Start probe of Oxiana Mining's encroachment on Nueva Vizcaya's tribal lands
Clemente Bautista, Jr. Kalikasan-PNE National CoordinatorSeptember 9, 2007
Green activist umbrella group Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) today urged the House of Representative's Committee on National Cultural Communities to take swift action on House Resolution (H.R.) No. 211 calling for a probe into the encroachment of an Australian-backed mining firm into the ancestral lands shared by at least six indigenous people's groups.
In a statement, Kalikasan PNE National Coordinator Clemente Bautista Jr. said that leaders representing the Ibaloi, Ifugao, Kalanguya, Bugkalot, Kankaney, and Bontoc peoples from at least ten barangays in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya are determined to resist the encroachment of Oxiana Philippines, Inc. into their ancestral lands.
The indigenous peoples are opposed to an impending exploration by Oxiana Philippines, Inc. (now owned by Royalco Resources Ltd.)* in five (5) barangays of Kasibu (Pa-o, Kakidugen, Paquet, Dine & Katarawan) under Exploration Permit RO2-0014, which was recently extended by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau up to June 2009 despite the opposition of the affected communities. A barricade set up by Kasibu residents since July 2, 2007 has so far successfully blocked the entry of Oxiana's drilling equipment into Pa-o.
Bautista reported that Kasibu's indigenous peoples are determined to resist Oxiana's encroachment on the ground. "The massive barricade that Kasibu's residents set up in the heart of Brgy. Paquet almost two months back still stands. It will not be dismantled until Oxiana and the Arroyo administration finally acknowledge that the peoples of Kasibu have rejected their mining project," Bautista said.
"We are awaiting the Committee's response to the people's calls. Environmental groups and indigenous people's formations are challenging the concerned Committee to approve H.R. 211 and begin the probe in the soonest possible time," Bautista said.
H.R. 211 was authored by Reps.Teodoro A. Casiño of Bayan Muna Party List, Luzviminda C. Ilagan of Gabriela Women's Party, and Carlos M. Padilla, solon to the lone district of Nueva Vizcaya and was filed early this week.
Bautista also challenged the HOR's Committee on Natural Resources under Presidential brother-in-law Rep. Ignacio Arroyo to look into the issue of projected environmental impacts of Oxiana's exploration projects into Kasibu's agriculture-based economy.
Kalikasan PNE—in cooperation with the Save the Valley, Serve the People alliance and Defend Patrimony, a broad national alliance against mining liberalization and plunder in the Philippines—recently wrapped up a Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission in Nueva Vizcaya from August 29 to September 1, 2007, covering the areas of Brgy. Paquet and Malabing Valley in Kasibu and Brgy. Runruno in Quezon.
"The rapid appraisal of the environmental and social impacts of mining exploration in three environmentally-critical sites indicate that the exploration operations alone can already bring about negative environmental impacts, such as land alienation from protection options, trail/road and trenching erosion, habitat disruption, and noise pollution in Kasibu," Bautista noted. "The danger of landslides in communities also worsens," he said.
Bautista said that Kalikasan PNE and Defend Patrimony alliance have also submitted documents pertaining to Oxiana's encroachment to the office of Senator Jamby Madrigal, and will be looking into appropriate resolutions to address the Kasibu people's opposition to Oxiana Philippines.Inc.
Resolution Text follows:In a statement, Kalikasan PNE National Coordinator Clemente Bautista Jr. said that leaders representing the Ibaloi, Ifugao, Kalanguya, Bugkalot, Kankaney, and Bontoc peoples from at least ten barangays in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya are determined to resist the encroachment of Oxiana Philippines, Inc. into their ancestral lands.
The indigenous peoples are opposed to an impending exploration by Oxiana Philippines, Inc. (now owned by Royalco Resources Ltd.)* in five (5) barangays of Kasibu (Pa-o, Kakidugen, Paquet, Dine & Katarawan) under Exploration Permit RO2-0014, which was recently extended by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau up to June 2009 despite the opposition of the affected communities. A barricade set up by Kasibu residents since July 2, 2007 has so far successfully blocked the entry of Oxiana's drilling equipment into Pa-o.
Bautista reported that Kasibu's indigenous peoples are determined to resist Oxiana's encroachment on the ground. "The massive barricade that Kasibu's residents set up in the heart of Brgy. Paquet almost two months back still stands. It will not be dismantled until Oxiana and the Arroyo administration finally acknowledge that the peoples of Kasibu have rejected their mining project," Bautista said.
"We are awaiting the Committee's response to the people's calls. Environmental groups and indigenous people's formations are challenging the concerned Committee to approve H.R. 211 and begin the probe in the soonest possible time," Bautista said.
H.R. 211 was authored by Reps.Teodoro A. Casiño of Bayan Muna Party List, Luzviminda C. Ilagan of Gabriela Women's Party, and Carlos M. Padilla, solon to the lone district of Nueva Vizcaya and was filed early this week.
Bautista also challenged the HOR's Committee on Natural Resources under Presidential brother-in-law Rep. Ignacio Arroyo to look into the issue of projected environmental impacts of Oxiana's exploration projects into Kasibu's agriculture-based economy.
Kalikasan PNE—in cooperation with the Save the Valley, Serve the People alliance and Defend Patrimony, a broad national alliance against mining liberalization and plunder in the Philippines—recently wrapped up a Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission in Nueva Vizcaya from August 29 to September 1, 2007, covering the areas of Brgy. Paquet and Malabing Valley in Kasibu and Brgy. Runruno in Quezon.
"The rapid appraisal of the environmental and social impacts of mining exploration in three environmentally-critical sites indicate that the exploration operations alone can already bring about negative environmental impacts, such as land alienation from protection options, trail/road and trenching erosion, habitat disruption, and noise pollution in Kasibu," Bautista noted. "The danger of landslides in communities also worsens," he said.
Bautista said that Kalikasan PNE and Defend Patrimony alliance have also submitted documents pertaining to Oxiana's encroachment to the office of Senator Jamby Madrigal, and will be looking into appropriate resolutions to address the Kasibu people's opposition to Oxiana Philippines.Inc.
Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION No. 211
______________________________________________________________________
Introduced by: Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro A. Casiño, Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Luzviminda C. Ilagan, and Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos M. Padilla
______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
URGENTLY DIRECTING THE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL CULTURAL COMMUNITIES TO CONDUCT AN INQUIRY, IN AID OF LEGISLATION, INTO THE ALLEGED ENCROACHMENT OF THE AUSTRALIA-BACKED MINING FIRM OXIANA PHILIPPINES INCORPORATED INTO THE TRIBAL COMMUNITIES OF NUEVA VIZCAYA
WHEREAS, since July 12, 2007, residents and members of the Bugkalot, Ifugao, Ibaloi and Kalanguya tribes from the villages of Pao, Paquet, Dine, Kakidugen and Cataraoan in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, have been preventing Australian company Oxiana Philippines, Inc. (RoyalCo. Ltd.- Australia) from conducting mining exploration and operation projects in their area;
WHEREAS, more than a thousand villagers have sustained a human barricade in Paquet village, for several weeks now, in opposition to Oxiana's attempts to bring in drilling equipment to Kasibu;
WHEREAS, last August 29, 2007, violence erupted when armed Oxiana workers and elements of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) forcibly dismantled the protesters' barricades, resulting in the injury of tribal men and women who refused to clear the muddy mountain road for the passage of a bulldozer, which was to be used to clear the land at the mining firm's exploration site in Pao village;
WHEREAS, the environmental group Defend Patrimony has discovered that Oxiana Philippines, Inc. allegedly has not obtained Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) from majority of the tribal communities that will be affected by mining operations. The Bugkalot tribe also alleges that the process of FPIC certification done by the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) was fast-tracked and was not transparent;
WHEREAS, residents in the area also fear that the presence of Oxiana and other mining firms in Nueva Vizcaya threatens the people's welfare and livelihood, especially in the field of citrus fruit production, and the town's water supply given its critical watershed area;
WHEREAS, Nueva Vizcaya is known as the citrus capital of the Philippines for its large varieties of citrus and orange fruits propagated using traditional farming methods. More than 200 tons of citrus fruits are harvested and sold annually in the upland towns of Kasibu, Kayapa, and Ambaguio, usually from the months January to July;
WHEREAS, the projected effects of large-scale mineral exploration and extraction by Oxiana imperil Kasibu's citrus production. Groundwater feeding citrus farms may possibly be contaminated if acidic drainage water or chemical deposits produced during the mining process leaches into the water table, or drains from tailings dams and waste rock heaps;
WHEREAS, local government officials such as Kasibu Mayor Romeo Tayaban and local indigenous peoples leaders of the Kasibu Inter-tribal Response Towards Ecological Development (KIRED), Defend Patrimony, Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) and Save the Valley, Serve the People, a Kasibu-based local alliance, and the Roman Catholic church have all joined together in supporting the people's opposition to Oxiana's operations as well as future mining projects in the area;
WHEREAS, the violent incident on August 29, 2007 is a typical modus operandi of Australian mining firms, which are notorious in Latin American and Asia in disrupting tribal communities and getting a local partner to do the dirty work for them. Such mining firms usually employ military and police forces to suppress legitimate opposition to their activities;
WHEREAS, Kasibu Mayor Tayaban has sought a Congressional investigation on the urgent matter facing his municipality;
WHEREAS, the situation in Kasibu will worsen if the national government, including its security agencies, continue to side with Oxiana and ignore the long term interest and immediate demands of the tribal communities living in the area;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Committee on National Cultural Communities immediately conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the alleged encroachment of the Australia-backed Oxiana Philippines Incorporated into the tribal communities in Nueva Vizcaya, the country's citrus capital.
WHEREAS, more than a thousand villagers have sustained a human barricade in Paquet village, for several weeks now, in opposition to Oxiana's attempts to bring in drilling equipment to Kasibu;
WHEREAS, last August 29, 2007, violence erupted when armed Oxiana workers and elements of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) forcibly dismantled the protesters' barricades, resulting in the injury of tribal men and women who refused to clear the muddy mountain road for the passage of a bulldozer, which was to be used to clear the land at the mining firm's exploration site in Pao village;
WHEREAS, the environmental group Defend Patrimony has discovered that Oxiana Philippines, Inc. allegedly has not obtained Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) from majority of the tribal communities that will be affected by mining operations. The Bugkalot tribe also alleges that the process of FPIC certification done by the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) was fast-tracked and was not transparent;
WHEREAS, residents in the area also fear that the presence of Oxiana and other mining firms in Nueva Vizcaya threatens the people's welfare and livelihood, especially in the field of citrus fruit production, and the town's water supply given its critical watershed area;
WHEREAS, Nueva Vizcaya is known as the citrus capital of the Philippines for its large varieties of citrus and orange fruits propagated using traditional farming methods. More than 200 tons of citrus fruits are harvested and sold annually in the upland towns of Kasibu, Kayapa, and Ambaguio, usually from the months January to July;
WHEREAS, the projected effects of large-scale mineral exploration and extraction by Oxiana imperil Kasibu's citrus production. Groundwater feeding citrus farms may possibly be contaminated if acidic drainage water or chemical deposits produced during the mining process leaches into the water table, or drains from tailings dams and waste rock heaps;
WHEREAS, local government officials such as Kasibu Mayor Romeo Tayaban and local indigenous peoples leaders of the Kasibu Inter-tribal Response Towards Ecological Development (KIRED), Defend Patrimony, Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) and Save the Valley, Serve the People, a Kasibu-based local alliance, and the Roman Catholic church have all joined together in supporting the people's opposition to Oxiana's operations as well as future mining projects in the area;
WHEREAS, the violent incident on August 29, 2007 is a typical modus operandi of Australian mining firms, which are notorious in Latin American and Asia in disrupting tribal communities and getting a local partner to do the dirty work for them. Such mining firms usually employ military and police forces to suppress legitimate opposition to their activities;
WHEREAS, Kasibu Mayor Tayaban has sought a Congressional investigation on the urgent matter facing his municipality;
WHEREAS, the situation in Kasibu will worsen if the national government, including its security agencies, continue to side with Oxiana and ignore the long term interest and immediate demands of the tribal communities living in the area;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Committee on National Cultural Communities immediately conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the alleged encroachment of the Australia-backed Oxiana Philippines Incorporated into the tribal communities in Nueva Vizcaya, the country's citrus capital.
Adopted,
Teodoro A. Casiño, Bayan Muna Party List
Luzviminda C. Ilagan, Gabriela Women's Party
Carlos M. Padilla, Nueva Vizcaya, Lone District
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