ha.

De Dios did not face the protesters and was not responding despite repeated phone calls.

But earlier, he said the MGB regional office cannot implement the TEPO because it is not a party to the case.

On Nov. 11, 2010, the court issued a TEPO against MMDC for operating in a declared watershed forest reserve. (Erwin Mascarinas/MindaNews)

Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of the Diocese of Marbel said Wednesday they decided to post tarpaulins containing the names of candidates who favor and oppose the planned open-pit mining activity in South Cotabato and the construction of the coal-fired power plant in Sarangani Province.

Dubbed “Team Pabor-Team Ayaw” campaign, he said the move aims to educate local voters regarding the stand of candidates on the US$ 5.9-billion Tampakan copper-gold project of foreign-backed Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) and the coal-fired power plant project of the Alcantara-led Sarangani Energy Corporation (SEC).

“We’re not endorsing any candidate. We just want to guide our voters in making the right choices come election day,” the bishop said.

Gutierrez said the “Team Pabor-Team Ayaw” tarpaulins will be raised in front of parishes and chapels under the Diocese of Marbel.

The diocese covers the provinces of South Cotabato and Sarangani as well as the cities of General Santos and Koronadal.

The bishop said they are not setting any limit as to the sizes of the “Team Pabor-Team Ayaw” tarpaulins that will be posted.

“(The tarpaulins) will be as long as you want and as big as you want. No limit when it comes to sizes,” he said.

Gutierrez said among the candidates included in the “Team Ayaw” or those who oppose the open-pit mining and coal plant projects are South Cotabato Gov. Arthur Pingoy Jr., South Cotabato (2^nd District) Rep. Daisy Avance-Fuentes, Koronadal City Mayor Peter Miguel, Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel Pacquiao and Sarangani Vice Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon.

He did not name the candidates that will be included in the “Team Pabor” or those who favor the two projects.

Pacquiao and Solon, who were running unopposed as representative and governor of Sarangani, respectively, have opposed the ongoing construction of the SEC’s 200-megawatt (MW) coal plant in the coastal village of Kamanga in Maasim town.

The US$ 450-million power plant, which is due for completion by the end of 2015, is a joint venture between the Alcantara Group’s Conal Holdings Corporation and Thailand’s Electricity Generating Public Company Limited.

Pingoy and Fuentes, who are both running for governor of South Cotabato, have repeatedly disclosed in public their opposition to SMI’s open-pit mining project.

While in her last term as governor in 2010, Fuentes signed the province’s environment code that included a provision banning open-pit mining in the area.

Pingoy, who succeeded Fuentes, implemented the open-pit ban and stood behind it amid calls for its withdrawal by the national government.

Mayor Miguel, who is seeking reelection, is also supporting the open-pit ban.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje issued last month a conditional environmental compliance certificate or ECC to SMI despite the standing ban on open-pit mining.

The open-pit ban was the main reason for the DENR’s denial in January last year of SMI’s application for ECC.

SMI, which is controlled by world’s fourth largest copper producer Xstrata Copper, had disclosed that it would employ the controversial open-pit mining method for its operations, a move vehemently opposed by local environmental groups and Roman Catholic Church. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)

The massive signature campaign was launched following a recent series of public forums in the area spearheaded by popular anti-mining activist Regina Lopez and other local and national environmental groups.

Lopez, convener of anti-mining group Save Palawan Movement, said the signatures will highlight the “true sentiment” of local residents with regards to SMI’s US$ 5.9 billion Tampakan project.

“We will show to them that at least 50 percent of the population in South Cotabato don’t want the project to continue and are saying no to mining in Tampakan,” Lopez said.

Bulk of the copper and gold reserve lies in the town of Tampakan in South Cotabato, with the mines development site also straddling Kiblawan in Davao del Sur, Columbio in Sultan Kudarat and Malungon in Sarangani.

Once the target 300,000 signatures are met, she said they would present them to the Senate and even to President Benigno Aquino III to persuade them to stop the project.

She said they would lobby with national government officials to look into the signatures and “consider that as the true will of the people regarding the mining project in Tampakan.”

“The people know and decide what’s best for them and they (national officials) cannot go against the people’s will,” said Lopez, who is managing director of ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje issued last month a conditional environmental compliance certificate (ECC) to SMI despite a standing ban on open-pit mining ban implemented by the provincial government of South Cotabato.

Among the conditions cited in the ECC were the settlement of the question on social acceptability, protection of the rights of indigenous people, land access under the Department of Agrarian Reform and the willingness to assume continuing liability over any environmental damage.

The open-pit ban, which was embodied in the province’s environment code, was the main reason for the DENR’s denial in January last year of SMI’s application for ECC. The company appealed the decision but the DENR rejected it on the same ground.

SMI, which is controlled by Xtrata Copper, the world’s fourth largest copper producer, had disclosed that it would employ the controversial open-pit mining method for its operation, a move vehemently opposed by local environmental groups and Roman Catholic Church.

Lopez said records showed that not one of the mining companies that operated in the country “in the last 100 years” was able to rehabilitate a mine area.

“What we have instead were four major mining disasters,” she pointed out.

In terms of benefits from mining, Lopez said a study released by the National Economic and Development Authority showed that among the areas that have high percentage of people living below the poverty line were those that hosted mining projects.

She cited the case of Bataraza in Palawan that posted a poverty incidence of 53 percent, Caraga Region with 47.5 percent, Zamboanga Peninsula with 42.75 percent and Bicol Region with 44.92 percent.

“If mining is good then why are there still many poor people in these areas? Look at the Igorots in Benguet, many of them are still poor,” she said

Lopez’s group also launched about two years ago a massive signature drive against plans to mine Palawan.

From an initial target of one million signatures, the group has so far gathered 7.3 million signatories against the project, its website said.

The signature campaign was supported by ABS-CBN Foundation Inc., Haribon Foundation, Greenpeace, Alyansa Tigil Mina, Aldaw, LRC-KsK, Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines and ABS-CBN’s Bantay Kalikasan.

John Arnaldo, SMI corporate communications manager, said they welcome Lopez’s sentiments and efforts against the mining project and noted that they would also want to engage with her.

“We would like to invite her on her next visit to have an engagement with us so we can also present to her the details of the project and show her what we have done,” he said.

Arnaldo said they would introduce Lopez to the project’s stakeholders, especially the B’laan tribal folk within the mining area, “so they can directly tell her what they think and feel about the project.”

“We want her to see the project site so that she can personally see the condition of the area today so she will have a basis to compare later if the project will push through,” he added. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)

Engr. Reynaldo Y. Gonzales, chief of the Mining Environment and Safety Division  (MESD) said mayors voiced strong opposition to the special order issued by Caraga mines regional director Roger de Dios late last year but discussed at a two-day seminar only on  February 21 and 22.

“They are now appealing to the director,”  Gonzales said.

De Dios’ memorandum prohibited a local government unit from being represented in more than one of the following committees: Community Technical Working Group (CTWG), Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee (MRFC) and the Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT).

He explained that this was meant “to implement what the law has provided” and ensure check and balance in the prioritization of livelihood projects for the communities.

“We found out that local representatives are sitting in two to three of these committees. How can we ensure there is check and balance if a member in one committee also becomes a member of the MRFC or the MMT? Or vice versa,” he said.

In the two-day seminar,  Taganaan  town mayor Cesar Diaz objected to the removal of the town representative in the MMT. The objection was seconded by Tubod mayor Cristina Hemady Romarate-Arcillas.

Both mayors asserted that the removal is untimely since barangay officials are “not capacitated” and still need to be taught on technical monitoring work.

On February 22,   the mayors were given an orientation on the ‘changes’ of the Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) which required that livelihood component be allotted 20% of the 75% budget for SDMP.

Under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, operating mines are required to allot 1.5% of their operating cost to social development projects. The law’s implementing rules and regulations also defined the composition of the MRFC and the MMT.

The members of the CTWG, the body that creates the Annual SDMP. was also streamlined,   prompting complaints from barangay captains.

“We are not agreeing to this. We like it that there were many of us in the committee because at least a lot of us can explain to the people about what mining is,” Urbiztondo barangay captain Carmelito Galing said.

Galing had  earlier said that reducing the  CTWG membership to five members from the previous membership of 10 to 15, defeats the purpose of the concept started in 1999.

Gonzales said the CTWG was created for the purpose of uplifting the lives of the communities and not to serve the interests of the LGUs.

“This (CTWG) is strictly practiced in the region because this is where it started. The law did not write  this but  (it was) an initiative of the regional office,” he added.

Created in 1999, the SDMP was a result of “the nagging negative impression that mining is an environment and community despoiler” and the CTWG  was created to “empower the people.”

But industry observers, including mining executives and MGB officials, have criticized the SDMP and  the CTWG for allegedly not serving their purpose.

De dios said the SDMP  focused on infrastructure projects and sidelined the livelihood initiatives to uplift the economic conditions of the host and affected communities.

MGB records show that in the last 13 years, infrastructure projects were allocated a total of P103.099 million while livelihood was only P65.097 million.

Gonzales said it also became a venue for some local officials claiming the project as theirs.

Gonzales said he did not mince words when he told local officials that no other private entity, not even the mobile phone companies raking in millions of profit, has shelled millions of pesos for social development projects, except the mining industry.

He also showed them a comparative figure on the taxes generated from mining companies which were returned to local government coffers thru its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

Aside from the IRA, LGUs also earn from occupational taxes and real property taxes.

“You cannot say the (mining) communities are ‘luoy’ (pitiful) because the money is there. They were all silent when I showed them the figures,” he said.

He said the SDMP is private money and not public funds.

“We always get feedback that the industry is not giving anything to the community but we have the figures that millions have been infused for community development. The question is where is this money and how was it used?” he asked.

“The SDMP is there to co-with the barangay’s existing AIP (Annual Investment Priority). There is already the BDP (Barangay Development Plan) where government’s IRA is used. The SDMP will just fill in that gap,” he said.

Gonzales also said barangays will retain its membership with the CTWG and MMT but cannot sit down with the Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee (MRFC) since it will be represented by municipal and provincial heads.

The MRFC is the highest body to approve and endorse the SDMP that the CTWG will create.

The MMT on one hand is designated by the MRFC for the regular monitoring of environmental issues and concerns.

The MGB director issues the certificate of approval for the SDMP.

The MRFC  has yet to meet for the first quarter of this year to discuss the issue. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

This after South Cotabato Gov. Arthur Pingoy Jr. urged candidates gunning for provincial posts to disclose their stand on the controversial mining project.

“It should not just be the individual candidates but the party’s stand that should be divulged to the public in this very delicate issue involving the province,” he said in his regular weekly radio program Saturday.

Efforts of SMI to develop the Tampakan copper, touted as the largest known undeveloped copper reserve in Southeast Asia, has been hobbled by the open-pit mining ban imposed by South Cotabato.

In December last year, the company announced that it was moving the target start of commercial operation from 2016 to 2019. Among the major challenges the company cited facing its operation was the open-pit ban in South Cotabato.

Recently, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources granted SMI an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) after rejecting it twice last year on the ground of the open-pit mining prohibition of South Cotabato.

But besides the ECC, an endorsement from the provincial government is among the other requirements needed by the firm before it can proceed to commercial production.

Stressing the open-pit ban is legal unless invalidated by a court, Pingoy said the Tampakan project should be made a political issue because of its potential tremendous impact to the environment.

The company is banking on its economic contribution to the localities and neighboring areas in trying to gain the support for the project.

Pingoy reiterated the provincial government is not against mining but only against the open-pit method.

South Cotabato Second District Rep. Daisy Avance Fuentes signed the environmental code that bans open-pit mining before stepping down as the provincial governor on June 30, 2010.

Pingoy and Fuentes, along with former Koronadal City Mayor Fernando Miguel, are vying for the gubernatorial post in the May 13 elections for which the campaign period will run from March 29 to May 11, 2013.

Fuentes and Miguel could not be immediately reached for comment regarding the challenge issued by Pingoy.

Earlier, Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez urged the electorate to junk candidates who will support the mining venture of SMI.

“Do not vote those who favor open-pit mining because they’re ‘villains’ of the environment,” the bishop said.

Gutierrez said the diocese will conduct a voter’s education drive in the diocesan jurisdiction that covers the entire provinces of South Cotabato and Sarangani and part of Sultan Kudarat. Koronadal and General Santos cities are also under the Diocese of Marbel.

There are 25 parishes under the diocese.

The diocese is also planning to conduct its own provincial candidates’ forum separately in the provinces of South Cotabato and Sarangani to know the stand of the aspirants, especially regarding the Tampakan project. 

Xstrata Copper, the world’s fourth largest copper producer, owns majority of the controlling equity at SMI, with Australian firm Indophil Resources NL as the junior partner. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)

The controversy stemmed from MGB’s memorandum issued last year prohibiting a local government unit from being represented in more than one of the following committees: Community Technical Working Group (CTWG), Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee (MRFC) and the Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT).

MGB regional director Roger A. de Dios explained his memorandum was meant “to implement what the law has provided” and ensure check and balance in the prioritization of livelihood projects for the communities.

“We found out that local representatives are sitting in two to three of these committees. How can we ensure there is check and balance if a member in one committee also becomes a member of the MRFC or the MMT? Or vice versa,” he said.

But his proposal, which he presented during a two-day reorientation seminar on Thursday and Friday last week, did not sit well with some local officials.

Barangay chair Carmelio I. Galing of Urbiztondo, Surigao City said the limit set on committee membership might result in priority projects for his barangay getting disapproved by the MRFC for political reasons.

Galing said it’s likely that the municipal official in the MRFC would favor a barangay where the officials are his supporters over a barangay where the officials are not his allies.

He said the MGB, which is attached to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), should have consulted them first before calling them to attend the seminar and tell them about the changes.

He said the changes mean that a barangay official who is already a CTWG member can no longer sit either in the MRFC or MMT.

Interviewed at the sidelines of the seminar, de Dios said he was worried he might be perceived as a spokesperson of the mining industry for introducing the changes.

But he said his memorandum merely reiterated Department Administrative Order (DAO) 96-40 or the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Mining Act of 1995.

Section 183 of the IRR says that the MRFC shall be composed of the MGB regional director as chair, the regional executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as co-chair, and representatives from the local government unit, NGOs and community organizations, church or civic organizations, and from the permit holder.

A seat is allotted for autonomous regional governments where this is applicable.

Section 185 of the IRR says the MMT is deputized by the MRFC “to serve as the monitoring arm of said Committee”.

CTWG was a concept that started in the province in 1999 as a result of “the nagging negative impression that mining is an environmental and community despoiler”, an MGB document said.

The committee, however, has received criticisms it has become “too populated” with as many as 25 to 30 members taking part in the formulation of the Social Development Management Program.

De Dios said the large membership of committees due to the repetitive inclusion of barangay, municipal and provincial officials can be a financial burden to companies.

Every committee member receives a P1,000 honorarium for every meeting he or she attends.

But Galing said their protest has nothing to do with the honorarium they receive saying they are entitled to it as volunteers. He said MGB personnel are the ones who should not get honorariums since they are government employees.

“We agree to an honorarium because this goes direct to the barangay,” he said.

Galing said the CTWG membership has been reduced to five – MGB, barangay captain, company representative, religious and NGO.

The barangay chair said a bigger membership is better because there would be many people who can explain to the community in case there are problems like anti-mining sentiments.

He proposed instead that they be stripped of voting power but not of their membership.

For her part, Mayor Christina Hemady Romarate-Arcillas of Tubod town, Surigao del Norte conceded the committees were indeed too big and welcomed the de Dios’ initiative. But she said she was worried over the exclusion of the municipal government in the MMT since the host barangays are still “not capacitated”.

Vice Mayor Alfred Vargas of Carascal town, Surigao del Sur asked de Dios if they were already removed from the MMT.

De Dios said the matter will be raised to the proper committee for discussion and final resolution.

The MGB director said that when he assumed the post in August last year, he noted that the SDMP focused on infrastructure and allocated less for economic and livelihood projects.

“I think the law (Philippine Mining Act of 1995) is clear when it said that social development projects should be given more weight because in the first place this is why we allow mining companies here…to improve the lives of the people in the communities where it is operating,” he said.

According to the MGB-XIII data, infrastructure projects got P103.099 million and economic projects only P65.097 million during the last 13 years.

In a memo issued last year, he ordered that the share for livelihood projects should be 20% of the 75% share for SDMP from the 1.5% of the mining firms’ operating cost that should be allocated for the development of host communities as per DAO 2010-21.

The memo also set an 80% share for health, education, public utilities and socio-cultural preservation, with health and education as “continuing priority projects”.

Allocations for fiesta celebrations were reduced to a maximum of P50,000 per barangay. Festivals and “Araw ng Barangay” got the same amount. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

There are those, of course, who do not believe that responsible mining is at all possible in an archipelago like the Philippines. Where you have a tropical paradise of 7,200 islands with its rich environmental treasures, it is not responsible, they contend, to allow foreigners to destroy the paradise and take away the treasures for returns to the country that are far too small.

In its issuance of EO 79, the Aquino Administration seemed at least to acknowledge the financial problem. Under the current law, it acknowledged the Philippines’ cut in the value of the minerals themselves – “from zero to nil” according to SC Justice Carpio – was too small. By declaring it would issue no new mining permits to companies without Congress first defining a more rational regime of sharing, it seemed to be open to more rationality in mining.

But rationalizing the fiscal regime is only one aspect of responsible mining. There are others – like rationalizing the impact of mining on the environment and rationalizing the impact of mining on the people.

Under current policy, for a company like SMI that had already received its mining permit long before EO 79 was issued, it needs an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) in order to implement its mining plans. It is simple. If a company fulfills conditions that adequately protect the environment, then the permit is issued.

In the case of SMI, however, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has issued a “conditional ECC.” What, pray tell, is that? It is an issuance which permits SMI to operate on the condition that it fulfills certain stringent conditions on pain of cancellation of the ECC. It sets conditions, but it sets no clear deadlines as to when conditions must be met. It undertakes to “strictly monitor” the compliance of SMI, where the conditions of strictness are fuzzy.

Normally, an ECC is issued under clear compliance by a mining firm with conditions of environmental acceptability. Environmentalists have been monitoring these closely. SMI has not complied with these conditions; nevertheless, it is being permitted to operate conditionally. It is like an elephant in a shop of precious crystals. If it is clear the elephant will not destroy the crystal in the shop, then it can be permitted to dance. That’s the normal ECC. But the DENR’s preposterous “conditional ECC” is: the elephant in the crystal shop is permitted to dance, on the condition that it will not break the crystal, and with the public assurance that it will “strictly monitor” that when the elephant begins breaking the crystal, it will cancel the permit. So, elephant, dance!

Where is the responsibility here? Where is the rationality?

From SMI’s environmental impact statement itself, it is known that the mining site is in an area of high seismic activity, just 12 kilometers away from Mt. Matutom, still classified as active.

SMI will clear 3,935 hectares of forest – including 1,350 hectares of protected rainforest. It threatens 812 flora species, 247 of which are Philippine endemics and 52 of which are mainland Mindanao endemics. 55 species are under the Threatened Species list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. For amphibians and reptiles alone, 28% are Philippine endemics and 20% are Greater Mindanao endemics.

With its 500-hectare large pit with the depth of two stacked Empire State Buildings and its similarly large fresh-water catchment, it will adversely affect the fresh water supply of the Koronadal Valley, including its irrigation system, and threaten its shallow aquafers with toxicity. The Mal River will be worst affected through the SMI construction of a fresh water dam just above the NIA’s irrigation dam.

Indeed, while hydrogeological studies are ongoing, there is little doubt that SMI will adversely affect the Mindanao’s entire riverine system.

Climate change – bringing such a Typhoon Pablo to Mindanao (which is scientifically impossible according to present weather paradigms) and snow to deserts in Arizona and New Mexico – is real., but not at all considered in the Environmental Impact Statement of the SMI project. Where climate change will certainly bring up the temperature in Mindanao, preserving the water system is imperative. SMI will harm it.

Finally, the mine is in a highly unstable social area where not only old forests but the indigenous B’laans are to be displaced to make way for SMI’s open pit and fresh water catchment and toxic-waste mountain, and where the Free and Informed Prior Consent (FIPC) of most of the B’laans has not been secured. In fact, instead of the FIPC, there have been ugly killings of B’laans who have stood up to fight the mines, including Atari and Daguil Capion. Just yesterday, the Capions testified before a congressional committee in Koronadal how their relatives had been massacred. Here, unfortunately, the military and the police are implicated.

Meanwhile, 40,000 Muslims depend on fishing in Lake Buluan, almost certainly to be adversely affected by the SMI project.

With all of this, why was this irrational “conditional ECC” issued? Was it to keep faith with a foreign company as the cost of betraying the interests of the People, especially the interests of Mindanao.? I would have expected that the tailings dam spill of Philex in Benguet would have made our DENR more cautious in issuing an ECC to a large-scale mining company on claiming to possess “world-class technology.” Instead, it has become more reckless.

Closing one’s eyes to socio-environmental problems, no matter how tightly, doesn’t make them go away. Giving a company a conditional ECC with no deadlines to fulfill the conditions, when the company has already announced plans not to follow the conditions, is not rational. This is so especially in the matter of the open pit. The South Cotabato local government has proscribed open-pit mining. SMI has said it will use open-pit mining. DENR has said it permits SMI to mine on condition that it does not do open pit mining even though it has repeatedly said it would. What DENR did was issue and Environmental Catastrophe Certificate. And encourage further bullying and killings by military of the B’laans. It has lit the fuse to a Mindanao conflagration.

For this, unfortunately, President Noynoy Aquino is responsible. It is his call. But here, he errs. Because of a weak economic argument, he is betraying the environment and threatening the peace in Mindanao that he otherwise so laudably pursues. In defense of foreign interests and their exclusive coterie of local capitalists, he pits the military against the Filipino indigenous peoples and drives them for protection to the New People’s Army. Amidst the fragile crystals of Mindanao, he encourages the elephant to dance.

(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ, is president of the Ateneo de Davao University. This piece is from his blog, taborasj at http://taborasj.wordpress.com/)

Newly-installed MGB director Roger A. de Dios said his office will refer to their central office the legal action to take on the order against Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC).

On 10 November 2010, the local government of Cantilan filed a petition for injunction at the Regional Trial Court Branch 41 in the same town against MMDC for failure to consult them and the residents, threatening the water source of local communities and the livelihood of fisher folk and farmers, among others.

Judge Alfredo P. Halad granted the petition on the same day, but it was only on May 2011 that the court affirmed its decision.

MMDC and another mining company, Carac-an Development Corporation, are operating within the 43,601-hectare Cantilan-Carrascal-Madrid Watershed which is proclaimed as a water forest reserve through Presidential Proclamation No. 1747 dated March 2009.

The same watershed is serving at least 3,335 hectares of agricultural lands and 3,346 farmers in these three towns.

De Dios said he was not privy to the case as he was new to the post.

He said he will also seek clarification from MGB Director Leo Jasareno on his memorandum to then MGB regional director Alilo Ensomo to implement the court order.

Jasareno issued the memorandum in keeping with his promise during a hearing called by the House committee on environment and natural resources on Aug. 17, 2011 that he would enforce the court order. Ensomo, however, did not comply saying his office was not a party to the case and there was no direct order from the court to enforce it.

“We will bring this matter back to Manila for their legal opinion,” De Dios said.

“In the first place the TEPO is only good for 72 hours,” Jerry Bayana, a staff at MGB 13 said.

Sec. 8 of the Rules and Procedures for Environmental Cases states that a TEPO is “effective for only 72 hours from date of receipt of the TEPO by the party or person enjoined.”

However, the same provision adds that “the court shall conduct a summary hearing to determine whether the TEPO may be extended until the termination of the case.”

In a telephone interview the petitioners’ lawyer, Perry Eugenio, said the decision clearly stated that the TEPO would subsist “until it is lifted by the court.”

“De Dios was lying when he said it is just 72 hours because the court clearly stated its position. It is also a lie that they are not party to the case because the court is also clear that all agencies concerned are parties to this, and that includes the MGB. They cannot say they are not part of this,” Eugenio said.

He said no court is presently handling the case after Halad inhibited himself after his son became a lawyer for MMDC.

The case was raffled in Tandag, Surigao del Sur and in Surigao City. In both instances, the judges inhibited themselves, Eugenio said.

He added a letter sent to Supreme Court administrator Justice Midas Marquez had remained unanswered.

Meanwhile, a group said it may file an administrative case against MGB officials if they would still refuse to implement the TEPO.

Emma Hotchkiss, chair of the Nagpakabana na Carcanmadcarlanon (Concerned Carcanmadcarlanons) said “filing of cases including before the Ombudsman will surely follow if the MGB will not act within 30 days.”

Carcanmadcarlan stands for five towns in Surigao del Sur namely Carasscal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza.

Hotchkiss, Msgr. Florio R. Falcon of the Diocese of Tandag, Datu “Dagsaan” Jimmy Bat-ao of Cantilan, Almer G. Senados of the local fisher folk group, Chito Trillanes representing Cantilan town and Balaod Mindanaw trooped to the MGB regional office here on January 31 for a dialogue with de Dios.

Hotchkiss said that during the dialogue de Dios used the same argument cited by Ensomo in not enforcing the court order, and told them instead that they can file a case against erring officials.

She said she was exasperated on MGB’s inaction arguing that a court order cannot be ignored “unless a new one is in effect”.

“What are they supposed to be doing? Is this not their job as a government agency to discipline erring mining companies? ” she said in a telephone interview.

Falcon said the TEPO was issued primarily to protect the environment from further destruction pending an investigation into alleged violations.

“But the MGB spent more than two years doing nothing,” he said.

Hotchkiss said de Dios refused to give her a copy of the ore transport permit (OTP) he issued this year to the mining company even without the permit from the local government concerned.

When she raised her voice and told de Dios that she is entitled to have a copy since she is a party to the case against Marcventures, an MGB staffer offered to give it to her if the LGU would write their office.

Trillanes said “the agency’s arrogance in issuing the OTP despite the mining company’s lack of business permit is an affront to the power of the local government unit.”

A notice posted at the MGB office entrance said business permit obtained from the municipal or provincial government is one of the requirements for the OTP. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

The provincial board reiterated its stance Monday in a resolution maintaining the validity of Section 2 Paragraph B of the Environment Code, which prohibits the open-pit mining method in the province.

The resolution approved by the plenary puts the issue of lifting the open-pit ban in the hands of the court.

Until such time that the court decides that it is illegal or unconstitutional, the open-pit ban enjoys the presumption of validity, the gist of the resolution showed.

“Our stand is only a court of law can declare whether the ban on open pit mining is valid or not,” Vice Gov. Elmo Tolosa said in a text message Wednesday.

In an order issued on May 22, 2012, lawyer Anselmo Abugan, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) assistant secretary for legal affairs, rejected the appeal of Sagittarius Mines for the reconsideration of its rejected application for an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

The junking of the appeal was anchored on the open-pit ban imposed by South Cotabato, the same reason cited by Environment Secretary Ramon Paje in rejecting on January 3, 2012 the firm’s ECC application.

“We are returning herewith the application documents with instruction to deny the same, without prejudice to resubmission, until the issues and concern on the use of open-pit mining method shall have been clarified and resolved by the company [SMI] with the provincial government of South Cotabato,” Paje said in his memorandum.

Sagittarius Mines has elevated its appeal to the Office of the President but no decision has been announced so far.

John Arnaldo, Sagittarius Mines external communications and media relations manager, said in an emailed statement last year that “the legal process is not a preferred option of the company” in settling the open-pit mining ban imposed by South Cotabato.

Earlier, Tolosa, the provincial board’s presiding officer, stressed that “the arguments of the provincial government on the primacy of local autonomy, referring to the ban on open-pit mining, have been valid along the way despite opinions on the contrary.”

For his part, South Cotabato Gov. Arthur Pingoy Jr. also said the open-pit ban remains in effect unless the court nullifies it.

The prohibition on open-pit mining method was approved in June 2010 before then South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance Fuentes stepped down from power. She is now the representative of the Second District of South Cotabato.

Last year, four Catholic bishops in the region issued a joint statement urging the stay of the province’s open-pit ban.

Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of the Diocese of Marbel, Bishop Guillermo Afable of the Diocese of Digos and Bishop Romulo dela Cruz of the Diocese of Kidapawan have petitioned the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of South Cotabato to refrain from amending the open pit mining ban contained in its environment code.

The bishops filed their petition to the SP with the attached signatures of about 30,000 residents from the four dioceses to maintain the prohibition on open-pit mining.

In September 2010, the Regional Mineral Development Council, chaired by Constancio A. Paye Jr., also the regional director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, filed a petition before the provincial board for the review and lifting of the open-pit ban, saying it is against Republic Act 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

Sagittarius Mines will employ the open-pit mining method in its Tampakan project to excavate an estimated 15 million tons of copper and 17.6 million ounces of gold, the company said. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)

View Tampakan in a larger map

Daguel Capion said on the phone Wednesday that they saw five military trucks coming from the direction of Kiblawan in Davao del Sur arriving in the mines development site and dispersed in different locations.

“Why are they conducting a full military operation here? The deployment of many soldiers is causing fears among tribal members,” he said in Visayan.

He wondered if the military deployment would be a prelude to the resumption of company activities in the mountains.

Capion said the government troops have broken into smaller teams and have allegedly already gone deeper to the forests to conduct security patrols.

He said the government troops disembarked in Sitio Lafla, in Datal Alyong and in Datal Biao, tribal communities straddled by Bong Mal district, which is at the heart of the mines development site.

Capion is himself wanted by the law for the murder of three workers of a construction company hired by Sagittarius Mines for a road project in March 2011.

He admitted responsibility for the killing, saying he and his group did it in disgust to the mining company for its alleged disregard to the rights of the tribal members.

Capion said the massive troops deployment was the first since October last year, after his wife and their two children were killed in a military operation.

The military claimed the victims were caught in the crossfire as they pursued Capion, contrary to the claims of environmental groups that they were massacred.

Their death drew widespread condemnation from indigenous peoples, environment and human rights groups in Mindanao.

Corporal Andy Santiago, a member of the Task Force KITACO, said he was at the pioneering camp of SMI when the military trucks passed by.

The task force was formed to provide security in the mountains of Kiblawan in Davao del Sur, Tampakan in South Cotabato and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat.

The three municipalities straddle the mining project of Sagittarius Mines, whose application for an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) has been rejected by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It denied the ECC due to the open-pit ban imposed by South Cotabato.

“The convoy did not stop. I was told by company security guards that six-by-six trucks passed by last night,” Santiago said in another phone interview.

Santiago could not provide more details and did not respond to a request that he send the contact details of Capt. Joel Wayagwag, the Task Force KITACO commander, as of 2:42 p.m. Wednesday.

Capt. William Rodriguez, civil military officer of the 1002nd Brigade, confirmed the troops’ movement, saying in a text message that they passed by the mines development site “towards their detachments in Tampakan town.”

John Arnaldo, Sagittarius Mines spokesperson, said that the company “is not aware” of the movement of government troops within the company’s mines development site.

Manolo Labor, Arnaldo’s subordinate, said earlier on the phone that in any troop movement in the mines development site, the “in-charge is Task Force KITACO in coordination with its civilian unit composed of the mayors.”

On New Year’s Day 2008, the base camp of Sagittarius Mines in Barangay Tablu in Tampakan town, which is near a military detachment, was attacked and burned down by the New People’s Army rebels. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)

Senior Supt. Randolph Delfin, South Cotabato police director on Thursday said they have identified the mining towns of Tampakan and T’boli as well as Barangay Ned in Lake Sebu as possible areas of concern in the upcoming elections.

He said the assessment emerged during a security coordinating conference called by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in nearby Koronadal City on Wednesday.

“Our security preparations for the elections are presently focused on these areas,” Delfin said.

The three areas were identified as possible areas of concern based on previous records of election-related violence and the confirmed presence of armed groups that may disrupt the conduct of the polls there.

In the previous elections, the Philippine National Police (PNP) identified the potential hotspots or areas of immediate concern based on the extent of insurgency problem, the intense political rivalry and  records of election-related incidents during the last three elections.

A PNP briefer cited that “the absence of any of the three parameters automatically places an area as just under watch or an election area of concern.”

T’boli town was cited as a potential area of concern due to the reported presence of various rebel groups and criminal elements and the ambush a few days before the 2001 elections on a campaign caravan of then mayoralty bet and outgoing vice mayor Salvador Ramos.

The town hosts the silver and gold project of the Canadian-backed Tribal Mining Corporation and a number of small-scale gold mining ventures.

Lake Sebu’s Barangay Ned, which is among the province’s remotest areas, made the list due to the confirmed presence of armed groups and the escalation of violence in some parts of the area last year due to a long-drawn  land dispute.

The area, which is considered as a prime agribusiness production area, hosts various coal mining projects of conglomerate San Miguel Corporation.

Tampakan town, which hosts the planned large-scale copper and gold mining project of foreign-backed Sagittarius Mines Inc., had been identified by the PNP and Comelec as election hotspot due to the intense rivalry among local politicians.

In 2001, the eldest child of then Tampakan Mayor Claudius Barroso was shot dead at the height of the election campaign.

In 2004, losing Tampakan mayoralty bet Gregorio Banal was shot dead two months after the election s gave Baroso yet another term.

Barroso’s son Bienvenido won in the 2007 mayoralty race but he failed to assume the post after he was tagged as the alleged mastermind in Banal’s murder.

In July last year, the young Barroso was acquitted of the charges by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 6 Judge Jansen Rodriguez for insufficient evidence.

But his driver and co-accused Rudy Mangilay was found guilty of murder after being positively identified by a witness.

Delfin said they are currently assessing the areas that might need personnel augmentation during the conduct of the May 13 elections.

He said the Philippine Army’s 27th Infantry Battalion, which is based in Tupi town, initially committed to deploy their units in some remote areas in the province during the polls.

The official discounted a possible revamp or reshuffle of the area’s officials and personnel before the May elections.

He said he is confident that the police chiefs presently assigned in the province’s 10 towns and lone city will be fair and non-partisan during the elections.

“I trust my officers and I’m confident that we can rely on them to deliver their assigned tasks come election time,” Delfin said. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)

Siegfred Flaviano, acting Provincial Environment Management Office (PEMO) chief, said Tuesday a list of the supposed “banlas” mining operators, financiers and protectors in the area was submitted recently to the local government by the Provincial Anti-Banlas Intelligence and Investigation Task Force.

He initially refused to name any of the alleged personalities who were tagged in the illegal mining operations saying the list is still subject to further verification and deliberations by the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB).
South Cotabato Gov. Arthur Pingoy Jr., who heads the PMRB, has yet to convene the board but noted that he already received a copy of the list, he said.
“The deliberations will determine what further actions we’re going to take against these personalities,” he said in a radio interview.
Flaviano said the task force, which includes operatives from the South Cotabato police’s intelligence unit and public safety company, Armed Forces of the Philippines-Provincial Intelligence Service Unit and the National Bureau of Investigation, was still gathering evidences against those named in the list.
He said it was also investigating several other local personalities for possible involvement in the highly-destructive mining activity.
Banlas mining, which is considered a highly-destructive mining method, involves the pouring of large amounts of water using high-pressure water jets on a mountain’s surface to extract the rocks containing the gold ore, and then pan them with mercury.
The use of the illegal mining method, which was first uncovered in T’boli, has increased in the last several years in several small-scale mining areas in Tampakan town.
“It (banlas mining) slowed these past several months in the T’boli area but it persisted in Tampakan,” Flaviano said.
The official said his office has recommended the establishment additional checkpoints and the deployment of more policemen near the identified “banlas” mining sites in Tampakan town to help curb the illegal activity.
He said the PMRB earlier endorsed such proposal to help further enhance the ongoing crackdown against the illegal mining activity.
Earlier reports said the sluice mining operations in Tampakan are centered in Kampo Kilot of Barangay Pulabato, where several hectares of a mountain in the area were already destroyed based on an aerial survey earlier conducted by the provincial government of South Cotabato.
In July, Pingoy issued Executive Order No. 10 creating the task force in a bid to effectively put an end to the destructive mining activity.
The task force, which is chaired by the governor, is mandated to conduct in-depth investigation, monitoring, raids, apprehensions and other necessary actions against all those behind the “banlas” mining operations.
The governor said they earlier received reports that the illegal mining activities continued to thrive in the province due to alleged backing from policemen and some local politicians.
“We don’t have confirmations on these yet but we’re hoping to eventually unmask all those involved through the task force,” he said. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)

As of 5 a.m. Sunday, 540 persons were reported dead, 1,088 injured and 827 still missing, majority from Region XI, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

“The heartbreaking reports of deaths and destruction in New Bataan, Compostela Valley and several Davao Oriental towns and elsewhere show how Mindanao’s environment has reached its maximum limit,” Sr. Stella Matutina, OSB, Panalipdan Mindanao secretary-general, said in a statement.

The group said President Benigno Aquino III’s visit last Friday to disaster-stricken areas “should compel him to stop large-scale mining and other extractive industries that caused the tragedy.”

Aquino and eight Cabinet secretaries made a short visit to areas affected by Pablo in Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley on board six choppers.

Matutina said her group “hopes Aquino’s trip is not just for mere photo ops or top-level meetings but rather let him get to see the picture of the devastation so he can make a decisive move to stop mining policies he is pushing such as Executive Order 79.”

She cited a report made by Panalipdan Southern Mindanao that both provinces are swamped with many large-scale mining and logging companies, with Davao Oriental accounting for 31 mining tenements, application and operations while Compostela Valley has 43.

Matutina added that these activities involved cutting down trees, destroying farms, rivers and bio-diversity areas that surely contributed to the massive floods in the area.

“Already, there have been many landslide incidents in the past which were triggered by these operations but the government hasn’t done anything to stop them,” she stressed.

In a meeting with Cabinet members after the visit at the Davao International Airport here, Aquino said: “I want concrete basis of what happened.”

The President ordered the departments of the Interior and Local Government, Justice and Environment and Natural Resources to investigate the mishaps of two evacuation centers in Barangay Andap, New Bataan in ComVal and Cateel in Davao Oriental.

“Why did it happen?… Is it because the people had no alternative? Is it because of lack of appreciation on the information gathered, (being) not understandable?” he asked the body.

Aquino said he wants a study aimed at eliminating casualties in the future by giving Filipinos timely information, adding, “Ang katotohanan ay dadalawin tayo ng bagyo (The truth is we will be visited by typhoons) every year on the average of about 20.”

The President said there is no sense in rebuilding the communities if they would still be located in the same areas devastated by landslide and flashfloods.

He explained the tasking for the investigation: the DILG to supervise the local government units, the DOJ to look at the potential criminal and civil violations, and the DENR to provide scientific facts for whatever conclusions with the assistance of the Department of Science and Technology.

Crisis manual will also be improved to add details on how one determines how safe the areas should be and who is responsible to check actual performances on mandated actions, Aquino said.

Review of mining applications

Edilberto Arreza, regional director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), said the agency is considering a review of mining applications in typhoon-stricken areas and is making sure that the areas applied on are guided by geo-hazard maps that include mitigation measures should natural hazards occur.

He also reiterated the moratorium imposed by the DENR last year in the acceptance of mining application, approval of permits and issuance of Environment Compliance Certificate.

Joselin Marcus E. Fragada, DENR-11 director, told reporters that their programs are being focused on planting more trees, attributing the landslide and flooding after Typhoon Pablo as due to lack of forest covers.

However, he also cited that a part of the destruction was due to the impact of climate change and global warming, saying “that’s why typhoon and earthquakes are now stronger.”

“We would like actually to be more proactive in the department, and try to encourage people to stop cutting trees and plant more to increase our forest cover, specifically in ComVal and Davao Oriental,” Fragada said. (Lorie Ann A. Cascaro/MindaNews)

Adrian Daniel, a mining engineer from Canada and one of the resource persons in the Conference on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in Mindanao, speaks during a press conference on Thursday, November 15, 2012, at the Ateneo de Davao University. MindaNews Photo by Ruby Thursday More

In a press conference, Tabora urged representatives of the ASM industry to come together and organize themselves as a strategy to gain the full recognition of society for their contribution to development.

“Despite the fact that they have long existed…Society does not recognize them for the contribution they actually give to the society,” he said.

The AdDU, Tabora noted, will be open to ways of collaborating with other institutions, like the University of the Philippines, and other people who may be interested in giving technical trainings on best mining practices to ASM industry players.

The university hosted the two-day mining conference dubbed “Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in Mindanao: Issues, Opportunities and Future Options,” which is a follow-up to the International Conference on Mining in Mindanao last January.

Tabora said the mining conference “showed the reality that most mineral production” in the Philippines comes from small-scale and artisanal miners.

Lawyer Richard Gutierrez of Ban Toxics cited Presidential Decree No. 1899 issued by the late President Ferdinand Marcos, which, according to him, recognizes the small-scale mining sector as a tool for rural development.

The Philippines was the first country in the world to recognize the role of the sector, however, the recognition has not been fully implemented, Gutierrez stressed.

He said the ASM has more direct contribution to the local economy and employment than the large-scale mining companies, as the latter mostly outsource their materials and employees from areas outside the communities where they are operating.

“Back in 1980, when Marcos recognized the sector as a tool for rural development, had the government instituted the right infrastructure to provide technical support and help to the [small] miners, we could have averted the massive mercury problem we are facing now,” Gutierrez said.

He pointed out that the mercury issue of the small-scale mining is a symptom of a bigger problem, and one of the big problems is that the government has neglected the sector.

“Although the small-scale mining sector, as from what we’ve seen in the data presented and in practices as well, has been guilty of using mercury, that doesn’t exonerate large-scale mining from using mercury as well,” Gutierrez said.

The difference between the two is that large-scale mining companies stopped using mercury, while small-scale miners continue the practice, which the latter has adopted from the former, he added.

Giovanni Tapang, of AGHAM Advocates of Science and Technology for the People-UP, said the government should strengthen the domestic mining industry that includes ASM as a big part of the whole pie.

He noted that ASM contributes from 50 to 80 percent of the total gold production in the country today.

“Bakit natin papatayin ang maliliit na minero natin kung ganoon naman pala kalaki ang kontribusyon nila sa ating ekonomiya (Why would we kill the small miners when they have a big contribution to our economy)?” he told reporters.

Tapang agreed with Tabora that one of the root causes of the problems of ASM is the Mining Act of 1995, “which favors foreign mining investment rather than developing the local small-scale mining industry.”

Mettalurgical engineer Adrian Daniel, a resource speaker from Canada, cited alternative methods of ASM that are environment-friendly and have better quality and recovery of gold, such as gravity concentration and the use of salt, water and power.

But more than their needs for technology and the dangers of cyanide and mercury, the intrusion of large-scale mining is far more threatening for artisanal and small-scale miners, Tapang told reporters.

The alternative methods presented are applicable here, Tapang said, but the socio-political situation and the lack of a local mining industry should be considered as reasons also why the technology has not been adopted.

He noted that Executive Order (EO) 79 was an “extreme response of the government to the worsening environmental impacts of mining as it solely blames the ASM while favoring the interests of big foreign companies.”

A small-scale miner at Diwalwal in Compostela Valley, Franco Tito, who attended the mining conference, said the government has long been neglecting them.

“It hurts us so much to be called as “illegal” all the time,” he told reporters, adding that he once told a senator: “If we are illegal, help us to become legal. If our practices are wrong, then teach us what is right.”

“We will not fight with the large-scale mining companies, but the government should help develop the small-scale miners,” he said in Cebuano.

EO 79, which President Benigno Aquino II issued last July, states that concerned government agencies shall conduct training and capacity building measures in the form of technical assistance for small-scale mining cooperatives and associations. (Lorie Ann A. Cascaro/MindaNews)

The conference on “Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in Mindanao: Issues, Opportunities and Future Options” will be held at the Finster Auditorium of the Ateneo de Davao University, the same university that organized the ICMM in January.

The website of the Ateneo Ecology Advocacy (Ecoteneo) quoted Romeo Cabarde, chair of the University Community Engagement and Advocacy Council, as saying the conference proceedings will be forwarded to both the executive and legislative branches of government for their consideration.

“It has been 21 years since June 27, 1991 when RA 7076, otherwise known as the ‘People’s Small-scale Mining Act of 1991’ was approved by Congress. I think it is high time to revisit its spirit and look for models of responsible artisanal and small-scale mining that will truly promote, develop, protect and rationalize viable small-scale mining activities and will generate more employment opportunities and provide an equitable sharing of the nation’s wealth and natural resources, giving due regard to existing rights enshrined in existing laws,” Cabarde said.

Small-scale mining accounts for 70% of gold production in the country, Artemio Disini Jr., president of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) told a Forum on Responsible Mining in Davao City on July 4.

No figures were cited on the contribution of small-scale mining to the production of other minerals.

This is the third conference on mining, focusing on Mindanao, this year.  The first was the ICMM on January 26 and 27 and the second was the Forum on Responsible Mining last July which was organized by the JCI Senate Philippines, COMP, and the Coalition for Responsible Mining in Mindanao (Coremin).

This week’s conference hopes to bring together a wide array of stakeholders from small-scale mining groups, non-governmental organizations, government agencies, academics, researchers, students and grassroots leaders.

Platform for stakeholders

The Ecoteneo website also quoted ADDU President Joel Tabora as saying he hopes the conference “will serve as a platform for the stakeholders to identify how artisanal and small-scale mining in Mindanao can be managed as a legal, responsible, safe and efficient livelihood opportunity, with inputs from international experiences.”

Tabora said they want the conference to be an avenue to “analyze and articulate the economic needs of artisanal and small-scale miners, map market opportunities, and develop practical recommendations for alternative livelihoods, including small and medium enterprises and supply chain development.”

Artemio Disini Jr., president of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines told a Forum on Responsible Mining in Davao City last July 4 that the  small scale mines “now constitute 70 percent of gold production in the country.”

Adrian Daniel, a mining engineer from British Columbia who has done extensive studies on the development of a full metallurgical gold-cyanide testing and training in Guyana and provided modern processing alternatives to Guyana’s artisanal mining sector will deliver the keynote address morning of November 15.

In the afternoon, the Alternate Forum for Research in Mindanao (Afrim) and Panalipdan-Southern Mindanao will present national and regional case studies on ASM for Session 1 while Richard Gutierrez, chair of Ban Toxics and Dr. Giovanni Tapang, chair of Samahan ng Nagtataguyod ng Agham at Teknolohiya Para sa Sambayanan (AGHAM) will discuss “Environmental, Socio-Economic and Health Impacts of ASM” in Session 2.

The case studies that will be presented are those on the small-scale mining operations in Diwalwal, Monkayo and Nabunturan in Compostela Valley province, T’boli in South Cotabato and Benguet.

Session 3 in the morning of November 16 will focus on “Current Initiatives in ASM.” This will be tackled by Jose Lamanilao, Executive Director of Batas Paglilingkod Pangkapatiran Foundation; Windel Bolinget, President, Cordillera People’s Alliance; and Siegfred Flaviano, Provincial Environmental Management Officer of South Cotabato.

Session 4 in the afternoon will have Imelda Perez of Ban Toxics, Leoncio Na-oy of the Benguet Federation of Small-scale Miners and Engr. Randell Espina, Dean of  School of Engineering and Architecture and Daniel discussing “Future Options in ASM.”

Mindanao Declaration  

The two-day ICMM in January ended with calls to repeal the 1995 Mining Act, enact a pro-Filipino, pro-environment alternative mining law and declare a mining moratorium.

The two-page “Mindanao Declaration: Defending the Dignity of Life, Securing our Future” called for the “promotion of sustainable, responsible and equitable management and utilization of our natural resources, toward the conservation and protection of the environment and rehabilitation of mined areas.”

It also noted that harsh effects of mining on water systems, biodiversity, air, land and island ecosystems “lead to environmental destructions and disasters aggravating the impacts of hydro-meteorological hazards and threatening agriculture and food security;”  that mining firms in collaboration with some government agencies have been “grossly violating human rights of communities and advocates through threats, extra-judicial killings, Investment Defense Force, mining militias, fabricating ‘free, prior and informed consents,’ dividing and exploiting indigenous peoples communities and perpetuating other acts degrading human dignity.”

The Declaration said small-scale miners and workers “have been blamed for various environmental disasters by COMP (Chamber of Mines in the Philippines) in favor of large mining companies,” even as the Mines and Geosciences Bureau and other agencies “failed to fulfill its mandate to provide technical and, when displaced, extend immediate sustainable economic assistance.” (MindaNews)

Bundok Mineral Resources Corporation (BMRC), an affiliate of Australian-based mineral exploration company Lindian Limited Resources, was ordered by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau Caraga region “to refrain from further conduct of any exploration activity in the contract area of SMMC” in a letter signed October 3 by newly-installed regional director Roger A. de Dios.

DEFICIENT. The access roads built by Bundok Mineral Resources Corporation (BMRC)at the exploration site in the mountains of Sitio Dakung Sabang were found by the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau to be deficient. MindaNews photo by Vanessa L. Almeda

Last week, MGB personnel led by Mines Management Division engineer Ador J. Patiῆo went to the 1,400-hectare mineral reservation site in Sitio Dakung Sabang, Masapelid Island where BMRC is operating. He said the company has obviously complied with the order as its heavy tractor and drilling equipment lay idle in the area.

But Patino said there were “deficiencies” in the construction of the access roads where the supposed drilling activities took place. The roads slanted towards the sea instead of towards the mountains to avoid siltation.

He said the water surrounding the mountains in Dakong Sabang had become turbid and silted, and there was no silt pond in the area.

Close to a hundred supporters of BMRC that included several barangay officials, company employees, wives and children of workers and a marginal number of anti-mining local officials and residents were present at the site.

At the SP regular session on Monday, barangay officials in Lakandula who are opposed to the exploration activity asked the legislators to stop BMRC’s operations citing among others the company’s alleged failure to comply with the orders issued by de Dios and even MGB Director Leo Jasareno.

Jasareno, in a letter dated August 23, denied the request of San Manuel Mining Corporation, the permit holder of the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement No. 0049-91-XIII, for an extension of its exploration activity on the basis that it has already “reached the maximum limit”.

Under the Mining Act of 1995, a mining company is only allowed an 8-year exploration period, the letter cited.

“Despite the said letter BMRC still continued to operate,” Lakandula barangay kagawad Abelardo Lambus said.

The Sangguniang Bayan of Placer also issued a resolution on October 23 calling on BMRC to stop its exploration activities, which was subsequently signed by Mayor Felimon Napuli.

BMRC and SMMC signed a memorandum of agreement on February 12, 2010 giving the former authority to conduct exploration activities at the Surigao Mineral Reservation area.

Board Member Simeon Vicente Castrence, chair of the committee on environment said in yesterday’s session that with the violations, he was constrained to pass a resolution calling for a similar demand to stop its “illegal and irresponsible” activities.

Another SP member, Atty. Fernando Larong however proposed that if the allegations are true, the SP should instead act on the local community’s demand for an investigation and payment to landowners whose crops and properties were destroyed by BMRC’s operations.

“Given that these (allegations) are all true, it is imperative that we conduct an investigation while also reiterating the resolution of Placer town officials,” he said.

All members of the provincial board will join in the investigation which was yet to be scheduled, board member Myrna Romarate said.

Last week’s inspection in sitio Dakung Sabang by MGB personnel came after Placer municipal councilor Robert Lerio Jr. told de Dios that BMRC was operating without a permit from the municipal government aside from other violations.

“Based on the documents, Bundok Mining failed and violated rules of the MGB and the DENR and several other violations,” Lerio said.

Lambus and the Alyansa sa mga Katawhan sa Lakandula (AKAL) cited that Bundok Mining neither held a public hearing in their community nor obtained their consent.

The MGB has classified the island as a geohazard area prone to landslides. Its main source of potable water lies directly below the site of drilling activities.

‘We’re a victim’

Jon Felipe Agcol, BMRC consultant told supporters during the MGB’s inspection last week that the company is in fact a victim of government’s inaction.

He said BMRC has already complied with the requirements of the MGB but it was only two years later that it acted, referring to the August 23 letter of Jasareno.

Asked for comment on Agcol’s statement, Patino said only Jasareno can explain MGB’s decision.

Vivian Yang, general manager of BMRC declined to issue a statement but said that her speech to supporters regarding a signature campaign launched by Lambus and several Lakandula residents is what is “on record.”

She said: “We will absolutely follow and comply with what MGB and government is requiring us to do but this signature campaign is something which I cannot agree [with].”

Saying the signature campaign had resorted to lies, Yang presented Jesus Gipala, a resident of Lakandula, who claimed he signed the position paper believing it was about a water project for their barangay.

Lambus in a separate interview denied Yang’s allegation and said Gipala volunteered to sign the position paper.

Meanwhile, several women randomly interviewed at the site said exploration activities stopped a week ago.

Patino said those who said the company only stopped operations upon learning of MGB’s presence have to show proof.

“They followed the stoppage order. The workers have also complained that they have not been working. Let them prove it,” he said.

Lakandula barangay chair Eutiquio Saga Jr. said: “The people of Lakandula are not opposed to mining. In fact the people have seen the good effects of mining like what is happening in Hinatuan.”

Hinatuan is a neighboring island where another mining company is operating.

Saga said BMRC has more than 200 employees who are mostly locals. About 80 of these are regular workers, he added. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

The two-day All Leaders Summit on Mining Issues will focus on the plight of communities affected by ongoing mining operations or mining exploration activities and examine how their interests can be advanced under existing policies that regulate industry behavior, explained Roldan Gonzales, executive director of Gitib, Inc., one of the convenors of the gathering.

Religious leaders from various denominations, national legislators and top officials of the four provinces of the Zamboanga Peninsula were invited to participate in the summit.

“All too often, the voices of communities are drowned out in the heated debates about mining that pitted large personalities and institutions who either favor or oppose certain policy positions relating to the industry,” Gonzales said.

“If mining is undertaken to serve the genuine development interest of the country and its peoples, then there is no reason for the process of crafting industry policy not to consider the plight of communities,” he added.

The summit was convened amid the renewed debates on how to effectively regulate the industry to earn more revenues for government while minimizing environmental destruction.

Based on data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, some 40 percent of the entire Zamboanga Peninsula is the subject of mineral prospecting.

Executive Order No. 79 issued by President Benigno Aquino III was initially seen as a middle ground among the various competing positions. However, its implementing rules and regulations is the subject of various criticisms anew.

“On the one hand, campaigners against environmentally destructive mining activities see EO 79 as government capitulation to business interests.  On the other hand, mining companies felt shortchanged because it supposedly watered down their privileges accorded by the Mining Code of 1995,” Gonzales noted.

“While another round of debate begins to rage, the situation of the peoples and the communities affected by mining remained appallingly uncertain. Killings have ensued, community peace and order deteriorated and divisions within the people in the community and local government units in some areas have exacerbated,” he said.

“Christendom remembered the departed souls the last few days. Let us do justice to the hapless victims of mining-related atrocities by keeping alive the struggle to change the situations in their communities,” he appealed.

Local human rights activists have documented at least five killings of individuals residing in mining communities in the Zamboanga Peninsula in this year alone.

The most recent case was the ambush of Subanen leader Timuay Lucenio Manda last month. While Manda survived, his 11-year old son Jordan was killed.

“The escalation of human rights violations in mining sites and the prevailing culture of impunity have not been addressed by EO 79, in fact, has reached alarming levels today,” Gonzales said.

One mining flashpoint in the Zamboanga Peninsula is the conflict over who has legitimate mining rights between small-scale miners and Canadian firm TVI Resources Development Inc. in the hinterlands of Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur.

Government authorities recently cracked down on the small-scale miners saying their operations were illegal.

Summit organizers however said that some provisions of EO 79, “the expansion of no-go zones and the implementation of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative,” are a welcome relief.

“These can be harnessed to create a favorable policy environment not only for the industry and economy but also for the peoples and communities affected by mining,” said Gonzales. (Ryan Rosauro/MindaNews contributor)

CARAGAWATCH STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE SHOOTING OF

STAUNCH ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST DR. ISIDRO OLAN!

On October 29, 2012 at around 3:30 in the afternoon, Dr. Isidro Olan, founding president and executive director of Lovers of Nature Foundation was shot by identified men while he and his wife were on their way home in Brgy. Puyat, Carmen, Surigao del Sur. Dr. Olan is one of the most vocal and known anti-logging and anti-mining activist in the Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza (CarCanMadCarLan) area of Surigao del Sur. Dr. Olan along with the local environmental groups and the Catholic Church are actively campaigning to stop mining in the area, have been exposing the rising illegal logging of CarCanMadCarLan forests and are calling for the election of pro-environment candidates.

In September of this year, local environmental groups and organizations exposed the increasing illegal logging in the area by those allegedly close to the higher ups in government despite the implementation of Pres. Aquino’s Executive Order 23 declaring a nationwide total log ban and increased military presence. They are also strongly calling for the termination of mining operations in the area. There are 2 nickel and gold mining companies in the agricultural town of Cantilan (Marcventures Mining and Development Corp.; Carac-an Development Corp.) covering almost 10,000 hectares of land, while close to 12,000 hectares are being mined by 2 companies in neighboring Carrascal town (C.T.P Construction and Mining Corp., Carrascal Nickel Co.) with 1 mining exploration in Carmen.

The shooting of Dr. Isidro Olan is but one of the countless attempts to silence the growing clamor of the people of Caraga to put a stop to the increasing number of destructive large scale operations of mining, logging and plantations in the region. Sixteen (16) of the country’s mining operations are in Caraga and as of June 2012 there are 57 Mineral Production Sharing Agreements covering 134,994.9880 hectares or 7% of Caraga’s land area. There are 3 palm oil plantations and 3 banana plantations scattered in the region and a number of wood-based companies in operation. Leaders of people’s organizations, environmental groups, even local government officials that oppose mining, logging and plantations are being harassed, threatened and trumped up criminal cases have and are being filed against them in the different courts in the region. Communities opposed to mining and plantations are being militarized under Pres. Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan which has resulted to forced evacuations. There are 6 military battalions and 2 infantry brigades currently deployed as Investment Security Forces around the region implementing military operations within mining,logging and plantation communities. This year alone 297 lumad families with 1,106 individuals were forced to evacuate from their mountain communities in Kitcharao and Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte and Alegria and Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte because of military operations and indiscriminate bombings. These communities are within or are surrounding nickel and gold mining operations and have been vocal in their opposition against these.

The shooting of Dr. Olan is no different from the killing of anti-mining activist Dr. Gerry Ortega of Palawan; Italian priest Fr. Pops Tentorio of Cotabato who fought against mining operations in Mindanao; lumad leader Gilbert Paborada of Cagayan de Oro who fought against land grabbing by a palm oil plantation in his community; Brgy. Capt. Jimmy Liguyon of Bukidnon and Brgy. Capt. Ricardo Ganad of Oriental Mindoro who both opposed the entry of mining operations in their barangays; Dutch environmentalist Willem Geertman of Pampanga; known botanist Leonard Co and the very recent massacre of the wife and 2 sons of B’Laan leader Daguel Capion who declared war against Sagittarius Mines in Tampakan .

According to Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment there have been 25 instances of killings of environmental advocates under Pres. Aquino’s administration. Despite the increasing killings and human rights violations happening under his watch, Pres. Aquino has not been taking significant steps to stop the atrocities. He has even reached the point of denying such human rights violations calling these mere “propaganda of the left” in an interview in New Zealand. Pres. Aquino has recently been to New Zealand and Australia to encourage foreign mining investments to the Philippines.

All these are happening under the “Daang Matuwid” government of Pres. Aqunio. Like his predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Pres. Noynoy Aquino has maintained and improved upon government policies and programs that ensure the continued plunder of the country’s natural resources. Arroyo’s Investment Defense Forces (IDF), whose sole purpose is to ensure the continued mining, logging and plantation operations of large foreign and domestic companies has been renamed as the Investment Security Forces (ISF) by the Aquino administration. These increased military presence to secure large investments and ensure continued despoiling of our natural resources has given the plunderers of the land the license to use violence against the people and communities that oppose the destruction of the environment.

We strongly condemn the shooting of Dr. Isidro Olan as we condemn all violent attempts to silence the resistance of the people in Caraga and the country against the plunder of our natural resources and our national patrimony! Environmental activists will continue to make their protests against the destruction of the environment be heard. Our advocacy for the protection of the environment and the appropriate utilization of mineral resources for Filipinos will not rest. We will continue to expose environmental destruction by foreign and local resource extraction operations. Our protests against Pres.Aqunio’s pro-foreign, anti-Filipino people mining programs and policies will persist.
Stop the plunder of our natural resources!

Scrap the Philippine Mining Act of 1995!

Scrap Pres. Aquino’s Executive Order 79!

Stop the persecution of environmental activists and advocates!

Respect our rights to protect our land and our people!

For reference:

Fr. Raymond Ambray
Spokesperson, CaragaWatch
CP No: +639399023699

I wonder why the CHR, which is now headed by a former activist, has been mum on what human rights groups and even Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez believe was a massacre. Such attitude is in stark contrast to now Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, the former chair of CHR who was known for her independence in confronting human rights abuses during the previous administration.

All that has been reported so far is that the Armed Forces of the Philippines has formed a Board of Inquiry that will determine if the soldiers involved had violated the military’s rules of engagement.

Bishop Gutierrez however has declared he is more inclined to believe in the information given by his social action workers that it was a massacre.

From the legal viewpoint, it is unfair to rush into conclusions. But perception is reality and will remain as such unless convincing evidence presents itself. The problem is, how would the military explain the deaths of three civilians (four if we include the fetus in Juvy Capion’s womb) and the zero casualties on its side and on the group of Juvy’s husband, Daguil Capion? The military also has to explain why the scene of incident had been “sanitized”, that is, evidence had been tampered with, as claimed by an anti-mining group.

The place where the victims lived is part of the mining tenement of Sagittarius Mines Inc. Daguil Capion and a number of fellow B’laans are opposing the presence of Sagittarius in their ancestral domain, and have resorted to arms to defend it. This is the reason why anti-mining groups believe the incident was a deliberate move to silence the Lumads’ resistance, although another group of Lumads is supporting the mining project.

That’s it. The root of the violence that has engulfed the area is the entry of SMI whose tenement also covers Tampakan in South Cotabato and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat. As in other mining communities, SMI’s presence has caused conflicts among the local people. Daguil Capion’s armed resistance and the deaths of his wife and two children illustrate the social evils of a mining venture that amasses mega-profits but leaves just a pittance to host communities that will inherit environmental destruction as well as social divisions that may
take generations to heal.

Of course, SMI couldn’t care less if the rivers turn murky and the people remain divided long after the last ounce of gold and copper has been dug out from the same earth where Juvy and her two sons were buried. In the end, profit is the only thing that matters.

So, did the soldiers break their own rules of engagement? Maybe this question matters, but how about the government’s rules of engagement with mining companies? This is a legitimate question too. (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. H. Marcos C. Mordeno can be reached at hmcmordeno@gmail.com)

That’s why we shudder at the news last month that at least 40 civilians were injured when a hand grenade exploded inside a covered court in a village in Paquibato District, Davao City. A few days later, the New People’s Army admitted responsibility for the incident, issued an apology and promised indemnification for the victims. It said the explosive was meant for the military detachment beside the covered court.

The tragic incident raised at least two issues: [1] the danger posed by the presence of military stations in populated areas, and [2] the recklessness of the NPA rebels who carried out the attack. This is not to say that we condone acts of aggression by the rebels. But they should at least observe discretion so as to spare the lives and l imbs of civilians.

But while the greater blame rests on the NPA, the military should rethink the wisdom of maintaining outposts near residential sites, be they urban or rural areas. If the military refuses to act, then the local government units should assert their supremacy to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

How the opposing forces conduct themselves in the field has once again come to the fore with the death last week of a pregnant mother and her two sons in a village in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur. Reports gathered by MindaNews said the bullets that killed Juvy Capion and sons John Mark and Jordan had come from the unit of the 27^th Infantry Battalion that responded to the alleged presence of Juvy’s fugitive husband in their house.

From the looks of it, the soldiers opened fire without considering the fact that civilians – including children – were inside the house.

Juvy’s husband, Daguil Capion, reportedly slept about 200 meters away from the house as a precaution. The military however insisted it was an encounter and that they simply fired back after Daguil’s group fired at them. But since no soldier or fugitive died and three civilians lay dead after the smoke had cleared, the military is now hard pressed to explain its side on the incident aside from saying it was an encounter.

The military can prove it was indeed an encounter if it could show investigators the empty shells from the guns of their supposed adversaries. However, a statement emailed today by an anti-mining coalition – Daguil is leading a group opposed to the entry of Sagittarius Mines Inc. in the ancestral domain of his tribe, the B’laan – said the military had “sanitized” the house of the Capions. The blood had been wiped clean and the victims’ clothes had been disposed of, it said.

If it’s true, it will only make things harder for the military. (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. H. Marcos C. Mordeno can be reached at hmcmordeno@gmail.com)

Juvy Capion, 27, and her two children, Jordan and John Mark were killed in what the military insisted was an encounter last October 18 in Sitio Datal-Alyong of Kimlawis, Kiblawan.

The military said elements of the 27^th Infantry Battalion led by Lt. Dante Jimenez engaged armed men led by Daguil Capion, Juvy’s husband who is leading a group of B’laans opposed to the entry of Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) in their area.

Four-year-old Becky Capion (earlier named as Vicky), who was grazed by a bullet on her left ear in a volley of fire that killed her mother and two siblings, and Ressa Piang were on board a habal-habal (single passenger motorcycle) along with grandmother Diya Capion and aunts Sabelin and Rosita when they were flagged down by Josephine Malid in Barangay Danlag in Tampakan, South Cotabato.

Becky Capion and Piang were the lone witnesses who could shed light to the killings.

Malid, who works for the SMI-supported Tribal Foundation, reportedly led the Capions to a white pickup truck allegedly owned by the mining firm and brought them to the Tampakan municipal social welfare office.  But they were turned away as there was no prior coordination, according to Rene Pamplona of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Marbel.

Maj. Joel Wayagwag however allegedly told Malid to instead bring the Capions to Kiblawan for medical attention.

Wayagwag is the head of the Philippine Army’s Task Force Kitaco, a special unit formed to secure the rebel-infested tri-boundary towns of Kiblawan, Tampakan in South Cotabato and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat.

The area is also site of ongoing exploration activities and future site of mining operations of SMI.

At least two SMI supervisors who were sought for comments did not answer calls made to their mobile phones.

The Capions earlier rejected an offer from Wayagwag to bring them to the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Marbel.

Fugitive tribal leader

Grounded 27^th IB commanding officer Lt. Col. Alexis Noel Bravo claimed fugitive tribal leader Daguil Capion fired at his men as they were approaching his house to “serve a warrant of arrest” against him.

In a mobile phone interview with the Catholic-run dxCP in General Santos City, however, Capion denied he was in the house when the soldiers fired at it with his wife and children still sleeping inside.

Capion is leading a band of fully armed Blaan tribesmen that included brothers Batas and Kitara in a pangayao (tribal war) against SMI which he claimed has been encroaching on their ancestral domain.

The fugitive tribal leader has reportedly joined the communist-led New People’s Army after conducting a series of ambushes against SMI personnel.

At least three drill contractors of SMI and two of its security personnel had been killed by Capion and his men.

Capion was said to be visiting his wife when the military received reports of his presence.

Capion however denied he was inside the house and denied reports he fired his gun. He said he slept in the nearby forested hill to keep his family from harm.

He said he was less than 200 meters away when the military strafed his house.

Warning

Gutierrez said a team from the AFP’s Board of Inquiry lead by Col. Fidel Pumihic had assured him that a thorough investigation is now being conducted to determine the responsibility of the military unit that figured in the killings.

“I am following the case very, very, very seriously,” Gutierrez told reporters in his residence.

Saying he believed there was no encounter and that the Capions were massacred, the bishop said a different result of the military investigation would be unacceptable.

“I have more confidence in my people (social action workers) than you,” Gutierrez reportedly told Pumihic.

The bishop said he is hopeful Pumihic will make good his promise to prosecute the erring soldiers.

Pumihic also once served as battalion commander of the 27^th IB which is based in Tupi, South Cotabato.

Gutierrez also said he will be waiting for the military to bring the survivors to his residence as earlier promised by Wayagwag.

Massacre, not encounter

Fr. Joy Peliño, SAC director and who led the first fact-finding team to reach the area the following day, said all indications point to the indiscriminate strafing of the helpless civilians.

“(It was a serious) lapse of judgment and blunder on the part of the military,” Fr. Peliño said.

Relatives of Daguil Capion also claimed it was a massacre.

In a press conference in Davao City on Monday, Erita Capion-Dialang, Juvy’s sister-in-law said that when soldiers arrived in Sitio Datal-Alyong, John and his mother were still sleeping inside their hut while Jordan was having coffee.

Dialang said that when her sister, Melanie, arrived at the hut to save Becky and Ressa, she heard the military said: “Tiwasi na lang ng mga bata” (kill the other children too).

Melanie, however, pleaded to spare the children, she added.

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Front in Far South Mindanao Region (NDF-FSMR) said that Daguil has joined the rebel group after he was declared “most wanted” by authorities.

In a statement, the NDF-FSMR said Daguil has “embraced the ideals of the revolutionary movement.” (Edwin G. Espejo/MindaNews contributor)

Rudy Jimenea, executive assistant of the provincial governor’s office, said South Cotabato Gov. Arthur Pingoy Jr. recently met with officials of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH or German Development Cooperation in Manila to finalize the details of the third-party EIS review.

“This (review) will hopefully answer all our questions and concerns regarding the Tampakan project,” he said.

Jimenea said the EIS review, which will be conducted by GIZ experts, will look into the potential environmental impacts of the project as well as the planned interventions of SMI.

He said the planned review of SMI’s EIS was supported by the Diocese of Marbel, which is staunchly opposing the $5.9 billion project.

The provincial government earlier commissioned the GIZ to examine SMI’s EIS to ensure an “independent and credible” assessment on the matter.

Aside from GIZ, the local government also tapped Geos Mining, another German consultancy firm, to assist in the review.

Pingoy said the German experts will look into the correctness of the findings of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Mines and Geosciences Bureau, which earlier approved the EIS submitted by SMI.

In June, Pingoy toured several mining areas in Germany as part of a two-week study sponsored by GIZ.

The Tampakan project is touted as the largest known undeveloped copper and gold reserve in Southeast Asia.

The estimated contained copper at Tampakan in total resources has risen from 13.9 million metric tons to 15 million MT while estimated contained gold has risen from 16.2 million ounces to 17.9 Moz, according to a company study.

But the project’s development is being challenged by the ban on open-pit mining imposed in 2010 by the provincial government.

In January, the DENR rejected SMI’s application for Environmental Compliance Certificate due to the standing open-pit ban.

The company had filed an appeal before the Office of the President and is presently awaiting the results of the latter’s review on the matter. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)

Orlando Ravanera, chair of the environment coalition Sulog, said they will give the city government “ a last chance” to do something about the unabated mining in the area, otherwise a petition for a writ will be filed against officials.

A Writ of Kalikasan is a legal relief that provides for the protection of one’s right to “a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature,” as enshrined in Section 16, Article II of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. It is the environmental counterpart of the Writ of Amparo.

In mulling the filing of a writ, Ravanera said that people should have learned hard lessons from tropical storm Sendong, the worst calamity that hit the city in decades.

“We should stop the bleeding of the earth and it is our responsibility to hold government to do their role in protecting its people from another man-made devastation,” said Ravanera.

He noted that it has been 10 months since Sendong (international codename: Washi) struck but the city government has yet to implement any serious preventive measures to assure the residents that a similar catastrophe won’t happen again.

In this city alone, Sendong claimed at least a thousand lives and a thousand more missing until now, feared to have been dead. The estimated damage to properties was pegged at P1.6 billion. The floods affected 1,144,229 individuals and swept 14,883 houses.

“We should act and not just wait for government’s delayed action in the defense of nature and for the survival of its people. The principle that we will follow is that the welfare of the people is the supreme law,” said Ravanera.

He added that no matter how painful it is for the survivors of Sendong, it is imperative that “we revisit and study what went wrong” and that people should be held accountable. (Cong B. Corrales/MindaNews)

hilippine Air Force choppers sent to investigate illegal mining operations along Iponan River in Cagayan de Oro City on Sept. 21, 2012 spotted this payloader heavy equipment tearing away the river banks. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo

This was the conclusion reached by officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Northern Mindanao and Sulog-One Sendong is enough, an environmental non-government organization, who met Wednesday to discuss the plight of the critically endangered Iponan River.

“The Iponan River system is so poisoned that even tadpoles no longer live there,” said Raoul Geollegue, a  former DENR official who is now an environment advocate.

Rex Monsanto, DENR-10 regional director for mines, said what was once an idyllic waterway in the 1970s has turned into an environmental wasteland with the introduction of hydraulic mining in the river in the 1990s.

Prior to that, Monsanto said panning for gold was the main source of livelihood for the people of the hinterland villages until traders introduced hydraulic mining.

Using high-pressure water shot through a nozzle attached to pumps siphoning water from Iponan River, miners blasted entire mountainsides to get to the gold.

Geollegue said for every gram extracted from the river, at least a ton of soil and dirt have to be extracted from the mountains and riverbeds. “To get gold the size of a matchbox, an entire mountain has to be destroyed,” he pointed out.

Geollegue said the toll on the environment was catastrophic: heavy siltation has inundated thousands of hectares of farm lots along the Iponan River and turned them into virtual wastelands.

“Even fruit and coconut trees planted along the riverbanks were not spared from silt and mining wastes,” he said.

What made matters worse, Geollegue said foreigners, mostly Korean businessmen, came three years ago and introduced barges in the river on the pretext of quarrying sand and gravel.

“Why government agencies allowed them to operate with impunity is beyond me. The workers of these barges are not Filipinos but Koreans. Do they have working permits?” Geollegue asked.

Engr. Daniel Belderol, of the DENR Mine Management Division, said upon their inspection, they found the barges were disguised as dredgers but were actually excavators scooping the river bottom for gold.

“The barges have chains of extractors that scoops the soil on the river bottom. These have a mesh of filtering nets to separate the gold from the soil,” he said.

Photos from several aerial inspections made by the Philippine Air Force Tactical Operations Group 10 and Sulog this year revealed that at least seven barges are operating along the Iponan River.

A  GMA 7 TV crew who went up to the hinterland villages to investigate the mining operations in Iponan River on Feb. 1, 2012 was allegedly harassed by a barangay official of Tuburan, who was reportedly a protector of the Korean businessmen.

Because of the resulting public uproar, Cagayan de Oro Mayor Vicente Emano issued an order on Aug. 2, 2012 putting a stop to all mining activities along the Iponan river.

The local government of Cagayan de Oro has not been very forthright over the mining issue in Iponan River. Several attempts made by local environmentalists and journalists to get copies of permits issued by the city government were not entertained.

Local officials insisted during interviews with the local press that mining operations have stopped after Emano’s order last Aug. 2.

An aerial inspection made again by the Philippine Air Force and Sulog last Sept. 21 found that the barges were still there and operating in the river.

Last Wednesday, DENR Regional Director Ruth Tawantawan revoked all the Environment Clearance Certificates (ECC) issued to all companies engaged in sand and gravel quarrying along the Iponan River.

The DENR said some 20 companies were affected by the order and have set up a task force to conduct site inspections.

“Apparently these companies have engaged in some technical malversation because their permits were for quarrying, not for mining,” Tawantawan said.

Meanwhile, farmers and fishermen who depend on the condition of the delicate ecosystem of Iponan River are losing the battle against the effects of mining.

Roldan Maglungsod, president of Baikingon Farmers Association, said heavy siltation has caused the river to change its course every time it rains heavily.

Because of this, Maglungsod said farmers have stopped investing in their farm lots because of the risk of economic loss.

Geollegue said not only the farmers  are at risk but hundreds of fishermen along Macajalar Bay in Misamis Oriental are threatened.

He said fishermen suffer from declining fish catch because the siltation  has flowed  to the fishing grounds in Macajalar Bay.

“We see an entire ecosystem already dying before our eyes,” Geollegue lamented. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)

“When we commit mistake to God, He will forgive us after we repent for our sins and ask forgiveness. But when we commit mistake against nature, it will not forgive us and it will unleash a dreadful path of destruction just like what had happened last December when Sendong hit Cagayan de Oro and Iligan,” the bishop said.

The church-led two-day symposium invited participants from the towns of Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza (collectively known as CarCanMadCarLan). It was held at the Immaculate Conception parish church here on the first day, then at the San Vicente Ferrer Parish in the town of Carmen on Thursday.

Fr. Raymond Ambray, Parochial Vicar of the Immaculate Conception Parish, explained to the participants the fundamentals on the theology of creation and how it is related to the protection of the environment.

“With one source of creation, everything is interrelated and interconnected. We as created children of God have a task in this
world to protect nature. It was not given only to a few but for the rest of us to gain from it,” said the priest, who is also the executive secretary for the Social Action Center of CarCanMadCarLan.

Miners and loggers, he said, justify that what they are doing to nature are justified since these resources are God’s gifts to man. But Ambray pointed out the miners and loggers abuse nature, and only a few get to enjoy the logs and the minerals, or the proceeds from these.

Cosme Loren, a member of the Surigao del Sur Irrigation Federation (SURIF) who was speaking in behalf of the farmers in Cantilan, expressed fears that if the large-scale mining operations within the town’s watershed area would not be stopped, there will be a gradual decline in their harvest and a deadly blow to their livelihood.

“Since last year the harvest has declined. In the last cropping, we had fewer harvest since the water from the mountains failed to reach our farm lands. Irrigation canals throughout the system went dry,” he said.

Loren stressed the need to protect the environment because when it fights back, it will not choose its victims. “Every one of us will suffer its wrath,” he warned.

The town’s Municipal Tribal Council headed by Datu Dagsaan (or Jaime Bat-ao), who is from the Manobo tribe, expressed his disbelief in the injustice done towards the environment and their ancestral land in Barangay Kabangahan.

“I say to you all, that if faith would take its ugly turn, I will gladly give up my life in defense of our lands which the Marc-Venture Mining has ravaged and destroyed. If you go up there you will see the rape of what used to be our farm lands. The memories of how rich and fertile our corn crops way back then is now but just a painful reminder,” said Bat-ao.

He revealed that the indigenous people in their community are planning to put up a picket point to prevent trucks and other heavy equipment from coming into their community.

Representatives from the high schools in Cantilan, Madrid and Carmen also shared their concerns and said they will help out in giving support and voice for the protection of the environment.

According to church officials, the Social Action Center plans to have more similar activities in the future in the hope to facilitate
awareness among the people in the CarCanMadCarLan area. (Erwin Mascariñas / MindaNews)

Bae Inatlawan Docenos Tarino, spiritual leader and head claimant of the Bukidnon Daraghuyan tribe in Dalwangan here, said on the phone Monday that they have already produced some medicines from herbs using indigenous knowledge since 2008.

“We want to handle it [medicine-making venture] so we can use it for our livelihood,” she said.

Tarino said they want to develop their medicine-making craft so that they can use their knowledge and resources to help others.

Among the medicines the tribe has produced from herbs that grow on old indigenous trees in the forest is an anti-biotic, she said.

Tarino said the tribe wants to learn how to improve such enterprise so their people will be able to earn from it for a living, stressing that this prospect is better than allowing mining to come in.

“There are those who mined and did not progress. Yet the environment is already ruined,” she said separately during the short program for the anniversary celebration of Bukidnon’s local news service, Bukidnon News Dispatch.

Tarino said even if they are poor, they will assert their rights over their territory to protect the environment.

For companies that conduct research and produce medicines from plants, she added, the tribe can share samples to them.

“But they need to go through the process,” she added, stressing that along the way they will mutually agree how the venture can help each other.

She cited that their tribe wants to take control of traditional plants and herbs growing in the Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park, and would ask those interested on it to go through a free and prior informed consent.

She said that she learned in a conference in Thailand in August 2012 that the IPs should have an equitable share in the use of these resources.

Tarino attended the Southeast Asia Training-Workshop on Building Institutional and Stakeholders Capacities on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, held at The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel in Bangkok.

The training was a capacity building initiative for an ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations)-wide harmonized national processes to implement the Convention of Biodiversity Provisions. (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)

At the forum, Christian Monsod, chair of the National Agricultural and Fishery Council Committee on Climate Change, presented the President’s recent order on mining to members and guests of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro and local green groups at the Fr. Patrick Cronin Formation Center of the St. Augustine’s Cathedral.

Although the figures do not institute connectedness, Monsod said these “show an association between mining and poverty that at least raises questions on the claim that mining substantially improves life in their communities.”

“Mining has the highest poverty incidence at 48.7 percent in any sector in the country,” he said, citing the booming large-scale mining operations in the regions of Caraga, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Bicol.

These regions, Monsod said, have a poverty incidence of 47.7 percent, 42.75 percent and 44.92 percent, respectively, adding that “mining does not address mass poverty.”

Barely eight months ago, residents and experts alike collectively pointed to the unabated mineral extraction operations upstream of Cagayan River. Meanwhile, victims of tropical storm Sendong are inching towards recovery after many parts of the city, as well as some other areas in Northern Mindanao, were devastated.

Mining has become a touchy issue here as communities struggling to recover have been divided between livelihood and economic development on one hand and climate change adaptation and disaster preparedness on the other.

Issued last July 6, EO 79 bans the issuance of new mining permits in areas identified under the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act, prime agricultural lands and those set for agrarian reform, in strategic agriculture and fisheries development zones, tourism areas, and other critical sanctuary sites.

Fr. Emetrio Barcelon, SJ, president and chief executive officer of Turbines Resource and Development Corporation (Turedeco) – which is engaged in the use and development of land, water and environment resources for power generation – asked whether mining is a sin against God. But he was quick to add that “without mining, we will never get out of poverty.”

Bae Inatlawan Adelina Cariño, certificate of ancestral domain titleholder of Mt. Kitanglad, said most of the lumads may be illiterate but their tribes have survived hundreds of years because they “read the stars and listen to the earth.”

“Instead of mining, which is against the environment, why not help us develop sustainable livelihoods based on food production?” she said in the dialect.

Green Mindanao executive director Butch Dagondon said EO 79 is “haphazard,” “discriminate the peoples of Mindanao” and has a “typical business as usual attitude.”

“The vicious cycle (of poverty) will just go on,” he added.

Bangon Kagay-an – a local civil political organization advocating for accountability, transparency and good governance –proposed a mining summit which will “involve the whole Cagayanon community.”

“The summit will discuss the effects of indiscriminate mining activities in the upland villages of the city. We shall aim to define what responsible and irresponsible mining is and to come up with a common stand to preserve and protect our mineral resources from being exploited by foreign businessmen and local political partners,” said Nixon Baban, president of Bangon Kabay-an.

Baban asked why poverty persists in the upland communities involved in mining when “an estimated P180 million worth of gold every week can be found along Iponan River alone.”

“We recognize that our lives are partly enhanced by the end-products of mining. But the dangers of unabated mining are all too real – pollution, flooding due to siltation, and diseases,” he said. (Cong B. Corrales / MindaNews)

Capt. Albert Caber, spokesman of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, identified the fatality as Wilbert Catampungan, who was declared dead on arrival at the Bayog Medical Clinic.

Wounded were Roroy Dalangon, 20, and Jomar Tumales, 19, Caber said.

View Bayog in a larger map

The cause of the incident was not immediately clear.

It took place at around 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Purok 7, Sitio Balabag, Barangay Depore, Bayog in Zamboanga del Sur.

Caber said the Bayog police are still conducting a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the incident.

Supt. Diomarie Albarico, Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Public Safety Battalion commander, said the victims were hit after “burst of gun fires were heard coming from the direction of a TVIRD blue guard outpost.”

He was referring to Canadian mining firm TVI Resource Development, Inc., which is conducting exploration activities for its gold and silver project in the area.

Albarico did not say what preceded the incident except that responding policemen from the 2nd company of the 9th Regional Public Safety Battalion have recovered Catampungan and rushed the victim to the Bayog Medical Clinic.

Caber said that a lawyer of TVIRD identified only as a certain Atty. Estaño turned over Godofredo Jungoy, Jr. and a caliber .45 pistol to the police in Bayog town at around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday.

Jungoy was turned over to the police since he was the suspect in the shooting incident, Caber said. (MIidanews)

Dr. Emmanuel Plandano, city health officer, told reporters in the presence of Mayor Ernesto Matugas and other city officials that the nickel plant formerly operated by  Marinduque Mining and Industrial Corporation and later by Philnico Industrial Corporation, poses a great health hazard because of the presence of ammonia and other toxic chemicals that could possibly be released to the environment.

He noted, too, that the structure is old and could collapse anytime as the metals have already corroded.

Should anything happen to the structure, he warned, hydrogen sulfide could leak and would pose serious health problems, even death, to inhabitants in communities in Barangay Talisay, where it is situated, and neighboring Nonoc, Cantiasay and San Pedro.

Plandano said they are anticipating  a disaster, thus the need to prevent it before it happens.

The nickel refinery plant, which started commercial operation in 1974, had experienced chemical leakage twice sometime in the late 1970s, causing massive fishkill in the area.

After incurring heavy financial losses, the nickel plant was foreclosed by its creditor banks — the government-owned Development Bank of the Philippines and Philippine National Bank – in 1984. Despite the foreclosure order, it continued operating and shut down only in March 1986.

Pladano said leakage had occurred while the plant was operational, and expressed fears it could be more dangerous now that it has been abandoned for more than 25 years.

Councilor Pablo Bonono Jr., who was among the officials who conducted an ocular inspection of the nickel refinery plant last month, said the structure must be dismantled.

He said that while the populated areas are about three kilometers away, there is still a possibility that residents could be affected by toxic chemicals.

Bonono noted that the technology used in the plant – ammoniacal ammonium carbonate (Caron) process that had produced nickel and cobalt products – is a “very obsolete technology.”

He said if another investor should take over, they would rather have the pressure acid leach process.

Matugas, on the other hand, told media that the city will reap the benefits if the said structure will be demolished.

He said the nickel plant owes the city government over P200 million in real property back taxes dating from the year 2000. But the Privatization and Management Office (PMO), during its filling of writ of preliminary injunction against the city government September last year, said the city government could not get taxes because the plant is now owned by the national government.

Formerly the Assets Privatization Trust (APT), the PMO held non-performing assets from the DBP, which included the machineries of the then Marinduque Mining Industrial Corporation and now Philnico Mining and Industrial Corporation.

But based on the resolution handed down by Surigao Regional Trial Court Judge Victor A. Canoy last June 15, the petition by PMO was dismissed for lack of legal and factual basis.

The city government is going to auction the machineries on July 16 for them get the taxes.

Matugas is hopeful that once the amount will be totally collected, the city will initiate the plan to materialize some developmental projects like the city library, new public cemetery, housing projects for the poor, among others.

Marinduque Mining and Industrial Corporation started the operation of the nickel plant in Nonoc Island in 1974.

After being mothballed in 1986, the Surigao Nickel Plant was to be rehabilitated by Philnico using the more recovery efficient pressure acid leach (PAL) process to produce intermediate nickel-cobalt sulphide products.

In 1996, Philnico and Nonoc Mining Industrial Corporation (MNIC) endered into an Amended Restated Definite Agreement which was amended in 1999 consequently to change the technology, some existing facilities of the refinery were rendered  as redundant assets. (Roel Catoto/MindaNews)

The E.O. is a mixed bag.  It doesn’t please everyone.  It didn’t try to.  But I wish I were less disappointed than I am.  And that environmentalists I know were less disillusioned.

Of course, there are items in the E.O. that should make me happy.  And I would be lying were I to say I am not happy for them.  Already the title provides hope:  “Institutionalizing and Implementing Reforms in the Philippine Mining Sector, Providing Policies and Guidelines to Ensure Environmental Protection and Responsible Mining in the Utilization of Mineral Resources.”   The intention was right.  So much promise:  to ensure environmental protection, to ensure responsible mining, even in the use of mineral resources.

In this context, the E.O reiterates that mining should not be undertaken where it should not be undertaken, e.g. near cemeteries, archeological sites, waterways, reservoirs, old growth forests, protected areas, and prime agricultural lands.  It even refers to 78 tourist sites.  That’s the law. But law is empty verbiage when  mining is undertaken where it should not be undertaken.  In the face of huge investments, it is easier to re-zone protected areas than to re-zone mining interests. It is easier to shut your eyes to the reservoirs close by, or to the sacred archeological sites that some consider just ugly mountains.  Nothing in the E.O. convinces that mining will be kept out of areas where it should not be.

Of course I should be happy that the message that the Filipino people is being shortchanged by the policies that govern the mining industry has reached the President. That is why in his E.O. he has stated that “No new mineral agreements shall be entered into until a legislation rationalizing existing revenue sharing schemes and mechanisms shall have taken effect” (Sec 4).

“Rationalizing” here is a wildcard whose meaning depends on the logical system within which one is “rationating” or reasoning.  What is reasonable to the mining investor may be totally unreasonable to the community affected by mining; what is reasonable to a government primarily interested in a growth economy is unreasonable to a government interested the preservation of indigenous cultures.  Where the Constitution says that minerals are “owned by the State” (Art. 12), what is rational to the foreign businessman may be completely irrational to the Filipino development planner.  If part of the rationality of the legislation is truly poverty alleviation for the Filipino people, demanding thirty percent of the minerals product may be completely rational, but totally irrational to a profit-maximizing investor.  I am unhappy that despite the verbiage, there is no further clarification of the rational legislation that administration seeks.  It cedes its leadership responsibility totally to the legislature.

Another reason why I’m unhappy?  The E.O. demands new legislation to improve the take of government in the fruits of mining, but it does not demand new legislation to better protect the environment.  Instead it relies on the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 (RA 7942) as its legal foundation.  I am unhappy that despite the beating the Philippine environment has taken or may continue to take at the hands of miners under this law, the E.O. shows no sensitivity for its flaws, and no honesty relative to government’s ability to properly  implement it, but seems instead to canonize it.  Considering that forests once covered the Philippines but were depleted to its current sorry state by “rational” people, the E.O. shows no sensitivity to the need to conserve minerals for generations beyond our own against the consuming rapaciousness of a minerals-ravenous globe.  After all, don’t we all use celfons?  Despite the cozy collaboration between the Economic Cluster and the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Cluster in the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (Sec. 8), the E.O. does not solve the hopelessly conflicted situation of the DENR which is simultaneously the conserver of the environment and the exploiter of its natural resources.

There is no better example of this than in the manner in which the DENR has conducted itself in handling the contentious SMI/Xstrata mining application for environmental clearance in South Cotabato.  On the one hand, it has already twice denied environmental clearance to SMI/Xstrata because of the alleged conflict between the national law that does not prohibit open pit mining and the local ordinance which prohibits it.  When DENR Sec. Paje was asked how the E.O. would affect the SMI/Xstrata application, he actually stated that the E.O. addressed the problem, referring to its Section 12, “Consistency of Local Ordinance with the Constitution and National Laws / LGU Cooperation.”  He said that the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) was directed by the EO “to ensure that the exercise of the latter’s powers and functions is consistent with and conforms to the regulations, decision, and policies already promulgated and taken by the National Government relating to the conservation, management, development and proper utilization of the State’s mineral resources, particularly R.A. 7942 and its IRR…”  I think he meant that the DILG could now solve the problem between the local ordinance and the law, wanting finally that SMI/Xstrata be allowed its clearance.  At the same time, he himself stated that the local ordinances are valid until they are proven invalid.  I think this means that DILG would have the burden of proving that there is an inconsistency between the local ordinance, which always has the presumption of constitutionality, and the national law.  Here, Sec. Paje’s open support for SMI/Xstrata as DENR’s promoter of national resources is checked by his own statement that the ordinance is valid.

I am therefore happy that South Cotabato’s Sanggunian Panlalawigan stated yesterday that it had no reason to take up the E.O. since its ordinance is valid.

In fact, when the E.O. states that “LGUs shall confine themselves only to the imposition of reasonable limitations on mining activities conducted within their respective territorial jurisdictions that are consistent with national laws and regulations” (ibid), the protection of the environment from the adverse effects of a 500-hectare large, 800 meter deep open pit, just 12 kilometers away from an active volcano and close to an existing reservoir has to be accepted as “rational.”

I guess SMI/Xstrata is unhappy that the E.O doesn’t give it an environmental clearance, as I am unhappy that the E.O. doesn’t show enough political will on the part of the Aquino Administration to reject the project not merely on legal grounds but on environmental grounds.  Because of its forests, its waterways, its endemic species, its agricultural value it should be rejected.  For that, a new E.O. was not needed, but such a commitment to responsible mining that it would take it away from Tampakan. (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ,  is the president of the Ateneo de Davao University which convened in January this year the International Conference on Mining in Mindanao)

Pingoy made the statement following the issuance Monday of Executive Order 79 which aims to reconcile national mining policies with local legislations and raise more revenues for the government.

The governor said he believes the presence and planned operation of Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI), which is inconsistent with the provincial environment code, may have led to the issuance of the executive order.

He maintained the new executive order cannot overturn the provincial environment code without the government and proponents of open-pit mining resorting to legal action.

“I am not against mining but we have a long history of them and they are not among the desirable results we expect,” Pingoy said.

The Xstrata PLC-controlled SMI is holder of the Tampakan Copper and Gold Project which is said to contain the largest untapped copper and gold deposits in Southeast Asia.

On Monday, SMI said in a statement that the executive order “is a positive step towards promoting a responsible mining industry in the Philippines and we welcome the recognition of the need for consistency between national laws and local ordinances.”

SMI also claimed its Tampakan project would “establish a blueprint for modern, large-scale mineral development in the Philippines.”

The company has repeatedly announced it is pouring US$6B in investments for the development of the project.

It is set to start commercial operations by 2016.

But the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) denied its application for an environmental clearance certificate early this year.  The EMB cited the existing provincial environment code in rejecting the application of SMI.

Pingoy said he would like to see how large-scale mining operations leave behind their mining site after the lifespan of their operations.

“I have yet to see what the post-mine would look like under the 1995 Mining Act,” said the governor who recently welcomed officials from Toledo City.

Toledo was once host of Asia’s biggest copper mining operations, the Atlas Consolidated Mining Development Corporation.

Pingoy believed the province can still do without mining.

“South Cotabato is a first class province.  Mining is not an emergency situation.  We can wait five, ten years.  Why can’t SMI wait?” explained the governor who is a medical doctor by profession.

Pingoy said he was assured by Presidential Adviser on Climate Change Nereus Acosta that the national government will respect the autonomy of local government units in dealing with issues that would affect the environment.

Acosta was one of those who crafted the new executive order, Pingoy revealed.

The governor had earlier resisted pressures from the national government to have the controversial provincial environment code repealed.

Early last year, he defied a circular from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources urging the province to lift the ban on open-pit mining.

Pingoy also ruled out an immediate review of the local legislation as the provincial board is still dominated by anti-open pit mining advocates.

The provincial environment code was signed by his predecessor Daisy Avance-Fuentes, now back as a member of the House of Representatives.

The Catholic Church here, led by Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez, a staunch critic and opposition to the presence of SMI in the province, hailed the passage of the said ordinance. (Edwin G. Espejo/MindaNews)

The open-pit mining ban was seen as an obstacle to the massive Tampakan copper-gold project of Sagittarius Mines Inc., which is controlled by Xstrata Copper, the world’s fourth largest copper producer.

On Monday, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, said that Executive Order 79, which President Benigno S. Aquino III signed on July 6, does not invalidate the open-pit mining ban imposed by South Cotabato.

“It [open pit ban] remains valid until invalidated by competent authorities,” Paje said in a televised press briefing in Malacanang.

Reacting to the environment’s secretary’s pronouncement, South Cotabato board member Ernesto Catedral dashed the hopes of those wanting a review of the environment code that bans open-pit mining.

“We’ve been waiting for that new mining policy so we can act on the petition. But from the pronouncement of Secretary Paje, we don’t have a reason to act,” he told MindaNews in a phone interview.

“It is a legally sound position,” Catedral said of the secretary’s position on the open-pit ban of the province.

Catedral chairs the joint committee on environmental protection and legal matters, where the petition to review the environment code, which contains the prohibition on open pit mining, has been pending.

The petition to review the open-pit mining ban, filed by the Regional Mineral Development Council in September 2010, was mainly anchored on two grounds–that it was contrary to Republic Act 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and to a “great extent” Republic Act 8371 or the Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997.

Vice Governor Elmo Tolosa said the new mining policy won’t have an effect on the open pit ban of the province.

“We are not banning mining, just the method of extracting the mineral,” he said in a radio interview.

Catedral said it is now up to Sagittarius Mines if they will seek other legal remedies, apparently referring to a court of justice.

He also stressed that the petition to review the open-pit ban, given the new mining policy of the national government, will be put aside also in deference to the past set of Sangguniang Panlalawigan members.

John B. Arnaldo, Sagittarius Mines external communications and media relations manager, earlier said that seeking a legal remedy is not the “immediate preferred option of the company.”

Arnaldo also noted that the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 or Republic Act 7942 does not prohibit open-pit mining method.

Paje said that while the open pit ban remains a valid ordinance, the national government will respect the contract of the mining company because it is an existing contract. (Bong Sarmiento/MindaNews)

Artemio Disini, president of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), said his organization of corporate mining companies “is already agreeable to the current rate (of government share) in the EO but it is really up to government to bring it up already.”

He said the Palace “should release the EO so that we can all move now.”

President Benigno Aquino was supposed to have signed the new EO on the revised mining policy on June 22. In Davao City on June 20, he told reporters the new EO was being fine-tuned as some provisions were superfluous.

June 22 passed but no EO was released.

“If the government really pushes on legislation work  (to update what it wants to be the level of government share), we do agree on the new rate. Just remove the restrictions and moratorium on the operation,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Forum on Responsible Mining held Tuesday at the Grand Men Seng Hotel here.

He said a change in the rate of government share in mining revenues would need either a legislation or “an agreement between the government and the industry.”

He would not say however, what the rate the government was thinking of on the stipulated excise tax, royalties and profit-sharing.

Current mandated rate is two percent excise tax. This is on top of the 30 percent contractor’s income tax, customs duties and fees, value added tax on imported equipment, goods and services, royalties in mineral reservations, documentary stamp tax, capital gains tax, tax on interest payments to foreign loans and tax on foreign stockholders’ dividends.

The industry is also paying to the host local governments business tax, real property tax, registration fee, occupation fee, community tax and “other local taxes depending on LGUs,” a COMP Powerpoint presentation said.

Disini said the delay in the release of the EO is making the mining industry uncomfortable but he said the other concern of the President on environmental protection was already addressed in previous meetings and discussions with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“There are enough guidelines already,” he added.

He said the delay has already caused concern among prospective investors. “It’s getting too long already. We also thought the EO was to be issued soon”.

The President ordered a moratorium on mining operations while he ordered his mining team to craft an EO which was apparently prompted by the holding in January this year of an international mining conference among “like-minded” opposition to large-scale mining using open-pit method.  The gathering was held at the Ateneo de Davao University, a member of the Catholic Education Association of the Philippines (CEAP), which publicly declared in its conference last year that it was opposing the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

Government has projected mining to be a banner revenue-generation industry.

Last year, mining generated P13.7 billion for government.  “This is roughly 10 percent of the total gross revenues of the industry.”

“If the restrictions were lifted, government should expect this share to go up 40 percent to 50 percent more as tax holidays would expire and companies would be paying the exact provision of the law,” he said.

Share would go up still higher if the 17 prospective investors would enter the industry. There are already 17 mining operations in the country, many of them large scale.

The COMP estimated a potential mining wealth in the country reaching $840 billion, or about P47 trillion. This size would be ten times its annual gross domestic product. (MindaNews)

Vilma Coter, a Mamanwa representative told MindaNews on the same day that they won’t budge despite the reported payment of royalty fees on Thursday amounting to P11 million.

In an interview Wednesday, Datu Renante Buklas said the issue is not about the royalty fees but the cease and desist order of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) issued on January 12, 2012 against Shen Zhou mining.

View Claver in a larger map

“Unless the rights of our tribe are not respected we won’t leave,” Buklas said in Cebuano, adding they were perplexed why the local NCIP has not acted on the order until now but instead told them that the company will still operate because it legally holds a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement or MPSA.

He said the royalty fees are not an issue because “this is the obligation of the Shen Zhou.”

On Tuesday, members of the 132nd Regional Public Safety Company (RPSC), Task Force Taganito, soldiers, militiamen, company guards and private security guards stormed the mining site and dismantled makeshift tents and barricades set up by the Mamanwas.

The presence of the group, according to Shen Zhou corporate secretary Jacqueline de Leon was “the decision of the crisis committee” as the company is facing an “ongoing dispute.”

She assured that the company is exercising full restraint in handling the situation and that “there is no harassment. In fact, kami nga ang hindi makaigib nang tubig at hindi makapasok sa site kasi pinigilan nila (we are the ones who could not fetch water nor enter the site).”

Saying the company is willing to pay the Mamanwas, she showed reporters DBP account no. 0850-027398-030 in the names of Shen Zhou Mining Group Corp. and NCIP TF (Trust Fund). The passbook showed that the first deposit was made on January 6, 2011 in the amount of P1.697 million. The last deposit was dated May 5, 2012 in the amount of P7.947 million.

The Mamanwas started their barricade on May 2, last week.

De Leon said there have been several negotiations that took place in the past showing the firm’s intent to settle “whatever issues” the Mamanwas have raised including the reported “boundary dispute” between Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur. Such dispute also caused a dispute between a Manobo leader named Kumander Jack and Buklas.

But Buklas said this is a non-issue as the claimant of the land being disputed is covered under the group’s CADT-048. He said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) refers to the same document, which means his group’s claim is legitimate.

The tribal chieftain said the issues should not be muddled since it is the Mamanwas’ right as owners of the ancestral land to exercise control over it.

“They will pay but they will have to get out,” he said.

Scuttled talks

MGB regional director Alilo Ensomo told Mindanews his office has not received the supposed cease and desist order from the NCIP and so could not act on it.

The process, he said, would have been that the line agencies concerned should have addressed its decision to MGB Manila or for that matter the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) which issued the mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA), which is the permit to operate.

Ensomo said he was only furnished a copy of the letter addressed to MGB Director Leo Jasareno.

“I can only issue a cease and desist and stop the operations of a mining company if there is imminent danger to lives and properties, (and) unless otherwise ordered by the Secretary,” he said.

Ensomo said he even brokered a “preliminary meeting” with Buklas and his lawyer, NCIP Surigao del Norte and the mining company on Friday, May 4, which was held at the NCIP provincial office in Surigao City.

A meeting planned on Tuesday was scuttled when Buklas and another tribal chieftain Datu Alicio Patac snubbed the invitation.

The scuttled talks could have preceded the arrival of government troops on Tuesday afternoon at the mine site together with NCIP officials, and reportedly Claver local officials.

Claver’s chief of police Senior Inspector Christopherson Cauilan said Mayor Rosemarie Mira-Gokiangkee formed a municipal crisis management committee to settle the tension in the area.

On Wednesday afternoon, Gokiangkee met with another tribal chieftain, Bae Joan Hukman of CADT 048 and Coter. In a text message, Coter said the talks still boiled down to telling them to accept the royalty payment and then leave the area.

Coter said the talk still reached a stalemate with them sticking to their call for Shen Zhou to stop operating and leave port.

Harassed

Rorok Buklas, a council member of the Taganito claimants who led the barricade at the dike going to the causeway of the mine site, said at least a hundred armed men are deployed around it.

“They even put up shields to prevent us from entering,” he said in Cebuano.

Buklas also said on Wednesday morning that police allegedly pointed a gun at his companions when they tried to stop them from going towards a barricade set up at one of the roads inside the mine site.

Cauilan, who was there at the interview, promised to investigate any of his men who will commit violations against the Mamanwas. The group has filed a report on the incident at the municipal police station.

On January 12, 2012, the NCIP En Banc ordered Shen Zhou Mining to cease and desist from operating after finding that the certificate of precondition (CP) issued by the regional NCIP is “void and invalid” as it was signed by only one NCIP commissioner.

A CP is issued upon obtaining the Free and Informed Prior Consent (FPIC) from the indigenous community where the mining applicant or contractor will operate.

It is also one of the requisites for the issuance of an Environmental Clearance Certificate by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

M11mamanwa

Mamanwas want mining firm out of Surigao

CAGDIANAO, Claver, Surigao del Norte (MindaNews/11 May) – Mamanwas vowed to continue barricading the mining site of Shen Zhou Mining Group Corporation here until the company shuts down and leaves port.

Vilma Coter, a Mamanwa representative told MindaNews on the same day that they won’t budge despite the reported payment of royalty fees on Thursday amounting to P11 million.

In an interview Wednesday, Datu Renante Buklas said the issue is not about the royalty fees but the cease and desist order of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) issued on January 12, 2012 against Shen Zhou mining.

“Unless the rights of our tribe are not respected we won’t leave,” Buklas said in Cebuano, adding they were perplexed why the local NCIP has not acted on the order until now but instead told them that the company will still operate because it legally holds a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement or MPSA.

He said the royalty fees are not an issue because “this is the obligation of the Shen Zhou.”

On Tuesday, members of the 132nd Regional Public Safety Company (RPSC), Task Force Taganito, soldiers, militiamen, company guards and private security guards stormed the mining site and dismantled makeshift tents and barricades set up by the Mamanwas.

The presence of the group, according to Shen Zhou corporate secretary Jacqueline de Leon was “the decision of the crisis committee” as the company is facing an “ongoing dispute.”

She assured that the company is exercising full restraint in handling the situation and that “there is no harassment. In fact, kami nga ang hindi makaigib nang tubig at hindi makapasok sa site kasi pinigilan nila (we are the ones who could not fetch water nor enter the site).”

Saying the company is willing to pay the Mamanwas, she showed reporters DBP account no. 0850-027398-030 in the names of Shen Zhou Mining Group Corp. and NCIP TF (Trust Fund). The passbook showed that the first deposit was made on January 6, 2011 in the amount of P1.697 million. The last deposit was dated May 5, 2012 in the amount of P7.947 million.

The Mamanwas started their barricade on May 2, last week.

De Leon said there have been several negotiations that took place in the past showing the firm’s intent to settle “whatever issues” the Mamanwas have raised including the reported “boundary dispute” between Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur. Such dispute also caused a dispute between a Manobo leader named Kumander Jack and Buklas.

But Buklas said this is a non-issue as the claimant of the land being disputed is covered under the group’s CADT-048. He said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) refers to the same document, which means his group’s claim is legitimate.

The tribal chieftain said the issues should not be muddled since it is the Mamanwas’ right as owners of the ancestral land to exercise control over it.

“They will pay but they will have to get out,” he said.

Scuttled talks

MGB regional director Alilo Ensomo told Mindanews his office has not received the supposed cease and desist order from the NCIP and so could not act on it.

The process, he said, would have been that the line agencies concerned should have addressed its decision to MGB Manila or for that matter the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) which issued the mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA), which is the permit to operate.

Ensomo said he was only furnished a copy of the letter addressed to MGB Director Leo Jasareno.

“I can only issue a cease and desist and stop the operations of a mining company if there is imminent danger to lives and properties, (and) unless otherwise ordered by the Secretary,” he said.

Ensomo said he even brokered a “preliminary meeting” with Buklas and his lawyer, NCIP Surigao del Norte and the mining company on Friday, May 4, which was held at the NCIP provincial office in Surigao City.

A meeting planned on Tuesday was scuttled when Buklas and another tribal chieftain Datu Alicio Patac snubbed the invitation.

The scuttled talks could have preceded the arrival of government troops on Tuesday afternoon at the mine site together with NCIP officials, and reportedly Claver local officials.

Claver’s chief of police Senior Inspector Christopherson Cauilan said Mayor Rosemarie Mira-Gokiangkee formed a municipal crisis management committee to settle the tension in the area.

On Wednesday afternoon, Gokiangkee met with another tribal chieftain, Bae Joan Hukman of CADT 048 and Coter. In a text message, Coter said the talks still boiled down to telling them to accept the royalty payment and then leave the area.

Coter said the talk still reached a stalemate with them sticking to their call for Shen Zhou to stop operating and leave port.

Harassed

Rorok Buklas, a council member of the Taganito claimants who led the barricade at the dike going to the causeway of the mine site, said at least a hundred armed men are deployed around it.

“They even put up shields to prevent us from entering,” he said in Cebuano.

Buklas also said on Wednesday morning that police allegedly pointed a gun at his companions when they tried to stop them from going towards a barricade set up at one of the roads inside the mine site.

Cauilan, who was there at the interview, promised to investigate any of his men who will commit violations against the Mamanwas. The group has filed a report on the incident at the municipal police station.

On January 12, 2012, the NCIP En Banc ordered Shen Zhou Mining to cease and desist from operating after finding that the certificate of precondition (CP) issued by the regional NCIP is “void and invalid” as it was signed by only one NCIP commissioner.

A CP is issued upon obtaining the Free and Informed Prior Consent (FPIC) from the indigenous community where the mining applicant or contractor will operate.

It is also one of the requisites for the issuance of an Environmental Clearance Certificate by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

The Mamanwas are now camping at key posts of the minesite of Shen Zou  Mining Group Corporation located at Kilometer 90, at the boundary of Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur, setting up barricades and campsites at the entrance, including the  guardhouse, to  bar the entry and exit of company officials and staff including their vehicles.

View Claver in a larger map

At least 15 Chinese personnel are reportedly inside the premises of the minesite.

Company guards interviewed said the causeway and the motorpool are now “under control” of the Mamanwas from Claver, Surigao del Norte.

“We tried to talk with them pero medyo init man sila…bagan tag-control na gani nila (its like they are already in control),” the company’s chief security officer Rene Gumanoy told reporters.

Gumanoy said the Mamanwas also set up barricades at the other roads going to the causeway.

Policemen from the Regional Mobile Group of the 132nd Regional Public Safety Company (RPSC) stationed at Km. 90 detachment on Thursday after receiving intelligence reports that “armed men” were seen Wednesday at the minesite.

Police Inspector Edgar Polay said they went to the minesite on Thursday but he claimed the Mamanwas threatened them to a fight using their bolos. “Wala lang barilan, itak lang,” (No guns, just bladed weapons), Polay quoted the Mamanwas as saying.

Polay also denied they were there to protect the mining company.

“Walang tayong kakampihan dito dahil sa security lang tayo (We are not siding with anybody here. We’re just securing the area). Ang sa amin ay insurgency lamang,” he said.

As of Saturday noon,  Polay’s men were expected to pull out of the minesite that afternoon.

Police Senior Inspector Capt. Christopherson Cauilan, chief of police of the municipality of Claver, took to task the eight RMG personnel who were inside the minesite. He said they should  not forget that their priority is to maintain peace and secure the area to prevent violence.

Cauilan said he received reports from Baby Coter, a Lumad (IP or indigenous peoples) representative and councilor of Barangay Camam-onan in Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte, and a certain Dumadag, administrative officer of Shen Zou, on Friday that some “commotion” happened in the area.

“We had to also confirm what happened, but so far peaceful naman. Ang request lang natin eh walang mangyayaring harassment on both sides” (Our request is that there would be no harassment on both sides),  Cauilan said addressing in-house security personnel and the RMG.

The Mamanwas on other hand initially refused to talk to reporters but later said they were there because they want the company to pay them an estimated P24 million royalty due them.

Under the Philippine Mining Act and the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, the  Lumads on whose ancestral domain a mining firm operates, are entitled to a royalty/share of 1%  of the gross production/output.

The Mamanwas are members of the controversial CADT-048 led by Datu Renante Buklas.

Buklas repeatedly declined an interview with reporters when contacted through his cellular phone.

Another tribe leader, Datu Alicio Patac, confirmed to reporters that the Mamanwas have resorted to setting up barricades and taking control of the causeway allegedly because the company has refused to honor its obligation to them.

Patac and Buklas through their lawyer, wrote Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Leo Jasareno to stop issuing the Mineral Ore Export Permit (MOEP) or OTP (ore transport permit) pending the “final decision of the National Commission on Indigenous People’s (NCIP)  of its decision dated 12 January 2012.”

On January 12, 2012, the NCIP in an en banc resolution ordered Shen Zou to “cease and desist” from operating after finding the company’s Certificate of Precondition (CP) issued by the NCIP on February 22, 2012 was “void ab initio” or a certificate issued without proper authority.

In the same en banc resolution, the NCIP said with this development, “all other agreements, licenses and similar issuances premised on the said CP  is “deemed void.”

A CP is issued after a Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) of the indigenous peoples is obtained.

Apparently, the order did not reach the company as it continued to operate until May 2, the same day  the Mamanwas started to barricade the mining company.

Buklas and Patac also sent a letter on February 27, 2012 to MGB regional director Engr. Alilo Ensomo Jr. on the NCIP’s decision.

Ensomo could not be reached for comment as of press time. However, over radio station  RPN-DXKS here on Thursday, Ensomo said he had forwarded a letter and the NCIP en banc decision to Jasareno and is now waiting for the “final instruction of the Central Office.”

This reporter also tried to contact Jasareno but he could not be reached by phone as of  5 p.m. Sunday.

Shen Zou is facing another case from the holder of the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA), Claver Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC), at the Regional Trial Court, 10th Judicial Region, Branch 29 here in Surigao City.

The case was filed against Shen Zou for the “Cancellation of Operating Agreement” for the latter’s failure to pay CMDC the 5% royalty “of the gross sales of all ores sold or shipped by the company.

Shen Zou and CMDC entered into an “Operating Agreement” in July 2009 with the provision that after its 25th shipment of ore, it will start paying CMDC the 5% royalty.

Shen Zou allegedly “fraudulenty violated the terms and conditions or stipulations” of the agreement and “unreasonably failed or refused to pay the above royalties despite constant demands.”

At the mine site, Shen Zou personnel declined to speak to reporters, claiming they cannot speak on behalf of their Chinese bosses. (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews with reports from Jun Clerigo/RPN-DXKS)

The 27th Infantry Battalion based in Tupi, SouthCotabato branded Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) –SOCCSKSARGEN spokesperson Ryan Lariba as “liar.” In turn, Bayan-SOCCSKSARGEN called the 27th IB “berdugo,” or butcher or executioner.

The harsh labeling, done via Facebook, originated from the April 22 Earth Day incident when groups supporting the Tampakan project allegedly blocked the solidarity mission of militant, religious and indigenous peoples’ groups from proceeding to the mountains.

In a Facebook post dated April 24, the 27^th Infantry (Action) Battalion called Lariba a “liar and wished that his soul burn in hell.”

“You are the one violating the human rights of the members of 27th Infantry Battalion. You know you are making false accusation in public,” the post reads.

“You were there. We were not. You are fabricating stories that are designed to malign the reputation and honor of the men in uniform. You are misleading the general public with your hallucination.” it added.

On Thursday, the Facebook account of Bayan-SOCCSKSARGEN tagged the 27th IB as “berdugo” and alleged protector of Sagittarius Mines, Inc.

It said the mine site had become militarized since news broke out in March that several tribal communities had set up barricades against the Tampakan project in protest to the relocation plans of the mining company.

Lt. Col. Alexis Noel Bravo, 27th IB commander, himself labeled Lariba as a “liar” over a local radio station during the futile attempt of the militant groups to go up Bong Mal district last April 22.

Bong Mal is the boundary between Tampakan town and Kiblawan, Davao del Sur that serves as a crucial artery in  the mines development site.

Blaan communities opposing the Tampakan project have set up several checkpoints in Bong Mal.

At the time, Lariba accused Sagittarius Mines and the 27thInfantry Battalion as behind the efforts to stop them from going to Bong Mal to express their solidarity to the tribesmen opposing the mining venture.

Bravo explained then that those who blocked the solidarity mission were groups supportive of the Tampakan project and that he ordered his troops to stay in their detachments and be prepared as reaction forces in case an accident would happen.

Portions of the way to Bong Mal have steep inclines accessible only by four-wheel drive vehicles.

Members of the solidary mission were on board jeepneys, elf trucks and multi-cabs.

The Tampakan project is touted as the largest known undeveloped copper-gold deposit in Southeast Asia.

The estimated contained copper at Tampakan in total resources has risen from 13.9 million metric tons to 15 million MT while estimated contained gold has risen from 16.2 million ounces to 17.9 Moz, according to the latest company study.

In January, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources rejected Sagittarius Mines’ application for an environmental compliance certificate, citing the unresolved open-pit mining ban imposed by South Cotabato province.

The company filed a motion for reconsideration but the Environment department has yet to announce a decision. (Bong Sarmiento/MindaNews)

Hotchkiss, the 24th commander of the Philippine Air Force and former Philippine Eagle Foundation president, yesterday issued a statement challenging the government to keep a close watch on the environment saying its degradation is the greatest threat to national security.

He gave the statement in an interview after he failed to join a mass protest against the ongoing mining operations in Surigao del Sur.

“I think we should preserve our last frontier and protect it for our best interest as a nation. If national security is our primary concern then it is not the rebel groups that we should be worried about but the destruction of our remaining ecosystem, our environment,” said Hotchkiss.

The retired general pointed out that during his term as the PAF commander he emphasized the importance of the environment and its protection.

“When I was young, as I fly by Caraga region, I was keen to observe its changes over the past few years. Can’t imagine the devastation we had brought upon our region’s rich natural ecosystem, our rainforest, rivers and mountains destroyed in just several years,” he said.

Hotchkiss also cited the recent standoff at the Scarborough or Panatag Shoal between the Philippines and China.

“The recent incident over the Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal proves that even China acknowledge the need for these natural reserves, as the areas are rich in marine and mineral reserves. Unless our government would act for its proper protection, we will lose this forever and other countries would benefit from it,” he said.

Hotchkiss and several groups in Surigao are now working for the protection of Mount Hilong-hilong which was recently declared as a key biodiversity area in the Philippines.

The mountain straddles Surigao and Agusan del Norte.

Since the 1990s, the US has also paid attention to the implications of environment issues like global warming on national security. An April 16, 2007 report by the Environment News Service (http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2007/2007-04-16-05.asp) said:

“In the United States, the first mention of environmental issues in the National Security Strategy (NSS), the document that periodically updates the strategy to make the nation secure, was made by President George H. W. Bush in the early 1990s. President Clinton highlighted it, and his defense secretary, William Perry, even made the environment a key point in his call for a revolution in security strategy.

“All of these officials have stated that while the environment may not be the traditional subject of security strategy discussions, environmental degradation and resource scarcity in various forms lie at the root of many of the world’s conflicts.”

The report added: “Although the environment was missing from President George W. Bush’s 2002 NSS, it was back in the next one, in 2006, possibly as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Since the Clinton era, there has been an environmental officer in the National Security Council. Now, the Military Advisory Board, a standing advisory committee composed of some of the most senior retired military personnel, has issued a report stating that global climate change represents a national security threat that could affect Americans at home.”

It further quoted retired Marine General Anthony Zinni, as having said, “We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, . . . [o]r, we will pay the price later in military terms.” (Erwin Mascarinas with a report from H. Marcos C. Mordeno/MindaNews)

The move was widely greeted with raised eyebrows from critics and even several SB members who voted against the endorsement for the Tampakan project.

But proponent Sagittarius Mines so far did not come out with any statement with an effect of victory even though this has been the talk of the town for a week already.

Vice Mayor Relly A. Leysa, SB presiding officer, told MindaNews last week that six councilors recently voted for the endorsement of the Tampakan project and four against, with one abstention.

“The 10 issues raised by the SB as an institution before the company have not been resolved, yet the majority decided to give its go signal for the mining project,” he said.

Among the key issues earlier raised by the SB include the final identification of land occupants in the final mine area, local prioritization of employment and business opportunity, absence of detailed rehabilitation and mine decommissioning plan, financial regime (indicative share of Tampakan town), and relocation issues.

A copy of the SB resolution endorsing the Tampakan project was not immediately available although a committee of the whole report dated April 11 recommended the passage of such measure.

Leysa, who voted against the endorsement, said the majority rammed the endorsement by overruling a parliamentary inquiry on the code of ethics of the members.

Based on our rules, members should disclose if they have interests in the issue on hand, and if this was observed, only two members could vote, he claimed.

Citing reports, majority of the SB members allegedly have business dealings with Sagittarius Mines such as car rental and catering services, Leysa said.

Efforts of the local media to get their side have been futile so far.

In a minority report signed by Leysa and the three other dissenters, they explained that that they objected to the endorsement on the grounds that it is still pre-mature and that the company has not resolved the local issues and concerns raised by the SB as a whole.

Also, they cited that President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III has yet to issue its new policies for the mining industry.

Leysa also said the endorsement was not appropriate since the mining firm’s motion for reconsideration on the environmental compliance certificate that was denied by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in January remains unresolved.

Ironically, Sagittarius Mines did not request the endorsement for the Tampakan project.

Tampakan Mayor Leonardo V. Escobillo sought the SB nod for the Tampakan project in separate letters dated March 5 and 29, 2012.

“We, the Executive Department, have been very keen in expressing our support for the Tampakan copper-gold project to be conducted by Sagittarius Mines. Notwithstanding, we acknowledge that the efforts of the Executive Department shall be worthless absent the support of its Sangguniang Bayan,” Mr. Escobillo said in his March 29 letter, a copy of which was obtained by this outfit.

Fr. Joseph Benitez, Tampakan parish priest, said they are still contemplating their actions against the endorsement of the SB for the Tampakan project.

“The decision was frustrating. In their internal rules, those who have [beneficial] interests should inhibit from voting,” the priest said.

Rene Pamplona, advocacy officer of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Marbel, said those who voted for the endorsement of the Tampakan project should be meted administrative sanctions for having conflict of interests.

He also stressed that Sagittarius Mines did not seek the endorsement.

“The Office of the Mayor is not the owner of SMI,” Mr. Pamplona noted.

He also slammed the SB endorsement by stressing that the open-pit mining ban, which the company plans to employ in extracting the Tampakan deposits, remains a standing ordinance of the provincial government of South Cotabato.

For his part, John B. Arnaldo, Sagittarius Mines corporate communications manager, said the “company could not confirm whether or not the Tampakan local government unit has endorsed the Tampakan Project through an LGU resolution.”

“We have not yet received an official communication from the Tampakan LGU regarding this,” he said last week. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)

With SMI also hesitant to go to court to question the constitutionality of the Code, it can, for the moment, kiss goodbye its bid to commence commercial operation in 2016 after the  Environmental Management Bureau of the environment department rejected its application for an environment clearance certificate, although it is now on appeal.

SMI, a wholly foreign-owned company controlled by the world’s fourth largest mining company Xstrata Plc, will have to re-apply and go through another tedious process of obtaining a required clearance if its pending appeal is likewise denied or rejected.

You can always argue that the hands of SMI were all over behind the recent resolution passed by host town Tampakan supporting the mining project.

And only the naïve will say SMI was not involved in frustrating separate successive attempts by two fact-finding teams to reach Bong Mal where the indigenous Blaan tribe has vowed to resist the company.

While those who blocked the church-backed mission this week and the one organized by the Left the week before to commemorate Earth Day were members of the Tribal Councils that have thrown support behind SMI, one also cannot be faulted if these anti-mining activists will accuse SMI of coopting the tribal leaders in exchange of promised job and other business opportunities.

Most of the tribal chieftains in the host communities that will be affected by the mining operations have been recipient of grants, favors and even contracts to supply manpower.  They have been given luxury vehicles and have been constantly bombarded with all glowing promises by company community organizers.

But the resistance put up by some tribal leaders has some valid points and real concerns.

For one, SMI recently announced it will no longer include residents and tribal community members in the proposed relocation plan, raising the possibility that those who will not relocate will be forcibly evicted.  SMI itself has announced that as many as 4,000 families will have to be relocated away from the village centers of Folu Bato (not Pula Bato), Danlag, Tablu and Bong Mal, all in Tampakan.  Also probably not explained is that these residents will no longer be allowed inside the almost 4,000-hectare mining area site and who knows how many more hectares for SMI’s buffer zones.

Tribal opposition has also evolved into spontaneous armed resistance with a group of armed Blaan men owning responsibility to a recent ambush that killed three drill men under contract with SMI.

Of course, Wednesday’s attack by communist guerillas at a military detachment in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat is another grim reminder that SMI, while welcomed by some, are also despised and hated by others.

SMI will have its hands full in addressing concerns from communities and residents that are against tis operations.  It will also have to answer issues on the environment and the fragile ecology of the mining area.

There is no easy way in for the company. (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Edwin Espejo writes for the asiancorrespondent.com)

Odchimar, former president of the Catholic Bishop Church in the Philippines (CBCP) said he did not need to speak after seeing at least 4,000 residents from various towns gather in response to his and environmentalists’ call for an “all-out protest” against mining and to take  a stand for mother earth.

Thousands more of representatives from the church and from various sectors also participated s by forming a human chain along the national highway from Cantilan to Madrid town at around 8 a.m.

In Madrid, a program was held near the Carac-an River shortly before noon.

In Carrascal town, some 1,000 residents and mine workers from mining companies operating in Carrascal expressed their support for mining, in a rally led byPimentel.

Participants gathered on the sides of the national highway and were entertained by a band at around 10 a.m. The rally in Carrascal was held also before noon.

No  to mining

Cantilan Mayor Genito Guardo said majority of his constituents are opposed to mining because the mining activities of Marc Ventures Mining Development Corporation has caused the degradation of  their environment.

He said residents are in danger because their watershed has been affected by the ongoing mining operations which he said had no permit to operate.

He blamed the mining firm for aggravating the situation, citing, among others, an “unprecedented flooding” last year which destroyed thousands of hectares of farmlands.

Guardo said the mining firm has contributed nothing, “not even a single centavo” to the town’s coffers.

He said Marc Ventures attempted to secure a permit for its nickel mining project and even tried to pay local taxes but he said the people of Cantilan do not need their taxes and their presence.

Retired Air Force Brig. General Charles Hotchkiss, now executive vice president of the family—owned Cantilan Bank, said mining operations do not just pollute the rivers and shorelines of Surigao del Sur but also ruin the life of the entire community.

Employees of the bank joined Hotchkiss in the riverside rally. The Carac-an River, said Hotchkiss, feeds the 14 irrigation systems that provide water for the farmlands in Madrid and neighboring towns.

“Our environment is a gift from God, but creation is in pain because we can see the destruction imposed by man on it. It is very important for us to express how we feel in the protection of our environment, because God did not transfer ownership to us but transferred stewardship to us as caretakers of mother earth,” said Fr. Elvis Petros.

Hotchkiss said he does not mind if mining firms and their allies do not avail of the services of the family-owned bank.

He said Marc Ventures used to transact in the bank but stopped because of the family’s position on mining.  His sister, Emma, is president of the Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen, Lanuza (CCMCL) Baywatch Foundation which is very active in opposing mining operations in the area.

Hothckiss said their bank has been serving the area since 1980 and has been helping micro entrepreneurs, especially the farmers.

Mining, he said, is destroying their watershed and his bank’s clients, many of them farmers, have been complaining on the effects of mining in their farmlands.

MindaNews sought the president of Marc Ventures for comment but he could not be reached.

Rosalina Montinegro, a Mamanwa tribe member from Cortes town, told MindaNews that even as there are no mining operations in their town, this doesn’t mean that they are not affected. He said fellow Mamanwas in the affected areas can no longer gather firewood in their area and will therefore move to their area to gather wood and food.

Yes to mining

Carrascal Mayor Vincente Pimentel said mining is needed for his town to progress.

He told MindaNews that mining has contributed to the local coffers but did not say how much. He said the mining sector’s contribution means more funds for education, livelihood, agriculture, infrastructure and other social services.

Pimentel said three large-scale mining firms are operating in this fourth class town: Carrascal Mining Corporation, Marc Ventures, and CTP Construction and Mining Corporation.

CTP stands for Clarence T. Pimentel, the mayor’s elder brother who recently passed away.

Pimentel said that aside from paying taxes, these firms contribute some P70 million to the local government, at P6 per ton as environmental hazard pay.

He said the presence of minerals in his town is a gift from God that must be utilized for the advancement of the people.

Domalyn Calinawan, 30, of Barangay Adlay, Carrascal, Surigao del Sur said mining can help uplift their situation.

She said her husband, a former fisherman, is now a worker in one of the mining firms and can now afford to put food on the table.

She said she joined the rally because the income from mining has helped them raise their six children.

“Kon pangisda lang ang amo saligan, inday (ambot) kon mabuhi kami ini koman (karon),” [if we depended only on fishing, I don’t know if we could survive]. she said.

Divided

Surigao del Sur has a long history of mining operations but remains among the poorest of the poor provinces.

In 2008,  Mayor Pimentel, then Governor, criticized the Church whose representatives were present in a forum on Marc Ventures’ nickel project, for its stand against mining.

“The Church wants the people to be poor so that people would constantly supplicate on them. We should not allow them to dictate to us. How will the anti-mining advocates solve unemployment?”  Pimentel asked, adding in ten years, there will be no more poor people in Carrascal.

Bishop Odchimar had criticized as “bribery” the distribution of P90,000 per barangay captain cash benefits and other assistance including P20-M rehabilitation work of barangay roads and bridges allegedly given by Marc Ventures Mining while its application for environmental clearance was pending.

According to Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau then, the company was implementing its Social Development and Mining Plan.

Human chain

Participants to Saturday’s anti-mining rally tried to form a human chain in the towns of  Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmenand Lanuza (CarCanMadCarLan).

An hour later, vehicles from other parts of Surigao del Sur and from as far as Bislig City started arriving at the Carac-an Bridge for a concelebrated mass by the Bishop and parish priests in all 18 towns of Surigao del Sur.

Mayor Guardo said this was the biggest event and the first ever for residents of CarCanMadCarLan who are against mining and the destruction of their ecosystem.

“Since 1995, our town had stood in defiance against mining companies who tried to come in and establish their trade here. Sad to say, they are finding a different way to get inside our town. Now Marc Ventures has started its operation in Barangay Kabangahan part of this town without any business permit and mayor’s permit,” he said.

Guardo explained that even if they want to raid the area since it is illegal, they are exerting efforts to settle the problem to avert bloodshed.

“We are here to support the call for anti mining and the need for us to protect our environment. Our group consisting of almost 200 peoples started our trip at around 2 a.m just to get here on time. On our way, we also noticed other groups as we passed by other towns. It is heartwarming to be a part of such a huge activity,” said Evic Peninsula of St. Thomas parish in Bislig City.

About a hundred police personnel from the consolidated police force of the towns representing CarCanMadCarLan were deployed to the riverside rally venue, supported by the Provincial Public Safety Battalion, complete with ambulances and fire trucks. (Roel Catoto and Erwin Mascarinas/MindaNews)

At least three roadblocks were set up in the towns of Tampakan and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur to prevent the fact-finding mission from going to their destination, Rene Pamplona, advocacy officer of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Marbel, said.

He said they are planning to proceed tomorrow (Thursday), with the help Diocese of Digos, to Bong Mal through Kiblawan town.

Bong Mal can be accessed through the towns of Tampakan and Kiblawan, about three hours apart using the General Santos City- Davao City highway.

“The fact-finding team will go to the tribal communities directly affected by the Tampakan project to find out firsthand the real situation there,” he said earlier today.

But even if the group could not go to Bong Mal, they can still gather testimonies as several residents have decided to descend from the mountains to talk with the fact-finding team, he said.

Those who went down were expected to reach the lowland this (Wednesday) evening, Pamplona said.

He said the two-day mission also seeks to gather evidence that the mining firm “does not respect lawful orders.”

An estimated 1,000 tribal members were expected to gather in the mines development site to call on Sagittarius Mines to abandon its project during the fact-finding mission, he said.

Pamplona said there have been complaints from tribal community members that the company, in cahoots with the military, has been allegedly curtailing their religious and cultural practices.

The fact-finding mission came days after militant groups tried but failed to reach the mines development site for a solidarity mission with the tribesmen opposing the Tampakan project.

Last Sunday, militant groups returned after they claimed that two vehicles blocked their way towards the mountains here. They blamed the company and the military for the blockade.

John B. Arnaldo, Sagittarius Mines corporate communications manager, said that the company is “committed to open and transparent engagement.

“A commitment to ethical behavior guides SMI’s approach to how it responds to actions by stakeholders and how it conducts its business,” he said.

Arnaldo said that SMI has always conducted its business “through genuine partnerships by working ethically, responsibly, openly and with others.”

SMI will continue to talk openly with stakeholders about its plans. This includes engaging in facts-based, reasoned discussions with those opposed to the Tampakan Project in the spirit of transparency, he said.

Lt. Col. Alexis Noel C. Bravo, 27th Infantry Battalion commander, said earlier that soldiers have been deployed in the mines development site due to the security threats posed by the communist New People’s Army.

The military official denied that soldiers were deployed there to protect and advance the interest of Sagittarius Mines.

Since last month, members of the B’laan tribe opposing the mining project have set up barricades in various portions within the tenement of Sagittarius Mines.

The move was triggered by the plan of the mining firm to relocate them from the mines development site.

The blockades were set up Bong Mal, the boundary between Tampakan and  Kiblawan that serves as crucial artery for the mining firm to move around the mines development site.

Before the barricades were put up, there have been indications from some tribal communities in Bong Mal that the mining firm should abandon its venture, despite the project’s touted economic benefits for the residents like jobs, education, health and other basic social services.

Last year, disgruntled tribal members resorted to violence in dismay over the firm’s continued operation in the area. They ambushed workers of a construction firm hired by company resulting in the death of three persons.

Pamplona also said the fact-finding mission will seek to establish that Sagittarius Mines “has been violating” the order of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Last January, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje issued an order denying the company’s application for an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for the Tampakan project.

Paje cited the open-pit mining ban imposed by the provincial government of South Cotabato in denying the firm’s ECC application.

Paje’s order also directed the mining company to refrain from doing any activities in the area it has applied for.

Sagittarius Mines eventually filed a motion for reconsideration but the Environment department has yet to issue a decision.

Pamplona said the mining firm still has operations in the mines development site even with the DENR order.

The fact-finding mission was composed of representatives from at least three Catholic dioceses in Mindanao, the Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc., the Alyansa Tigil Mina, Legal Rights Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/ Friends of the Earth-Philippines, and the Philippine Human Rights Information Center, among others.

The group also invited representatives from the Human Rights Commission.

Meanwhile, members of Philippine and foreign workers’ groups will also start today a week-long fact-finding mission on mining-related issues in the Caraga Region.

Foreign delegates coming from labor groups in South Korea, United States, Belgium, Australia, Japan and Germany will join their counterparts from the Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines, integrated Philippine Electronics Network (iPEN) and other local groups.

The mission in Caraga will look into the mining methods being used by transnational companies and find ways to protect communities and workers “from the destruction engendered by mining operations.”

The mission will also assess the impact of mining operations on employment, environment, and work conditions in the mine sites.

Caraga Region comprises the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Island. (Bong Sarmiento with reports from H. Marcos C. Mordeno/MindaNews

Lariba said their Solidarity Mission caravan was blocked in Barangay Pula Bato en route to the mines development site.

“This is plain harassment, we only want to peacefully air our support to the Lumads (indigenous peoples) who are against the Tampakan mining project,” he said in a telephone interview.

Lariba said some 500 individuals on board several vehicles from the religious, indigenous peoples and militant groups were bound for Bong Mal but two pick-up vehicles stood on their way.

He accused Sagittarius Mines and the 27th Infantry Battalion to be behind the blockade.

Bong Mal is the boundary between Tampakan town and Kiblawan, Davao del Sur that serves as a crucial artery in the mines development site.

John Arnaldo, Sagittarius Mines, corporate communications manager, said the company is are of  plans by some anti-mining groups to stage protest rallies and that it has “has always respected, and will continue to respect, the rights of communities to express their views and concerns through peaceful protest.”

“A commitment to ethical behavior guides SMI’s approach to how it responds to actions by stakeholders and how it conducts its business,” he said, adding the company is “committed to open and transparent engagement,” he said.

Lt. Col Alexis Noel Bravo, 27th IB commander, denied the military was behind the effort to block the solidarity mission from proceeding to Bong Mal.

“It’s the IP (indigenous peoples) supportive of the Tampakan project that blocked the road. We have no troops on the road,” he told reporters.

Bravo said he strictly “ordered his troops deployed in the mines development site to stay on their detachment” and for them to be prepared as reaction forces in case an accident would happen.

The road towards the mines development site is treacherous and dangerous, he said.

Portions of the way to Bong Mal have stiff inclines accessible only by four-wheel drive vehicles.

The protesters were on board jeepneys, elf truck and multi-cabs, said Lariba.

Laribsa said they decided to turn back due to security considerations.

He said they were supposed to have pit stops in eight communities in Bong Mal.

Still, he claimed “victory for their thwarted activity as the mining company has become desperate that it employed such a trick.”

Lariba said they “feel disappointed” that they could not show their solidarity to the tribal communities in Bong Mal that are opposed to the Tampakan project.

For some weeks now, members of the B’laan tribe in Bong Mal have set up their own barricades against Sagittarius Mines, in protest of the mining firm’s plan to relocate them out of their ancestral lands.

Arnaldo said that through the years, SMI has been investing in “communication and engagement activities that will help our stakeholders, especially the host communities, eventually arrive at an informed decision on our proposed plans and programs for the Tampakan Project.”

“As many from our communities will attest, SMI has always conducted its business through genuine partnerships by working ethically, responsibly, openly and with others,” he aid.

Arnaldo added SMI will continue to talk openly with stakeholders about its plans. “This includes engaging in facts-based, reasoned discussions with those opposed to the Tampakan Project in the spirit of transparency,” he said.

The Tampakan project is touted as the largest known undeveloped copper-gold deposit in Southeast Asia.

The estimated contained copper at Tampakan has risen from 13.9 million metric tons to 15 million MT while estimated contained gold has risen from 16.2 million ounces to 17.9 M oz, according to the latest company study.

In January, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) rejected Sagittarius Mines’ application for an environmental compliance certificate, citing the unresolved open-pit mining ban imposed by South Cotabato province.

The company filed a motion for reconsideration but the DENR has yet to issue a decision. (Bong Sarmiento/MindaNews)

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The order, issued by MGB-9 OIC Regional Director Albert Johann Jacildo on April 13 but released on April 16, said illegal mining activities in the region have become rampant and alarming as it has “not only depleted government mineral resources but caused unnecessary violence in affected areas resulting to loss of people’s lives.”

The CDO’s release came a day after Mayor Leonardo Babasa convened the Crisis Management Committee to find ways to defuse the tension at the minesite in Balabag. The Committee passed a resolution asking TVI Resource Development (Phils), Inc. to allow the entry of diesel fuel pending the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board’s (PMRB) resolution on who has rights over the mining area.

Since April 5,  trucks bearing diesel fuel and other mining-related materials have been barred entry at the Inter-Agency checkpoint at the junction in Depore as TVI, a Philippine affiliate of  the Canadian publicly-listed TVI Pacific, claims it has rights over the gold-rich area as holder of a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) covering 4,779 hectares under the Mining Act of 1995. The Monte de Oro Small-Scale Mining Association (Mossma), on the other hand, claims it has prior rights under the People’s Mining Act of 1991 over a portion of TVI’s MPSA, which it wants segregated and declared as Minahang Bayan or People’s Small-Scale Mining Area.

Diesel is used to run the rod mills and cyanidation plants of Mossma members but TVI maintains the operating illegally.

The contested area is less than a hundred hectares, based on Mossma’s claims of from 20 hectares to 80 hectares.

TVI geologist Jay Elvina, OIC of the Balabag Exploration Project told MindaNews on Friday that the contested area is about 10 hectares. He said this area has a confirmed presence of about 100,000 ounces of gold and a life of mine of  “five to 10 years.”

An ounce of gold at Sunday’s trading price costs USD 1,657.38 per ounce or PhP70,670.68.

TVI has been negotiating with Mossma members and has compensated a number of them for the dismantling of their structures at the minesite and signing a waiver and quitclaim. But a number of miners have refused to vacate the area.

The Municipal Peace and Order Council on Friday passed an urgent resolution asking the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB) headed by MGB regional director Jacildo to immediately resolve the mining rights issue. The PMRB’s last meeting on February 17 gave Mossma, TVI and itself 90 days or up to May 17 within which to submit position papers and study the issue, after which “the matter will be evaluated by the Board and another meeting will be scheduled for the deliberations and decision.”

MindaNews late Sunday e-mailed Ron Jabal, TVI’s Public Affairs Director, on the company’s response to the Crisis Committee’s resolution passed on Sunday but he said Monday noon that the national government through the MGB “has already intervened in the issue by issuing a Cease and Desist Order against all forms of illegal mining activities in Region IX.”

“We are expecting pertinent authorities to implement this in our mineral development area in Balabag, Bayog Zamboanga del Sur,” he said.

Jacildo ordered the stoppage of “all forms of illegal mining activities in the region including but not limited to small-scale mining operations “absent the requisite People’s Small-Scale Mining Contact in violation of Section 8, Republic Act 7076 otherwise known as the People’s Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991;” and “Carbon-in-pulp (CIP) gold processing operations absent the required Mineral Processing Permit which is punishable under Chapter XI of DAO No. 2010-21 implementing Republic Act 7942 otherwise known as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.”

Arandy Silva, Mossma’s chief operations officer, told MindaNews they will file a motion for reconsideration of the CDO.

Meanwhile, a report from the Police Regional Office in Zamboanga del Sur Monday evening said Depore barangay captain Francisco Arado was shot dead and two other barangay officials injured in a shooting incident at around 5:20 p.m.

The report identified the injured officials as barangay councilor Ernesto Mancao and barangay secretary Editha Navarro. Both were rushed to Pagadian Hospital.

No other details were made available. It is not clear if the shooting incident has anything to do with the tension in Depore.

Mayor Babasa told MindaNews, “it’s possible.” (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

“They (PMRB) should act now or else it will be bloody,” Mayor Leonardo Babasa told MindaNews late Friday afternoon, about an hour after members of the Monte de Oro Small-Scale Mining Association (Mossma) who staged a rally at the junction in  Sitio Balabag, Barangay Depore, attempted to remove the barricade at the Inter-Agency (IA) checkpoint here to allow trucks bearing diesel fuel to proceed to the minesite. The fuel is needed to run their rod mills and cyanidation plants.

Tension heightened on Saturday afternoon, the second day of the rally when Mossma members forced their way through, allowing three trucks bearing drums of diesel fuel to enter, Babasa told MindaNews by phone late Saturday night. He said blue guards of the TVI Resource Development (Phils) Inc.. Philippine affiliate of TVI Pacific, Inc., a publicly listed Canadian mining firm, fired shots at the tires but the trucks still managed to pass through.

(Mayor Babasa told MindaNews Sunday evening that the town’s Crisis Management Committee met earlier that morning and passed a resolution asking TVI to maintain the status quo by allowing the entry of diesel fuel in the minesite. He said TVI can bar the entry of illegal materials such as cyanide but diesel fuel should be allowed in pending the PMRB’s resolution on the mining rights issue. He also said they asked Mossma members for sobriety. No rally was held on Sunday).

Since April 5,  trucks bearing diesel fuel and mining-related chemicals and tools, have been barred entry at the IA checkpoint, with TVI claiming it has rights over the gold-rich area as holder of a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) over 4,779 hectares, under the Mining Act of 1995. Mossma, on the other hand, claims it has prior rights under the People’s Mining Act of 1991 over a portion of TVI’s MPSA, which it has been mining allegedly since the mid-1980s and which it had repeatedly petitioned to be segregated from TVI’s MPSA and declared as Minahang Bayan or People’s Small-Scale Mining Area

Pastor Albert Tiondo, Mossma’s Indigenous Peoples-Community Development Facilitator, told MindaNews Friday that they massed up in front of the IA checkpoint to air their sentiments over the alleged cutting off of their water system by TVI, harassments and this recent ban on entry of diesel fuel and mining-related needs. He also claimed the company imposed a “food blockade,” a claim TVI denied.

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“We will not eat, Sir?

“We are not barring the entry of rice and food supply,” said retired Col. Cip Bayan, TVI’s head of security at the IA checkpoint. He told MindaNews on Friday afternoon that what they are barring is the entry of materials “used in illegal mining.”

He said rice and food supply are allowed into the mining site but the miners refuse to bring in the rice without the diesel fuel.

Anna Marie Garcia, who operates a rod mill at the minesite, cut off the rope of the checkpoint’s boom using a lighter last Friday and pushed the barricade in an attempt to let the trucks pass. She told MindaNews they need the diesel to get the rod mills operating, so they can earn and be able to buy food.

Diesel is also needed to operate the CIP (carbon-in-pulp) cyanidation plants.

When Bayog police chief Sr. Insp. Daniel Pel-ey and 53^rd Infantry Battalion chief Lt. Col. Nasser Pendatun tried to pacify Garcia by saying they will bring the matter to their superiors, she asked, “So gikan karon adalawa taman usa ka bulan maghulat mi sa inyong giingann nga tawagan? Dili na mi  mangaon sir? Di na mi manganon?” (So starting today until one month later, while we wait for the response of those you will call, we will not eat anymore, Sir? We will not eat?).

“Ultimo giutang tulo ka sakong bugas wala na miy ikabayad gumikan kay wa mi crudo. Karon lang nakiusap mi, karon lang di nyo kami mapagbigyan?” (The three sacks of rice we can’t pay for anymore because we don’t’ have diesel (to run the rod mills). We are pleading now, can’t you allow us?” she asked.

Illegal operations

TVI’s Makati-based Public Affairs Director Ron Jabal told MindaNews on Saturday: “what they conveniently forget to say is that they are operating illegally hence are technically engaged in minerals theft. (Diesel) is not being allowed because this is used in the illegal operations. What they conveniently don’t discuss is the use of child labor and the use of environmentally destructive and unsafe methods and processes.”

“The real issue here is who has the legal right to minerals development and who can better provide safe mining projects that contribute to host and impact communities. We believe that governmen and the TVI can do this and not the illegal small-scale mining operators and financiers,” he said

Mossma has repeatedly stressed in its petitions that it has prior rights in the area.

“There’s a standoff,” Babasa told MindaNews late Friday afternoon, adding the PMRB should immediately resolve the issu

But the PMRB in its last meeting on February 17 gave Mossma, TVI and itself 90 days “:including the mailing and furnishing of copies of the position papers and other supporting documents that the parties may submit.”

Ninety days from February 17 is May 17, after which “the matter will be evaluated by the Board and another meeting will be scheduled for the deliberations and decision.”

Reports on the complaints of Mossma members over the alleged harassment by TVI and the banned entry of diesel fuel have reached Governor Antonio Cerilles but he told MindaNews on Thursday that as the MPSA holder, “it is the obligation of TVI to police their area.”

Cease and Desist Order

Cerilles, who served as Environment Secretary under the Estrada administration, and is PMRB vice chair (the chair is MGB regional director Albert Johann Jacildo), maintained the small-scale miners are operating illegally, have no permits issued by government, have no environmental clearance certificates while TVI has an MPSA issued by government.

Minutes of the February 17 PMRB meeting, a copy of which was given to MindaNews by TVI, showed that apart from the 90-day period as agreed upon by Mossma, TVI and the PMRB,  the PMRB “unanimously agreed to issue Cease and Desist Order (CDO) to all illegal mining operations/activities in the Province of Zamboanga del Sur” which it described as a “reinforcement effort to the 2 CDOs issued before by DENR, MGB/EMB last 2003 and by the Prov. Governor Aurora Cerilles of Zamboanga del Sur last June 2010, although the latter ones were issued specifically against the operations at Balabag, Bayog.”

TVI’s Dennis Baguio of Public Affairs and Pablo Luyao of Community Relations, told MindaNews last Friday that Jacildo had yet to sign the CDO although they stressed this was a “reinforcement effort.”

MindaNews sought Jacildo for verification but he could not be reached.

Rich deposit

Mossma’s claimed portion within TVI’s MPSA is less than a hundred hectares. Mossma technical consultant and spokesperson Edgar Baling claims the area they are fighting for is only about 20 hectares. Mossma’s petition before the Panel of Arbitrators of the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (MGB) on March 20, 2012 cites 40 hectares while its September 6, 2011 letter to MGB chief Leo Jasareno put the figure at “more or less 80 hectares.”

TVI geologist Jay Elvina, OIC of the Balabag Exploration Project said the contested area is about 10 hectares with a confirmed presence of about 100,000 ounces of gold and a life of mine of  “five to 10 years.”

An ounce of gold at Sunday’s trading price costs USD 1,657.38 per ounce or PhP70,670.68.

TVI has been negotiating with Mossma members and has compensated a number of them for the dismantling of their structures at the minesite and signing a waiver and quitclaim. But a number of miners have refused to vacate the area.

Pastor Tiondo said that since TVI’s negotiations, there remains only about “3,000 to 4,000”  miners, workers and family members at the minesite now, compared with “5,000 to 6,000” before.  He said the number of rod mill operators has gone down to 24 from 30 and the cyanidation plants or carbon-in-pulp plants is down to 21 operators with 45 tanks, from 24 operators

Mossma members decried a supposed “silent attack” to demolish the remaining structures at the minesite owned by 17 Mossma members, including the big-time financiers of the small-scale mining operations, on or before April 1, according to alleged e-mail exchanges that Baling said were leaked to the group by a TVI insider.  TVI’s Jabal said  the e-mail exchanges were “fabricated” while Governor Cerilles, who was implicated in the e-mails as having consented to the demolition said these were “false documents.”

No demolition occurred before April 1 but effective April 5, trucks bearing diesel fuel and other mining-related needs were barred from entering, effectively paralyzing operations.

A visit to the minesite on Friday showed several rod mills lying idle although a few were still milling ore.

Tension

Friday’s tension at the checkpoint was not as much as Saturday’s when Mossma members managed to let three trucks pass.

“Gilata nila sa bala ang sakyanan” (They fired at the vehicles), Tiondo told MindaNews by telephone.

Arandy Silva, Mossma’s chief operations officer said the police ordered those who attended the rally to go home to avoid violence.

Baling said “wala na kaagwanta, ang mga tao gidasmagan ang boom sa checkpoint. Gi-strafing (sa TVI) ang sakyanan” (they could not take it anymore so the people decided to force their way through. TVI strafed the vehicles).

TVI’s incident report from Balabag, furnished to MindaNews by Jabal noted that some 200 Mossma members, around the same number in Friday’s rally, chanted and demanded  the entry of trucks loaded with diesel.

The TVI report said representatives of Mossma members led by Lalang Paquit sought permission at the IA checkpoint to allow the entry of rice. “We replied that they are free to get the rice but not the diesel-filled drums along with it,” the report said.

At around 4 p.m., the report added, Mossma members “started to converge violently at the boom area, throwing rocks and started to forcibly open the boom and remove the barricades and the PNP  immediately  formed a human barricade to block the picketers.  However, the picketers were able to push and shove and overpower the authorities that made possible the entry of three trucks loaded with diesel which prompted the blue guards stationed at the boom to shoot at the tires.  The trucks were able to travel all the way up to the Site area running on flat tires.”
It added that two TVI guards “were hit by stones on their forehead causing minor open wound injuries.”

Commisioner Jose Manuel Mamauag of the Commission on Human Rights told MindaNews on Saturday that they will send CHR personnel to the minesite to initiate a dialogue between the contending parties and to monitor the situation there.  (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

Cotabato Archbishop Orlando B. Quevedo, former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Bishop Dinualdo D. Gutierrez of the Diocese of Marbel, Bishop Guillermo Afable of the Diocese of Digos and Bishop Romulo dela Cruz of the Diocese of Kidapawan have petitioned the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of South Cotabato to refrain from amending the open pit mining ban contained in its environment code.

The ban on open-pit mining was seen as an obstacle to the plans of Sagittarius Mines, Inc. to commercially develop the Tampakan project, which has an estimated capital requirement of $5.9 billion.

In June 2010, then governor and now Second District Rep. Daisy Avance Fuentes approved the environment code that bans open pit mining in the province. Pro-mining groups eventually asked the SP to reconsider the ban on open pit mining so that Sagittarius Mines could proceed without a hitch.

The bishops recently filed their petition to the SP with the attached signatures of about 30,000 residents from the four dioceses to maintain the prohibition on open-pit mining.

“We are determined to protect and promote the integrity of God’s creation by not allowing the senseless destruction of 1,087 flora and 289 fauna many of which are endemic to Mindanao,” the bishops said in the resolution.

“The 4,293.01 hectares of irrigated farmlands of the 1,873 rice farmers with an average of 17,172 tons or rice per cropping are greatly dependent on the water supply originating from the Quezon mountain range to which the Tampakan watershed belongs and such mining operations will directly affect and threaten food security,” they added.

The bishops also claimed that the operation of Sagittarius Mines has already caused violent incidents and violation of human rights, especially the right to worship and self-determination of the indigenous peoples.

They were apparently referring to the successful attacks of the communist New People’s Army rebels since 2008 on the base camp of Sagittarius Mines in Tampakan and the subsequent raid on the municipal police station.

Last year, disgruntled tribal members within the mines development site ambushed and killed three workers of a construction firm contracted by the mining company.

John B. Arnaldo, Sagittarius Mines corporate communications manager, has repeatedly said that the open-pit mining ban imposed by South Cotabato violates the Philippine Mining Act.

“The Philippine mining law does not prohibit the open-pit mining method,” Arnaldo said. (Bong Sarmiento/MindaNews)