NPA tumira ng minahan sa Mindanao

ILIGAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 27, 2011) – Inako ng New People’s Army ang pananalakay sa isang malaking mining firm sa lalawigan ng Bukidnon.

Sinabi ni Ka Norsen, ng Julito Tiro Command, na limang mga equipment units ng Eagle Mining Company sa Barangay Namnam sa bayan ng San Fernando ang kanilang sinira kamakailan lamang bilang parusa sa patuloy na pagmimina nito doon na umano’y siyang dahilan ng pagkasira ng kagubatan sa lalawigan.

Ilang ulit na rin umanong nakiusap ang mga Lumad natives at Simbahang Katoliko sa mining firm na itigil ang kanilang operasyong ngunit nanatiling bingi umano ang pamunuan nito kung kaya’t pinarusahan ng rebeldeng grupo.

“Punitive action was handed down to the said company for its environmentally-destructive mining operations, for ignoring the demand of the Lumad in the area and church people for mining to stop, and, for threatening to file cases against and summarily killing some leaders who opposed the operations of the company,” ani pa ni Ka Norsen.

Sinabi naman ng militar na sinunog ng mga rebeldeng komunista ang limang truck ng nasabing mining firm matapos na mabigo ang NPA na makapag-extort ng “revolutionary taxes” sa Eagle Mining company.

Ngunit mariing itinanggi naman ito ni Ka Norsen. “The claim of the Armed Forces of the Philippines saying that the EMC was given sanction due to non-payment of revolutionary taxes is a big lie. In truth, the AFP protects these companies that destroy the environment, and it is one of their sources of corruption.”

“Government agencies, like the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the local government of Bukidnon, are in collusion with the company in these mining operations, especially with the speedy processing of the papers for the entry of said mining company. Consequently, big military operations are conducted in areas of interest to mining and agri-business companies,” sabi pa ni Ka Norsen.

Unang nagbabala ang NPA na titira ng mga mining firm sa ibat-ibang bahagi ng Mindanao, kabilang ang malalaking minahan sa Zamboanga del Norte na umano’y sumisira sa mga ancestral domain doon ng mga Subanon. (Mindanao Examiner)