Benguet folk wary of 2nd Philex negotiations
2 MIN READ
TUBA, Benguet (July 26) — Residents of Camp 3, in Tuba are wary of the NCIP scheduled “negotiation between Philex Mining Corporation and the host indigenous cultural community” set for August 14 right at the open pit area in Sitio Alang.
In an advisory sent to three of the community leaders, regional legal officer of the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)-Benguet Provincial Office Atty. Severino Manuel G. Lumiqued asked the affected community to attend the said “negotiation” in relation to the earlier community rejection of the mining application covering a portion of the Ibaloy-Kalanguya ancestral domain.
Filed with the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (MGB-DENR), the application for a mineral production-sharing agreement covering some 98 hectares in Camp 3 was rejected by resident indigenous peoples following a series of community meetings and dialogs as part of the NCIP procedures for the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC).
The FPIC that has gone through the defined NCIP procedures is required for any project inside the ancestral domain of indigenous peoples.
“Nalpas met a nagdesisyon kami,” (We have already decided) Rufo Gayaso told Nordis. He said the communities affected by Philex’s 50-year mining operations have decided they want the large scale mining operations to stop and that they would rehabilitate whatever is left of their land and resources.
“Naglawaan ti dinadael ti Philex,” (Philex has destroyed so wide an area) Raymundo Tindaan added, referring to the open pit area which has flattened the Mount Camaring and reduced it into an arid flat area. Camaring, according to the elders, used to be a fertile mountain with streams and lush vegetative cover.
A woman in her thirties said, Philex through so many years has kept on promising them compensation for areas and property damaged. “Enough of this sweet talk,” she said in an earlier interview. She said they could rehabilitate the remaining land and water to sustain their children, provided Philex stopped mining.
Some 20 communities surrounding Philex mine site issued a Statement of Rejection for APSA-102 on April 11, 2007.
Philex reportedly clarified issues raised by the indigenous population in its letter to the NCIP national leadership, who saw the need for Philex and the communities to sit down again and they so ordered another dialog. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS
