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IP migrants face eviction with Mining Act

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan (April 18) — Possible mineral exploration in the mountainous Mapita Valley in Aguilar town might displace indigenous peoples (IPs) who have settled here since the 1960s.

An official of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) based here said Leverson Bros., a local mining company, applied for exploration but this was shelved by the commission. Once the mining exploration is approved, it will displace Ibalois and Kankanaeys who have settled in the valley. Some 8,000 hec-tares could be explored if the NCIP approves the exploration permit.

Mapita Valley is at the boundary of Zambales and Pangasinan, a four-hour hike through thick forests and flourishing vegetation. It is home to around 300 families, mostly IPs who cultivate rice farms, make soft brooms and gather fruits in orchards.

In the 1960s, growing population and diminishing arable farmlands drove Ibalois here. Traversing through La Union, they reached the fishing villages of Sual and eventually occupied the resource-rich Mapita Valley.

The NCIP organized the Mapita settlers into Tribal Council in 1974. The council’s 2005 data show that some 12,213 IPs, mostly from Cordillera, are in Pangasinan.

Other IP settlements are in Pita in Infanta at the boundary with Zambales; in Mangatarem, at the boundary with Tarlac; and in some parts of Sison, Binalonan, San Manuel and San Nicolas towns at the boundary with Benguet.

With the Supreme Court reversing its decision on the constitutionality of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, the non-government organizations here said that foreign mining companies might pour in and explore the silica and quartz-rich valley.

Meanwhile, entities such as the Benguet Mining Corporation (BMC) and the Transmission Corporation (Transco) intended to develop IP-occupied areas in the province. BMC has put up infrastructure facilities in Sitio Dumantal, Brgy. Hacienda in Mangatarem while Transco is set to put up transmission lines connecting San Roque Dam from Binga Dam which will cover Ibaloi territories in Sitio Laklak in San Manuel. # Jong de la Cruz for NORDIS

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