Lumad, envi group protest at environment agency on 24th year of mining law

On March 4, Save Our Schools (SOS) Network and Kalikasan PNE held a protest at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) office in commemoration of the 24th year Republic Act (RA) 7942 or Philippine Mining Act of 1995 was signed into law.

The groups condemned the continuous plunder of indigenous peoples’ ancestral lands that they said was legitimized by the passage of the law.

“We don’t want mining in our ancestral lands, it will never benefit us, or rather, it will destroy our lands, livelihood, and culture. What we want is for the government to respect the rights of our children to education, to pull-out the military troops [AFP] in our community and to end martial law in Mindanao, so that we can live peacefully,” says Datu Ginum Andil, council member of Salupongan Ta Tanu Igkanugon.

SOS Network cited several ‘destructive’ mining companies that operates in Mindanao:

• BHP Billiton – has purchasing agreement with the Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) in Surigao Norte
• Anglo American Corp – has a joint venture with Philex Mining Corp. in Surigao del Norte and Agusan del Norte
• Toronto Ventures Incorporated Resource Development (TVIRD) – an open pit gold mine in a 508-hectare tenement in Mt. Canatuan, which is a sacred mountain and important part of Subanen’s ancestral domain in Zamboanga del Norte, and was implicated in a report of 110 killings of mostly Subanens in Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur alone
• Other large-scale mining companies like Glenencore Xstrata, St. Agustine, Sumitomo, and Sinophil Corporation.

The group also shared there are nine coal operating contracts approved in Caraga Region that covers 67,000 hectares of Andap Valley.

According to Rius Valle, SOS Network Spokesperson, “Ever since RA 7942 was passed, there are large amounts of plunder, environmental destruction and degradation within ancestral territories.”

He mentioned that the Pantaron Range as “one of the remaining virgin forests in Mindanao” is being pursued by Indophil, an Australian mining company.

Pantaron Range is home to a vast number of Manobos and they have been subjected to military operations since February 14, said Valle.

“The real reason why Duterte allows the AFP to militarize the lumad communities is because they want them to leave their lands, so that mining companies can enter,” Valle added.

SOS Network said that RA 7942 should be junked and be replaced by House Bill (HB) 2715, also known as People’s Mining Act of 2016, an act that re-orients the Philippine mining industry towards national industrialization and ensures the highest industry development standards.