Government officials led by Trade regional director for Western Mindanao Nazrullah Manzur, in red shirt, poses with TVI people in Siocon town in Zamboanga del Norte in Mindanao.ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE - Aware that indigenous peoples face initial challenges in the management of royalties from resource development firms that operate in their ancestral lands, government agencies led by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) have pledged full support for the Subanon natives in the remote mountain village of Canatuan in Siocon town in Zamboanga del Norte province.
Help will focus on the planning and implementation of livelihood and community development projects to be identified by the IPs themselves and funded from royalty payments they get from TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD).
DTI regional director for Western Mindanao Nazrullah Manzur made this commitment when he – along with several top officials of DTI, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) – inspected the Canatuan gold and silver mine of TVIRD and met with the leaders of company’s host IP community, represented by the Siocon Subanon Association, Inc. (SSAI).
“It was a good opportunity for us to meet the IPs. There is a need for them to put their acts together,” Manzur said, referring to the Subanons. There may be a lot of livelihood opportunities for them in Canatuan that we are not aware of."
"We can discuss this subject further with them so that we will know the necessary intervention we in the DTI can provide. The intervention may be in the form of training, capacity building, marketing, among others," he said.
Apart from Manzur, the other government officials who met with SSAI officers were DTI provincial director Noel Bazan, DENR Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) Carlito Tuballa, and PCA provincial manager Ralph Hamoy.
They were joined by Ernesto Rojo, executive director of the Dipolog Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Maridel Palpagan, DTI chief of Business Development Division, and staff members Luis Paloma, Jr. and Nick Nacaytuna.
Hamoy said he will explore with SSAI, specifically with its hired agriculturist, the feasibility of engaging the IPs in coconut farming, considering that the Philippine government has announced that it will promote biodiesel, a coconut by-product, as an alternative energy source in the near future.
SSAI, the legal representative of the 1,200-strong Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title holders of Canatuan, has received royalties of P5 million in 2005 and an additional P10 million from January to September 2006 from TVIRD.
Company officials estimate that the Subanons will get a total of P14 million, net of tax, for the whole of 2006. Under a Memorandum of Agreement forged with SSAI in 2002, the Company has no influence over how the Subanons will invest their royalty.
The IPs and the group of government agencies to be gathered by Manzur are set to meet again in January 2007 to discuss the assistance needed for SSAI to efficiently utilize the royalty its members have been receiving from TVIRD.
Officials also visited the Canatuan open pit mine; the Tanuman settlement village to be built by TVIRD for the Subanons; the proposed school site for Subanon children; as well as the P170 million Gossan Tailings Dam.
Accompanying the officials are Rocky Dimaculangan, TVIRD public affairs director; Mae Villar, TVIRD environment officer; and Vic Quintana, TVIRD metallurgist. Delegation members expressed their approval of and admiration for the company’s conscientious mining practices. According to Bazan,
“If you are a nature-lover, you will really love it,” referring to TVIRD’s environmental management and protection initiatives in Canatuan.
During an exit conference with company officials led by TVI Canatuan general manager Magi Bagayao, Manzur said “it was a very good experience to have witnessed the actual mining operations of TVIRD. As far as the government requirements are concerned, I believe they are all met by the Company.”
For his part, Tuballa said he will recommend to the Canatuan Multi-partite Monitoring Team the inclusion of other non-government organizations in the team to ensure TVIRD’s continued compliance with mining laws, to further promote transparency in the company’s operations, and to encourage dialogue between the TVI and its various stakeholders. (R. Patangan/TVI)
Help will focus on the planning and implementation of livelihood and community development projects to be identified by the IPs themselves and funded from royalty payments they get from TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD).
DTI regional director for Western Mindanao Nazrullah Manzur made this commitment when he – along with several top officials of DTI, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) – inspected the Canatuan gold and silver mine of TVIRD and met with the leaders of company’s host IP community, represented by the Siocon Subanon Association, Inc. (SSAI).
“It was a good opportunity for us to meet the IPs. There is a need for them to put their acts together,” Manzur said, referring to the Subanons. There may be a lot of livelihood opportunities for them in Canatuan that we are not aware of."
"We can discuss this subject further with them so that we will know the necessary intervention we in the DTI can provide. The intervention may be in the form of training, capacity building, marketing, among others," he said.
Apart from Manzur, the other government officials who met with SSAI officers were DTI provincial director Noel Bazan, DENR Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) Carlito Tuballa, and PCA provincial manager Ralph Hamoy.
They were joined by Ernesto Rojo, executive director of the Dipolog Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Maridel Palpagan, DTI chief of Business Development Division, and staff members Luis Paloma, Jr. and Nick Nacaytuna.
Hamoy said he will explore with SSAI, specifically with its hired agriculturist, the feasibility of engaging the IPs in coconut farming, considering that the Philippine government has announced that it will promote biodiesel, a coconut by-product, as an alternative energy source in the near future.
SSAI, the legal representative of the 1,200-strong Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title holders of Canatuan, has received royalties of P5 million in 2005 and an additional P10 million from January to September 2006 from TVIRD.
Company officials estimate that the Subanons will get a total of P14 million, net of tax, for the whole of 2006. Under a Memorandum of Agreement forged with SSAI in 2002, the Company has no influence over how the Subanons will invest their royalty.
The IPs and the group of government agencies to be gathered by Manzur are set to meet again in January 2007 to discuss the assistance needed for SSAI to efficiently utilize the royalty its members have been receiving from TVIRD.
Officials also visited the Canatuan open pit mine; the Tanuman settlement village to be built by TVIRD for the Subanons; the proposed school site for Subanon children; as well as the P170 million Gossan Tailings Dam.
Accompanying the officials are Rocky Dimaculangan, TVIRD public affairs director; Mae Villar, TVIRD environment officer; and Vic Quintana, TVIRD metallurgist. Delegation members expressed their approval of and admiration for the company’s conscientious mining practices. According to Bazan,
“If you are a nature-lover, you will really love it,” referring to TVIRD’s environmental management and protection initiatives in Canatuan.
During an exit conference with company officials led by TVI Canatuan general manager Magi Bagayao, Manzur said “it was a very good experience to have witnessed the actual mining operations of TVIRD. As far as the government requirements are concerned, I believe they are all met by the Company.”
For his part, Tuballa said he will recommend to the Canatuan Multi-partite Monitoring Team the inclusion of other non-government organizations in the team to ensure TVIRD’s continued compliance with mining laws, to further promote transparency in the company’s operations, and to encourage dialogue between the TVI and its various stakeholders. (R. Patangan/TVI)
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