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Human barricades save 3 Itogon homes

ITOGON, Benguet (Nov. 24) — Human barricades that began on Nov. 13 and which saved three houses from demolition at Sitio Estacion in Brgy. Ampucao here were lifted today, the Itogon Inter-Barangay Alliance (IIBA) spokesperson announced in an interview with Nordis. However, the people threatened with eviction due to an alleged shift in business interests of two mining firms remain vigilant as they went on with small-scale mineral production and swidden agriculture.

For two weeks, residents of sitios Estacion, Camp Lolita, Dalicno and Tipong, all in Ampucao guarded the entry of a demolition crew to three houses whose owners IIBA chairperson and spokesperson Nida Cupatan-Legazpi did not mention for obvious reasons. An average of 100 persons per day took time out to operate the barricades.

According to IIBA, the residents received a demolition notice from the Itogon Suyoc Mines Inc. (ISMI) on Nov. 9. ISMI said that in five days it would enforce a demolition order against the three houses, which the mining company sued for illegal entry.

However, on the fifth day, Nov. 13, people gathered to discourage the demolition team from entering the sitio and to give moral support to the families reportedly sued by ISMI.

ISMI had been operating in Itogon since the 1960s. It claims it has mining interests on the land on which 23 houses have been built also in the 1960s. Most of the Kankanaey settlers who came from Dalicno and Ampucao Proper said that they have lived in the disputed area since birth.

“Ti Estacion ti ili mi, uray kunada a settler kami laeng,” (Estacion is our home, although we are just settlers) a woman in her forties asserts.

The late father of Freddie Altiga, the original settler who cleared the area, also received a lawsuit from ISMI in the late 1990s. With representatives of eight other households, former barangay council member Altiga attended court proceedings until the hearings stopped ten months ago for no apparent reason.

Benguet Board Member Eddie Amuasen said he recognizes that ISMI has mining claims over the area, but it should also respect the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands.

Altiga further said, “ISMI and Benguet Corporation (BC) might be planning to convert their mining claims into housing projects.” Thus the eviction notice came from ISMI.

Being Itogon’s second largest barangay in land area and the largest in population, Ampucao is home to four mining companies, namely BC, ISMI, Philex and Omico mines. Only Philex, which is partly in Ampucao, is gainfully operating. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

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