MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 13, 2011) – The anti-mining alliance called Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) and its supporting agencies – the National Secretariat for Social Action – Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP-NASSA), reaffirmed its strong call to stop the mining in Mindoro province as the Norway National Contact Point released the December the result of its almost three years investigation on the possible violations of Intex Resources ASA in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises regarding the Mindoro Nickel Project (MNP) .
Jaybee Garganera, national coordinator of ATM, said: “People of Mindoro already battled for a long time to stop MNP. This time, it will be very dubious if the president will remain deaf to the call of its people.”
The first irregularity pointed out is the suspicious procedure that the company had undertaken to obtain Free, Prior, and Informed Consent from indigenous peoples (IP) group Kabilogan and Sadaki. NCP were not able to find evidence that the two groups were chosen by all the other affected IP group to represent them in any dialogue.
“If there’s a group who should have been consulted on the areas covered by MNP this would be the Alangan and Tadyawan Mangyans since the mine site is situated within their Ancestral Domains,” Garganera said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
The investigation also questioned the indistinct basis of Intex for supporting community development projects like the dike venture in Alcate. According to NCP such may raise doubts as to whether the company is undertaking the project only to secure endorsements.
The investigation also pointed out that in the JSL Consulting Report, the Environment Impact Assessment of the project was not presented to the Mayor or to any authorities as such the local populations are not confident if Intex will be able to address the feared worst impact of the project such as the possible damage it may incur to “Mag-asawang” watershed that supports the irrigation of rice fields in Victoria, Naujan and Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro.
The investigation, which was initiated through the complaint filed by the Norwegian MGO, The Future In Our Hands (FIOH) in coordination with PIPLinks (Philippine Indigenous People Links) and Middlesex University Department of Law in the UK, and ALAMIN (Alyansa Laban sa Mina) in Oriental Mindoro to NCP in January 2009, reflects the sub-standards regulatory structures and deficient monitoring mechanism of the government for the extractive industry, said CBCP-NASSA. CBCP also aims that Intex will honestly admit that they do now have lack management capacity to pursue MNP in a sustainable manner.
ATM added that the perceived income of the mining industry will never be enough to compensate the destructions it brings in the lives of affected communities that directly hit by strong flood, landslide and sudden lost of livelihood.
The long struggle
“This is unfair!” this is how the ALAMIN volunteer describes their situation pertaining to the continued unresponsive behavior of the government in their call despite the result of the NCP investigation study. “The government seems to favor the propositions of the mining concessioners and do not see the merit of our call, “said the volunteer.
“We have been fighting for our rights for almost a decade; we want MNP to stop operating in our land. Their pronouncement that the project will not affect our agriculture is not true. Our minds are not close to the possible impact of mining industry in the country. What else is there will be left for us if MNP will be pursued?” ALAMIN recounted.
Garganera asserted “This is the time for the government to show that it gives importance to the voice of the people it serves; they have to recognize the ordinance filed in 2002 prohibiting the entry of all large-scale mining in Oriental Mindoro for 25 years.”
Alyansa Tigil Mina is an alliance of mining-affected communities and their support groups and other civil society organizations who are opposing the aggressive promotion of large-scale mining in the Philippines.
20