The Alyansa Tigil Mina Blog

April 17-21,2006, Maharlika Training Center, Lipata, Surigao City

Conference statement

“Remember, LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows. We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price. Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest.”
(Lamentations 5: 1-5)

Our Witnessing
Ours is a mining industry lorded over by transnational corporations and by the whims and caprices of the globalized mining industry. It is a mining industry that further entrenches our maldevelopment by stunting our national industrialization ideally anchored on the rational utilization of our vast and varied mineral base. It is a mining industry that extracts, rapes, denudes, divests, drains, and brings about division and death to our environment and indigenous peoples. It is a mining industry that invades our territory, steals our sovereignty, corrupts our system of governance, circumvents the rule of law, and violates the dignity of persons and of Creation.

We have seen these things first hand in the destruction wrought by transnational and local large scale mining firms on the social and environmental landscape of Surigao del Norte. Deepening and widening wounds are eminent on the face of a province that is a haven for rich aquatic resources and marine life, rice fields, vegetation, and forestry. The environmental degradation that we have witnessed provided us a microcosm of the extensive damage large scale mining ushers into Mindanao, in particular.

Large scale mining companies are salivating and, in fact, are already ravaging part of Mindanao’s3.6 billion metric tons of metallic and 8 billion metric tons of non-metallic mineral reserves— making up half of the country’s 7.1 billion metric tons of minerals. Eleven of the 24 priority mining projects declared by the government are in Mindanao. These foreign companies, aided by their local dummies, bring about displacement and human rights violations through militarization.

We debunk the sales pitch of the Arroyo administration to encourage large scale mining investments in the country. These are rehashed myths and lies spinned to portray large scale mining TNCs as harbingers of our development and economic salvation. The global and national mining situation is replete with evidence that TNC mining in fact displaces productive human resource and increase unemployment, leave mining areas as ghost towns, slacken national growth, and disintegrates cultures and societies, aside from the obvious ecological damage.

We are concerned that our people are fast losing faith in the institutional processes of government. As government engages in a fervid sales pitch abroad to promote the vast potentials of our mineral lands, we increasingly see the bureaucracy not standing on the side of the people. The Supreme Court ruling upholding the Constitutionality of the Mining Act also sends the signal to all that the judicial process is a long-shot recourse even as we try to avail of whatever remaining legal remedies we can to prolong, defend, or mitigate the incursion of large scale mining.

Our Convergence…
We are the mining-affected and threatened communities, the religious, indigenous peoples, Moro, small scale miners, people’s organizations, and non-government organizations coming from various networks, charisms, persuasions, and subregions in Mindanao.

We bind ourselves in our common understanding that largescale mining is a great social and environmental plague that deserves to be exorcised from our country and from our communities.
We likewise strongly uphold that the time to protect our national patrimony and sovereignty is now, when largescale mining plunder is unprecedented as ever in its insidious attacks

We endeavor to create an ever-increasing synergy of people’s mobilizations to resist largescale mining in Mindanao by contributing our various independent, inter-dependent, and complementary anti-mining initiatives.

Our unity is propelled by our common appreciation of the need for genuine national industrialization and for a mining policy that is pro-people and pro-environment.
While we are aware that the initial unities we have gained in this convergence need to be further refined and strengthened given our social, economic, and cultural divergences, we are firm in our resolve that the fight at this moment is to be concentrated on largescale mining TNCs and their local agents.

We unite today with the pledge to continue deepening our understanding of national industrialization and enhancing the People’s Alternative Mining Policy for the interest of the peoples and environment especially of Mindanao.

Our Calls and Commitment…
We therefore unwaveringly call to RESIST THE LIBERALIZATION OF THE MINING INDUSTRY by SCRAPPING THE MINING ACT OF 1995!

We oppose landgrabbing of ancestral domains by mining TNCs and the ensuing ethnocide of our Lumad peoples in Mindanao.

We push for Filipino-owned, regulated small-scale mining leading towards nationalization of the mining industry for genuine industrialization.

We oppose Charter Change as a sinister scheme of the Arroyo government to altogether delete the remaining provisions that protect the economy, our ecology, and our peoples civil and political liberties.

We uphold the People’s Alternative Mining Policy as the framework of a sovereign national mining industry that serves as a catalyst of our national industrialization.

We call for greater accountability of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for her fervent push for mining revitalization through the Mineral Action Plan.

We direct particular calls to the Church to be unrelenting in their opposition to largescale mining and to concretize its pastoral care and guidance by journeying with mining-affected communities in their struggles; we likewise call on the media to faithfully report and critically interpret the destruction large scale mining wreaks; we call on local government officials to support their people’s calls for the scrapping of the Mining Act.

Finally, we call upon ourselves to KEEP FAITH, that our collective and organized action shall bear fruit as we struggle to defend our patrimony and ensure the same for the sake of our children.

Our Common action…
Today, we declare our CONVERGENCE.

We believe that our convergence should be an action- and response-oriented forum of anti-mining initiatives in Mindanao.

We shall continue to be a forum of learning the framework of national industrialization and enhancing our alternative policy and framework; we take up the Agham/Defend Patrimony and LRC framework and proposals as concrete first steps towards defining our alternatives.

Massive Information-Education-Campaign materials to aid our education drive in communities and organizations; a Mindanao-wide signature campaign to register our broadest opposition to large scale mining.

We commit to generate support and solidarity with and among the grassroots of Mindanao against large scale mining plunder. By this, we join with the farmers to call for the implementation of a genuine agrarian reform. We call for the end of militarization in the mining affected communities. Uphold the indigenous peoples and Moro cultural integrity and identity towards the rights to self-determination and self-governance over ancestral domain. Uphold the dignity and rights of women and children in mining affected communities.

We vow to make bolder steps by prosecuting large scale mining plunderers and their agents who have trampled upon our dignity, creation and patrimony

Approved by 180 delegates to the Mindanao Convergence on April 20, 2006
Convenors :Sisters’ Association in Mindanao (SAMIN), Foundation for Philippine Environment (FPE), Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC), Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation, Inc. (MISFI), Philippine Misereor Partners (PMP), Alternate Forum for Research in Mindanao (AFRIM), Mainit National Park Conservation Society, Zamboanga del Norte Peoples Network against Mining (ZNPAAM), Katawhang Simbahan Alang sa Malamboong Kabuhatan (KASAMAKA)

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)
Position Paper on the Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic Project
Presented before the Rapu Rapu Fact Finding Commission
April 5, 2006

We, the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), an alliance of Peoples’ Organizations (POs), Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and mining-affected communities, extend our deepest appreciation and recognition to this commission for its pursuit of the truth in what happened to Rapu Rapu. ATM is a dynamic coalition and part of a broader social movement that is demanding for the repeal of the Philippine Mining Act 1995, the enactment of an alternative mining law and a moratorium to large-scale mining in the Philippines,

With the good bishop of Sorsogon, Bishop Arturo Bastes presiding, the way in achieving the truth has never been clearer. By way of your collective applied expertise and background research, a few weeks of questioning and investigations have exposed the unfortunate reality of the spill that poisoned the Albay Gulf. Without a doubt, this tragedy has dealt a severe blow to all the fishermen and their families whose livelihood depends on clean waters and an equally severe shock to the ecology of the area.

As we face this commission, we would like to reiterate our position against the eventual resumption of Lafayette’s mining operations. Our arguments can be summarized in three points:

1. Ecological considerations. One of the more solid scientific basis of arguing against the mining operation is the small-island ecology of Rapu Rapu. Given this characteristic, special and focused consideration should have been extended on the distinctive impacts that an extractive activity like large-scale mining would have brought to the island, including adverse effects on coastal areas. The other strong point against the project is the presence of rich marine life that traverse Albay Gulf. The death of a dwarf sperm whale and last weekend, of a dolphin, has elicited strong emotional reactions. With the absence of hard evidence, we are hard put to categorically blame Lafayette. The fishkills that happened however cast more clouds of doubt. We will not anymore mention the impact of the actual spills that happened. I will leave it to Greenpeace and HARIBON who are in a better position institutionally to articulate this concern.

2. Corporate deception and conceit. Touted as the state-of-the-art of Philippine mining, Lafayette and its Rapu Rapu operations has been exposed for its falsehoods. The would be world-class mine has not implemented the best practices that it has arrogantly projected to the government, the media and even its own investors. It is the height of irony that amidst the strong projection in the media of the Rapu Rapu project as the “model” mining project, a simple matter of a claimed heavy downpour would force a systems failure. And adding insult to injury, Lafayette appeared to have been more concerned with its performance in the stock markets rather than confronting the issue at hand. A few weeks ago, they had the gall to issue a press release, stating that they expected the Rapu Rapu project to resume its operations around March 21, after “complying” with the conditions set forth in the Cease-and-Desist Order (CDO) issued against it. Expectedly, Lafayette shares rose by almost 10% percent in value a day after the press release. This despite the very clear mandate that this Commission had until April 10 (or 30 days) to complete its investigation, and that the CDO will be sustained within the timeframe.

3. Inadequate regulation. It is an accepted reality that government bureaucracy is understaffed, underpaid and overworked. But it is doubly frustrating for civil society groups to be confronted by government agencies which are either confused or conflicted. Meant to protect the public welfare, but perilously appearing as either unprepared, tentative or worse, hesitant to perform the expected duties, the case in Rapu Rapu is a microcosm of how some government agencies can unwittingly become practically the spokesperson of an extractive industry. The multi-stakeholder mechanisms that were supposed to provide oversight in monitoring has been questioned. MGB and BFAR took days too long to respond to the spills, insisting on re-testing the waters, and at times, appearing too ready and content to accept as truths whatever Lafayette told them. The perils of belief have come up, with conflicting stories told by mine officials, government agencies and local communities. The very revealing exercise yesterday in fact begs two more important questions for us NGOs and support groups – what else has been swept under the rug? And what corners has the mining company cut to generate more profit?

These situations perfectly illustrate the state of the mining industry in the Philippines - all glittery promises, profit for the few, disaster for the environment, and displacement for affected communities.

Lafayette’s Rapu Rapu mine site has been touted as the gold standard for this administration’s new era of mining in the Philippines. Unlike the last era of mining which ended with Marinduque struck by an immense environmental disaster, the administration, in its relentless push to get the Filipinos to accept the return of mining, has promised that nothing of the sort will happen. And of course, something almost like that happened again, when the mine tailings dam that had filled to near capacity was emptied into the waters of Rapu Rapu in October last year.

Of all the investigations that have been initiated, it seems this commission is that most sincere in its desire to bring the truth of the matter to light. With Sorsogon poised to bear a considerable brunt of the fall-out due to marine-coastal contamination, its bishop was empowered to convene this commission. And they have unearthed a great deal of things that expose the practices of mining and what is to be expected from a government that is all too ready to take mining’s money, but not its consequences.

It is not cynical to believe that a corporation puts profit before people – almost all corporation operate in such a manner, and the resource extractors are the worst of all. If the government would hold up Lafayette’s Rapu Rapu mine as an example, then we must take it as that – a perfect example of how mining is practiced in the Philippines – with deception and little regard for the safety of the community and the integrity of the environment. It also exposes just how far the effects of mining are, with Sorsogon feeling the impact of a decision made on Rapu Rapu.

This brings to light one of the stronger stance against mining that has emerged more recently. We stand by the pastoral statement issued by the CBCP last January 29, 2006, and articulated clearly by Bishop Claver last March 10, 2006 – mining, as it is done right now in the Philippines is unsafe, unsustainable and should be put to a halt. The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 requires s serious and rigorous review, if not an outright repeal. The Alyansa Tigil Mina proposes that all mining sites across the nation be subject to their own fact-finding commissions.

The administration cannot simply force its policy, in this, as in all things, the Filipino demand the truth of the matter.

ALYANSA TIGIL MINA
APRIL 5, 2006

For your perusal.

Alternatibong Pangkabuhayan - Non-Timber Forest Products-Task Force (NTFP-TF) and Kalahan Educational Foundation (KEF)

Mga Karanasan sa Alternatibong Pangkabuhayan - NTFP-TF

Mining & Human Rights - Jessica Soto

Again, please let us know if you have any trouble downloading the files.

Legal Remedies Against Mining - Atty. Francis Joseph Ballesteros

On This Issue [Earth Day Special]

>>>Children of the Mountains Documentary showing for Earth Day on April 22 – 23 at the Gateway Mall.

>>>On the Spot Drawing Contest for kids 9-12 years old

>>>The second Moonrise Film Festival Call for Entries

They say…

“Mga Anak ng kabundukan is a moving documentation of the plight of an indigenous people whose lives have been transformed and impoverished by deforestation. Told through the eyes of village elders, this film tells a sad tale of the loss and devastation not only of a people, but also of a formerly biodiversity-rich area as a result of short term thinking and the desire for rapid economic gain at the high cost of future benefits from natural resources. Heartbreaking.”

Susie Ellis

VP, Indonesia and Phil. Programs

Conservation International

“One of the last hunter-gatherer tribes in the world is the Agta, who live in the Sierra Madre Mountain range on the Philippine archipelago. They share a powerful story with us about their home which is literally being cut out from beneath them. They reminisce about the past, angrily explain their present abuses, and stoically speak of the fate of the mountains – a fate intimately tied to their own demise.” –

Min Sook Lee

Film Programmer,

Planet in Focus International

Film & Video Festival

The Moonrise Film Fest

The search for the best documentaries on Philippine environment and culture is here once again!

The Center for Environmental Awareness and Education (CEAE) is announcing its call for entries for the second Moonrise Film Festival scheduled on 18-20 August 2006. Last year, sixteen entries competed for the prestigious Grand Charlie award. More than P450, 000 worth of prizes were at stake, with a grand prize of P100, 000 for the best documentary.

“Aside from professional filmmakers, we are inviting and encouraging first-time filmmakers, teachers and students to once again put forward their entries for this year’s Moonrise Film Festival,” says Jukka Holopainen, CEAE President.

The Philippines is considered a global hotspot for biodiversity, having one of the richest ecosystems and wildlife in the world. Our country can also pride itself with the uniqueness of its cultural and historical heritage. Sadly, much of these natural treasures have already been lost, neglected, and destroyed, which makes it ever more relevant and urgent to document these issues through film.

Anything in and about the Philippines, from garbage to underwater life, from forests to historical sites, has the potential to make for a good story. We are looking for documentaries that are both entertaining and educational.

CEAE is now accepting entries for the 2006 Moonrise Film Festival. Deadline for early submission is on May 31 and late final deadline on June 30. For any inquiries regarding participation or sponsorship, please visit www.moonrisefilmfest.com, or contact CEAE at (02) 721 7360 during business hours, or email email@ceae.org. Complete details and guidelines is posted on our website.

LEAVES AND RIPPLES [ONLINE]

A different “date” movie for Earth Day

Celebrate with Children of the Mountains and an on the spot drawing contest at Gateway Mall

This April 22, we celebrate the biggest environmental event in the world – Earth Day. More than half a billion people in over 12,000 organizations in 174 countries will be channelling their energies to create a positive change in local, national, and global environmental policies. Earth Day is the only event celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths, and nationalities.

The Center for Environmental Awareness & Education (CEAE) in cooperation with Gateway Mall is celebrating Earth Day with the showing of the internationally-acclaimed documentary, Mga Anak ng Kabundukan (Children of the Mountains). Following its premiere last April at the Gateway Mall, the documentary has been featured in Planet in Focus in Toronto, Global Visions in Edmonton, Earth Visions in Sta. Cruz, and the Vatavaran Environmental Film Festival in India. It is also the proud recipient of the Mark Haslam and the Katherine Knight Awards.

Mga Anak ng Kabundukan is a powerful documentary about the plight of the Agta Dumagats, one of the last hunter-gatherer peoples in the world, who fight for their survival in the face of unabated logging that threatens to wipe out their ancestral homeland in the Sierra Madres. The film is 44 minutes long and can be viewed at the Gateway Mall Cineplex from 12 noon-9pm on April 22-23, 2006. Tickets cost P60 only.

In line with this event, CEAE will be hosting an on-the-spot art competition sponsored by San Miguel Corporation on April 22 for young artists aged 9-12 with the theme, “Earth and Me: Caring for Philippine Environment”. Cash prizes are at stake.

Should you have any queries, please feel free to visit our website www.childrenofthemountains.com or contact CEAE at 721 7360.

Awards and Distinctions

Mark Haslam Award

As Canada’s most acclaimed International Environmental Film and Video festival, the annual Planet in Focus film festival exhibits compelling works that “celebrate, question and establish varied ways of viewing the state of our world”. Planet in Focus’ 6th annual festival was held in Toronto from September 28 to October 2, 2005, where 79 films contended for prestigious awards. The event was attended by filmmakers from across Canada, Egypt, the Philippines, Argentina, Israel, Spain, Russia and Denmark.

The Mark Haslam Award was launched in honor of Planet in Focus Festival Founder and former Festival Director Mark Haslam. The Award is given to any work included in the festival that exemplifies the following ideals:

Integrity in the production process, portrayals, creative treatment, and relationships of the people involved; quality in form and content; originality of subject matter and approach; perspective in that the work gives voice to underrepresented communities, and power to inspire reflection and positive action.

More about Planet in Focus: http://www.planetinfocus.org/index.php

More about the Mark Haslam Award: http://www.planetinfocus.org/2005_film_awards_ceremony.php

Katherine Knight Award

An international competition, the EarthVision Environmental Film and Video Festival features films that tackle important issues about the fragile environment that we all influence and share. EarthVision aims to help inform and inspire the public to deal with these issues that profoundly affect our health and the health of our planet. The 8th EarthVision was held in Sta. Cruz from September 29 to October 2, 2005.

Katherine Knight with partner Ed Schehl founded EarthVision International Film and Video Festival in 1998. This award honors and appreciates individuals who, like Katherine, dedicate their lives to raising awareness about environmental issues – by informing, inspiring, and involving those around them.

More about EarthVision: http://www.planetinfocus.org/index.php

More about the Katherine Knight Award: http://earthvisionfest.org/winners_KK.html

Finalist in

Global Visions

As Canada’s oldest documentary film festival, Global Visions endeavors to support alternative media that engages global, national, and local social and environmental issues. The film festival is a venue to screen films that tackle relevant contemporary issues. The 24th Global Visions was held in Edmonton from November 3-7, 2005 with the theme, “Heartbeat of a Planet”.

54th Trento Film Festival

April 29 to May 7, 2006

Partners

Apocalypse Point Productions

As environmental educators we realize the versatility of the video format, allowing us to reach a wider audience than with traditional textbooks. However, the film documentation on local issues, indigenous peoples, flora and fauna is severely limited. Try finding documentaries about our endemic wildlife like the Philippine Eagle or Tamaraw to name only two of the many endemic species found only in this country. Think of the last time you had watched a documentary about our indigenous peoples or learned about a historically or biologically rich place found only in the country. We hope to make documentaries about these issues that will not only educate but also entertain.

Center for Environmental Awareness and Education

The Center for Environmental Awareness and Education believes that one of the ways to achieve sustainable development is through meaningful and quality education for our youth.

In this regard, we have worked hard the past 4 years to bring two award winning environmental education programs to schools all over the country. Project Water Education for Teachers and Project Learning Tree are interactive, interdisciplinary programs that impart lessons about our environment in an atmosphere of fun. A newly created program is the Watershed Box, which brings the common elements and issues facing our watersheds to life. To learn more about CEAE, feel free to browse their web sites at www.ceae.org and www.projectwet.org.ph.

In cooperation with:

Gateway Mall and San Miguel Corporation

CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AND EDUCATION

3A Gilmore Heights 18 Granada cor. Castilla St., Valencia Quezon City 1100

Telephone (02) 721 73600 | Telefax (02) 533 3712

www.ceae.org | www.projectwet.org.ph | www.moonrisefilmfest.com

email@ceae.org

ATM Position Against Charter Change

The focus of charter change is political; federalism and all it brings to the table is what the politicians are going to war over, with the administration campaigning for signatures at the barangay level and the opposition consolidating in the congress and senate. The political fallout of charter change is what is in the forefront of their minds – terms lengthened, powers extended, a re-booting of the power system that rearranges names but offers no new ones up. Some see this charter change as their chance to lead the nation, while other view it as a way to consolidate their position at the same time skirting the controversies that continue to hound the national government.

While Charter Change should occupy the national attention, and Filipinos should take an active interest in the activities of government, the shift to federalism is not the only thing that the ChaCha promises.

In its report, the Consultative Commission on Charter Change recommended to lift the economic protections in the 1987 constitutions and allow purely foreign owned corporations the chance to exploit Philippine resources. This would open the gates for the destructive and extractive industries, foremost among them, mining.

We, the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), a network of POs, NGOs and mining-affected communities who seek a moratorium on large scale mining see this as yet another senseless attempt by the government to improve the economy by sacrificing people, environment and out national patrimony. Considering the ugly history of mining in the Philippines and worldwide, with flattened mountains, razed forests, choked rivers and ghost towns as the main symbols of mining “progress”, large-scale mining should not even be an option. But as the government has begun to push it as a salve to our economic woes, they ignore the fact that in the decades that large-scale, commercial mines operated throughout the country they did nothing to improve the nation’s economy. We are poorer from mining, we have lost rivers and fishing grounds to mining, to corporations that were not wholly owned by foreigners and yet acted as though they were above Philippine law.

Now, there is a movement to enshrine in our constitution the ability of foreigners to enter our country and strip the land of its riches with no obligation to the nation. If this is not near-sighted and foolish, then nothing is.

It is a fantasy that foreign corporations will uplift the Filipino people. Corporations exist only to make profits and the proposed Charter Change will only make it easier for them to enrich themselves, while removing the few protections Filipinos have to protect their own.

Mining will leave our lands poisoned and barren, and mining corporations will abandon the country to its new ills the very second it becomes less profitable to stay. And Charter Change will encourage this behavior.

Even on these grounds alone Charter Change demands to be opposed. The Alyansa Tigil Mina stands against all attempts to change the 1987 Constitution.

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news03_april04_2006
By Abe Almirol
SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya—Fire gutted a building at the Didipio field office of the Australasian-Philippines Mining Inc. (Apmi), the company cleared to operate mines in Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino, after newspapers bannered the news on the Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the 1995 Mining Act.
The fire started at 1:30 a.m. yesterday, and residents of Barangay Didipio in Kasibu suspected that it had been set intentionally.
Apmi’s office was razed to the ground, but residents of Sitio Bacbacan were able to save the Community Relations Office and the office of the Barangay Development Council.
“The office had a separate kitchen and there was no way that the fire could have started from inside,” one resident said.
The company’s guards had been drunk the night before, a resident of Sitio Dinauyan claimed, but police were still on their way to investigate.
“We have sent our men to go up with the police to investigate,” said Chito Gozar, a representative of the mining firm. “We don’t want to speculate.”
“We are saddened by this incident,” said Councilor Peter Duyapat, a known critic of the mining company.
“We hope this will not be reason for the company to ask military and police forces to come to our village. The company has offended many residents due to the problem of providing just compensation for our land.”
The Didipio Earthsavers Multi-Purpose Association had petitioned the Supreme Court to declare the deal granting Apmi the right to operate mines in the Philippines as unconstitutional, claiming it violated the residents’ right to ownership of their land.
But the Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutionality of the Mining Act in a resolution en banc or in full court and with full judicial authority.
Meanwhile, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to enforce all safeguards on the mining industry after the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of allowing foreign investors to tap into the country’s $1 trillion mineral wealth.
Mrs. Arroyo praised the high court’s decision to uphold the government’s liberal policy on mining, but she would like to make sure the influx of foreign firms would not compromise the government’s efforts to protect the environment, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.
“While President Arroyo welcomes the affirmation by the Supreme Court, she is equally determined to enforce all the environmental safeguards and standards to protect the welfare of our communities,” he said. With Joyce Pangco Pañares

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=regions03_april17_2006
By Jaime Pilapil
Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes ordered two mining companies in Marinduque and Zambales to immediately ensure that the communities surrounding their mines be protected from accidental spills and other hazards that may occur as a result of La Niña and defective mine structures.
Reyes said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau has identified the Maguila-guila siltation dam and Tapian pit of Marcopper Mining Corp. in Marinduque, and the Bayarong tailings pond and Camalca waste dump of the Dizon Mines in Zambales as “critical” mine structures.
“Left unattended, these mine structures will pose a threat to the environment and the nearby communities. The concerned mining firms should immediately institute the appropriate remedial measures necessary to maintain the integrity of the identified mine structures,” he said.
The environment secretary sounded the alarm to prevent a repetition of the tailings spill in the Marcopper mines that released 1.6 million cubic meters of tailings into the 26-kilometer Makulapnit and Boac river systems on March 24, 1996.
The spill killed the Makulapnit and Boac river systems and practically altered the social and economic status of the area, according to a study conducted by an independent US study team.
“The independent assessment team has unequivocally concluded that potential instabilities in several existing mine structures at the Marcopper site pose the most significant threat to the inhabitants and ecosystems of Marinduque,” the study report said.
In his directive, Reyes advised the local government units concerned to “take the necessary actions to alert and safeguard the nearby communities” so as to prevent disasters that would adversely affect the environment and the residents.
The mines of Marcopper and Dizon are now idle mines, according to environment department officials, but Reyes said this is more reason to properly maintain and sustain the structures through proper care and maintenance to prevent them from collapsing and spilling tailings and chemicals to the surrounding areas.
“Being inactive, the structures need more care and maintenance. The mining firms should ensure that the identified structures can withstand the effects of sudden heavy or prolonged rainfall or successive typhoons,” said Reyes.
According to Reyes, his warnings to the two mining firms apply to the mining industry as a whole. The government hopes to revitalize the local mining industry with the aid of foreign investments to promote economic development and create more jobs.
Reyes described his directive as a “proactive approach, meant not just for the mining firms identified, but for the whole mining industry and intends to instill a culture of safety and health and environment protection with or without La Niña.”

Davao Today - http://davaotoday.com/main/2006/03/28/in-siocon-subanens-continue-struggle-vs-canadian-mining-firm/

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

SIOCON, Zamboanga del Norte — For two years, timuay (tribal chief) Jose Anoy has not been able to set foot in his home. Home is Mt. Canatuan, the most sacred place for the 2,000 Subanen people, which has been encroached into by the mining firm Canada’s Toronto Ventures Inc (TVI) since 1994.

Anoy said that the TVI has prevented him from returning home because he refused to give consent for the company to mine 508 hectares located in the Subanen’s sacred land.

“The company offered me money before, and shares in their profits,” he recalled. “Accepting this could have been easy, but being a timuay, I remained firm for the sake of the Subanen.”

His stand forced the company to lay it hard on Anoy — driving him away from his own home. Since then, TVI has taken over Mt. Canatuan, barricading the area with three checkpoints.

Despair has not overcome him. Instead, he now finds various groups supporting the Subanens’ fight against TVI.

Anoy’s group, the Apo Manglan Glupa Pasaka, together with religious leaders from the Moro, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, and local officials have coalesced to form the People’s Response for the Protection of Environment and Natural Resources (Protect-Western Mindanao), a regional alliance opposing large-scale mining.

On March 23, the group made an interfaith pilgrimage to Canatuan. The pilgrimage, according to the group, is a re-consecration of the Subanen ancestral land in Canatuan, which the TVI has desecrated.

One of Protect’s convenor, Godofredo Galos of Save Siocon Paradise Movement, noted that TVI’s operation has affected the Lituban River, a 25,000-hectare watershed area and a water source to a 750-hectare farmland in Siocon. The river is below the mountains where TVI’s tailings pond are located. Galos said residents who have waded through the river have shown signs of skin rashes.

The pollution in Lituban River worries Anoy, who fears this will lead to the loss of rice production in Siocon, which provides rice supplies for four municipalities in Zamboanga del Norte.

“TVI calls this development, but for whom? Can you call this development when a tribal chieftain is being driven out from his land?” Anoy asked.

The pilgrimage gathered religious leaders from the local parishes in Zamboanga del Norte, UCCP Northern Zamboanga District, Sisters Association in Mindanao, Imams and Ustadz from Moro communities, and Subanen leaders from Zamboanga Sibugay and del Norte. It also gathered 500 people from the communities in Siocon, from the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Norte, and the cities of Pagadian, Dipolog, Ozamiz and Davao City.

Upon arriving at the TVI grounds, the leaders gathered around a circle, holding arms and said prayers in Subanen, Islam, Protestant faiths.

Bishop Jose Manguiran of the Diocese of Dipolog made a symbolic prayer by lying prostrate on the ground for a minute of silence, and then planted his Bishop’s staff on the ground. This prayer, Bishop Manguiran said, symbolizes a Prophetic plea for God’s intervention to help the people in Siocon.

The pilgrimage culminated with a torch parade and cultural program at Siocon’s plaza, the Tanghalan ng Paraiso.

The pilgrimage touched Timuay Anoy, who said during the program that “the struggle (against mining) is not only the Subanens’ concern, or the Christian people, or the Moro people; it is the struggle of all people here in the region of Zamboanga.”

The tribal chieftain is happy for now to see his home for a brief moment. He cannot stay on in Canatuan for concerns of his safety. Nevertheless, Anoy expressed his wish, that like the other people in Zamboanga, he would “like to see TVI leave our lands, and compensate for whatever damages they wrought to the people and the land.”

The pilgrimage comes at this time where the religious sector is now actively opposing large-scale foreign mining. Earlier in January, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued its statement calling for the repeal of Republic Act 7942, known as the Mining Act of 1995.

A Mindanao Interfaith conference on mining was held in Dipolog also last January leading to the formation of Panalipdan (Defend) Mindanao. The conference opposed the Arroyo government’s promotion of Mindanao as a mining haven. Ten of the government’s mining priority projects are located in Mindanao, including Siocon, four in Caraga region, four in Compostela Valley, and one in Socsksargen.

What lies behind the rise of foreign mining in this country, Bishop Manguiran siad, is the globalization pushed by G8 countries such as TVI’s country Canada. “Globalization scraps away nationalism, and patrimony, as patrimony is about who controls resources,” he said. (Panalipdan Mindanao)

Subanon in Canatuan Stand By Their Partnership with TVIRD
As Dipolog Bishop Jose Manguiran leads inter-faith ‘re-consecration’ rites in Canatuan

Dipolog Bishop Jose Manguiran: a staunch anti-mining advocate.

An inter-faith group of some 200 demonstrators led by Bishop Jose R. Manguiran of the Diocese of Dipolog conducted a prayer rally at the Canatuan Project site of TVI Resource Development Phils., Inc. (TVIRD) to “re-consecrate” the mine area and protest the presence of the company in this sitio of Barangay Tabayo in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte. The demonstrators were allowed entry into the Subanon indigenous community that hosts the mine facility by the Siocon Subano Association, Inc. (SSAI), the legal representative of the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) holders of Canatuan.

The re-consecration rites were premised on the rallyists’ belief that Mt. Canatuan is a Subanon sacred mountain – a claim made by former tribe leaders who were repudiated by their community in large part because of their links to illegal small-scale miners that operated in Canatuan prior to TVIRD.

The prayer rally was held at the Gossan Dam area, participated in by Roman Catholic, Protestant , and Muslim clerics, as well as by Subanon tribal chiefs led by former SSAI president Jose Anoy. Siocon Mayor Ceasar Soriano also joined his constituents in the rally.

TVIRD holds a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) with the Philippine government, which covers an area of 508.34 hectares within Canatuan. The company also secured free, prior and informed consent from the Subanon through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SSAI for the development of Canatuan as a gesture of good faith and affirmative action despite the fact that TVIRD secured its MPSA prior to the issuance of CADT to the Subanon.

Through the MOU and the subsequent Memorandum of Agreement with TVIRD, the Subanon manifested their recogntion and respect to the prior mining rights of the company in the area covered by the CADT and guaranteed the free and unlimited access for exploration and operations.

The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA Law) provides that IPs have the right to use their lands as they see fit, including contracting with third parties for resource extraction and utilization.

An archaelogical assessment conducted by the Archaelogical, Cultural, Environmental Consultancy, Inc. on behalf of the National Museum of the Philippines revealed that the areas affected by TVIRD’s mining operations are negative of any Subanon archaeological or cultural materials; there were no evidence found of any historic religious practice, ever, at Mt. Canatuan.

“We would rather that they leave us alone,” Juanito Tumangkis, SSAI president said. “Our partnership with TVIRD has yielded tremendous benefits to my people – benefits that were deprived us for ages. These demonstrators offer no viable alternative to this partnership. Where were they when we needed help before? If they believe that Canatuan is sacred, why did they allow the small-scale miners to operate here before? Why didn’t they lift a finger when our women and children were being abused by the small-scale miner regime through hard labor and starvation wages?”

Since TVIRD began operations in Canatuan in 2004, the company has paid some P25 million in tax and royalty payments, including some P6.3 million in royalties to SSAI. The operations have also proven to be an engine of socio-economic growth, providing some P400 million equivalent benefits through enhancement of economic activity from the cost of operating the mine, local purchases, wages and salaries, as well as social security and health funds.

Other benefits include employment (60% of the company’s 650 employees are Subanon), education, health care, agriculture and sustainable livelihood, indigenous people (IP) settlement, infrastructure, political and cultural independence and empowerment, as well as environmental management and protection.

The House Committee on National Cultural Communities has cleared TVIRD from allegations ranging from encroachment, IP displacement, as well as militarization following hearings prompted by a House Resolution. TVIRD has been able to debunk the allegations during the series of public hearings conducted from September 2005 to January this year.

“TVI has made a good start and is doing the right thing. The issues here are: ‘Who are the beneficiaries?’ and ‘How is their wealth to be managed?’ ” So stated Congressman Solomon Chungalao, Committee chairman during a recent visit to Canatuan. He also said the issues in the ancestral domain are internal to the Subanon, referring to the internal leadership dispute in the Tribe that Chungalao requested the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to help resolve.

Siocon’s top official has also noticed TVIRD’s contributions to the development of his town. “People here are starting to feel, thus, and to recognize the significant contribution TVI can offer to Siocon’s economic vision,” said Mayor Ceasar Soriano. “TVI(RD) has silently been providing employment and have without demur assisted in the maintenance of the road connecting Siocon and Roselller T. Lim town (across the Zamboanga Peninsula). Undoubtedly, that road is also more secure with the company’s security arrangements.”