The Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) hosted the National Indigenous Peoples Conference on Mining from march 12 to 14 in Baguio City as an expression of its strong solidarity with other indigenous peoples in the country and with support groups in opposing large scale mining. This conference is in response to the urgent need of building broader unity against the implementation of the Mining Act of 1995. According to Joan Carling, Chairperson of CPA, this law leads to the outright violation of the collective rights of indigenous peoples over their land and resources, and the devastation and destruction of the environment.

Carling also said “ This conference will also be the occasion for participants to collectively express our sincere appreciation of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) position in calling for the repeal of the Mining Act of 1995. Indigenous Peoples look forward to a stronger partnership with the Catholic church in defense of life and our rights.”

The three-day activity was co-organized by the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) and the Philippine Messserior Partnership, in cooperation with indigenous peoples organization and support groups.

More than 200 indigenous peoples from all over the country and support groups from national and international participated in this conference. The gathering also served as a forum of exchange of experiences, lessons, skills and knowledge on mining issues.

Carling, said “ indigenous peoples are treated as second class citizens. Our rights are being violated with impunity by the government in support of mining corporation’s greed for profit, as well as generating more source for corruption. We will not allow ourselves to be deceived by claims of development that will never happen. We shall persist in our struggle to defend our land-- the very source of our life, culture and identity. This Conference will then highlight our bases of opposing large scale mining and will also draw up our action plan for more concerted and sustained protests against the mining law and policies of the government.”

Participants of this gathering also visited mined- out areas of Itogon and Tuba, Benguet to see the destruction and plunder of the peoples resources by mining companies. It has also been an occasion to share stories and express solidarity with communities in these areas. The field visit was facilitated by the Itogon Inter- Barangay Alliance (IIB-A), a member of the CPA which spearheaded the successful struggle against the open pit mining operation of Benguet Corporation. #

Clike here for Conference Declaration