Published in the HAPIT April-June 2006 Issue

“What use will it be for man if he mines all the earth’s gold but loses his life by destroying the kinship ordained by God between humanity and nature.”
- Rt. Rev. Bishop Renato M. Abibico
(NATURE OF MY KIN: A Reflection)

On February 2006, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) endorsed to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) the Cordillera Exploration Inc. (CEXI) application to explore about 9,000 hectares of land in Barangays Cupis, Kalafug, and Puguin in Conner, Apayao and a Buaya tribe domain in Balbalan, Kalinga. This was carried out despite sustained opposition from the affected communities.

The people in these communities, however, have not lost hope. Through the Save Apayao Peoples Organization (SAPO), they continue to battle the entry of destructive mining in their areas.

Dialogue with the Conner Municipal Council
In a public hearing with the Conner Sangguniang Bayan (SB) on April 28, 2006, SAPO and residents of Barangay Cupis persuaded the SB not to endorse the exploration project. As a result, the SB endorsed Barangays Calafug and Puguin to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Board) of Apayao while Barangay Cupis will be subjected for investigation by a committee composed of Sangguniang Bayan members and a representative of the local DENR office.

On May 12, the SB endorsed the CEXI exploration in Barangay Cupis to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. As stated in the resolution of the SB, the investigation conducted at Barangay Cupis proved that majority of the residents approved of the exploration project. However, SAPO and Cupis’ residents disputed the SB in another public hearing held on May 19, and claimed that the investigation was manipulated since not all of the residents were informed of the verification of votes for or against CEXI’s exploration project.

Thus, on the same day, another petition was drafted by the residents and was signed by 113 of the 370 (based on 2000 Census) total population of Cupis.

Dialogue with Anglo American
The acquisition of the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) by the NCIP as a mandate for obtaining the permit for the CEXI exploration was questioned by the communities. The Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) then assisted SAPO and wrote the Chairman of the Board of the Anglo American Platinum Corporation (plc) in their United Kingdom office, informing them of the community protests, the anomalous acquisition of FPIC, and asked for a dialogue between the communities and the company. Anglo American PLC immediately responded, such that on June 22, CPA and the Exploration Manager of Anglo American for the Philippines met to discuss the said issues and agreed for a dialogue by mid-July.

However, as the date neared and the community leaders prepared for the dialogue, Anglo American cancelled the dialogue and proposed to reset it to an indefinite date. This disappointed the community leaders but they are, nonetheless, willing to continue with the dialogue. The community leaders from Balbalan fear that this delaying tactic of the company may have other implications on their struggle to oppose the project. As militarization in their province is being intensified, they believe that their vocal opposition to the project as well as criticism to the mining policies of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo government may be enough to subject them to harassments.

The Copperfields mining company
Another mining company, Copperfields, which said to be an Australian subsidiary, has two Exploration Permit Applications (ExPA) in five communities in Conner – Ili, Manag, Guinaang, Talifugo and Katablangan, totaling 16, 200 hectares. As early as September 2005, Barangays Ili, Talifugo and Manag have already submitted their own community petitions to the local and regional offices of NCIP and DENR-MGB.

Episcopal Church affirms position against destructive mining
The struggle against destructive mining projects in Apayao gained support from the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Luzon (EDNL). On July 12, 2006, an Environmental Stewardship Educational Forum was initiated by the Episcopal Church in Guinaang, Conner. The activity was attended by over 40 churchworkers from the EDNL. Representatives of the DENR-MGB, the NCIP, the Local Government Unit of Conner, the Copperfields mining company, and communities affected by mining applications in Conner also attended the activity.

During the forum, Copperfields representative Engr. Felipe R. Nepomuceno, discussed the company’s application for an exploration project and tried to convince the audience for their approval. This was, however, prevented after the CPA and the Cordillera Indigenous Peoples Legal Center or DINTEG discussed the mining situation in the country, including the different mining laws in the country. The Rt. Rev. Bishop Renato Abibico also presented the Episcopal Church of the Philippines (ECP)’s primer on mining and ECP’s position against destructive mining. This was affirmed by the priests present in the forum through a statement that was drafted by the end of the forum.

The statement expressed the EDNL’s stand against the exploitation of the peoples’ land and resources through the entry of destructive mining in Apayao and the other provinces of northern Luzon, the repeal of the Mining Act of 1995, and the fear of the proposed revisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution (Charter Change).

Continuing struggle
At this point, the Apayao communities’ battle against the entry of mining corporations is far from over. But the recent developments only show that the people have not lost hope, and are in fact gathering broad support in this struggle. The stand the EDNL has taken proves this, and such support will inevitably snowball alongside the people’s continuing struggle.

The determination of these affected communities to protect their land and resources exhibit the interwoven existence of indigenous peoples to their lands, having been raised and fed by the land they nurtured. They know that any intrusion of destructive projects, such as corporate mining, will disrupt their territorial integrity and in the long run, their cultural identity— much more if these intrusions are made without their consent.

The Kalinga and Apayao peoples’ struggle against destructive mining is not confined to them, as the whole Cordillera remains a priority base for the Arroyo government’s mining agenda. Resistance to development aggression, in the meantime, will not cease from expanding as threats to indigenous peoples’ collective rights to land, resources and self-determination are threatened and violated. # Sarah K. Dekdeken with Emi Carreon / CPA