South Cotabato provincial board set to ban open pit mining

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines – Members of the South Cotabato provincial board will visit early next month the controversial open-pit copper mines in the island of Rapu Rapu in Albay as part of its ongoing study on a proposed ban on open-pit mining in the province under the pending provincial environment code, the Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported Friday.

According to the PNA, Board Member Jose Madanguit, chair of the board's committee on environment, said the planned visit to Rapu Rapu will focus on the evaluation of the possible environmental hazards posed by open-pit mining operations, especially on a large-scale basis.

“We're hoping to get the information that we need that will allow us to see the whole issue on a broader scale and eventually help us decide on whether to proceed with the ban on open-pit mining or not,” he said.

In June, at least eight board members, mostly of the environment committee, toured at least four open-pit mining sites of Toronto Ventures, Inc. (TVI) in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte and Holcim Philippines, Inc. in Lugait, Misamis Oriental.

Madanguit said their initial site visits focused on the evaluation of mine site rehabilitation and the handling of the indigenous people's affected by the mining activities, especially their relocation and compensation.

“This time, we will look into the destruction wrought by open-pit mining in Rapu Rapu, especially the pollution problems, and how it affected the local residents,” he said.
Madanguit said the management of the Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic Mining Project., which is now controlled by Korean investors, allowed them to visit the site either on the first or second week of November.

He said the company allowed the provincial board to send a 15-man delegation for the site visit.
The Rapu-Rapu project was the first foreign-operated Philippine project to reach the production stage after the Supreme Court upheld the legality of a 1995 mining law, which opened the sector to foreign investment.

In November 2005, LPI was found liable for the recurrence of cyanide spills, mine tailings and fish kills in the island, causing environmental destruction, community displacements, human rights violation, and livelihood loss to the local people.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Mines and Geosciences Bureau eventually ordered Lafayette to pay P134 million to ensure that the environment around the mine site is restored and rehabilitated in case the project is abandoned.

However, there has been no confirmation if the company had complied with such order.

Last April, Korean transnational companies LG International and Korean Resources Inc. gained majority control of Lafayette Philippines Inc., previously an Australian-owned company, which operated the Rapu Rapu mines.

The provincial board was supposed to deliberate on the second reading in late April the proposed provincial environment code that includes a provision banning open-pit mining in the province but it decided to defer the matter due to strong opposition from the business sector, local officials and various government agencies.

Environment Secretary Jose Atienza Jr. personally wrote a letter to the provincial board and South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes seeking a reconsideration regarding the proposed ban on open-pit mining in the province.

Mining firm Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), which is based in Tampakan town, had issued hints on utilizing open-pit mining on its proposed large-scale copper and gold mining project in the tri-boundaries of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur provinces.

The operations of SMI, which is backed by global mining player Xstrata Copper, has been opposed by local environmental groups and the Catholic Church. (Allen V. Estabillo)

Tribesmen Say Mining Destroy Sacred Lands In Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 15 Aug) – Lumad tribesmen on Wednesday slaughtered a white chicken in ritual to protest the destruction of their ancestral land by mining activities in the southern Philippines.

Datu Monico Cayog, the group’s leader, said mining activities have destroyed their lands and polluted rivers and mountain springs in Mindanao where large scale mining are going on.

The indigenous people, composed mostly of Manobo, Bagobo, Umayamnon, Blaan Lumad tribes, are members of the Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao under the larger group called PASAKA.

They were protesting also the government’s liberal mining policies and accused authorities of human rights violations against the indigenous tribes.

“The white chicken symbolizes the peace that we demand, while the blood symbolizes death to all destructive projects in their communities, particularly mining, logging, dams and militarization that resulted in uncountable human rights abuses perpetrated against the Lumads,” Cayog said.

He said human rights abuses perpetrated against indigenous tribes escalate due to mining activities and other government projects in their communities without public consultations.

“These projects are coupled with militarization, since the government knows that the Lumads protest these destructive projects. Genuine development will only be achieved thought nationalized industrialization which is free from the encroachment of foreign or local firms which only want to plunder our natural resources,” he said.

Norma Capuyan, chairperson of the Apo Sandawa Lumadnong Panaghiusa Cotabato (ASLPC), also denounced the transfer of the Philippine Mining Development Corporation (PMDC) in the direct control of President Gloria Arroyo.

“Out of the 18 mining priority areas in Mindanao, at least 16 are inside ancestral domains of the indigenous peoples. The influx of mining companies is thus tantamount to the death of indigenous communities which depend greatly on their ancestral land for survival,” Capuyan said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

Capuyan said that aside from mining activities, commercial and illegal logging also caused the deforestation of many Lumad communities in Mindanao, such as Ata-Manobo ancestral lands in Davao Del Norte province.

She said the ongoing construction of the Tudaya hydro-power plant in Mount Apo, a protected area, is also threatening the denudation of Bagobo and Manobo communities.

Dolphing Ogan, secretary general of the group KALUMARAN, a federation of Lumad organizations in Mindanao, said the deteriorating situation has affected the political, socio-economic and rich culture of the indigenous people.

“The Lumad people are suffering from blatant neglect from the government due to the absence of education, health and other basic social services in our communities.”

“We are grabbed of our ancestral land which is the material base of our socio-cultural, economic, and political life. Appallingly, we are also tagged as rebels or enemies of state every time we defend the mere right to our land and life,” Ogan said.

There are at least 18 indigenous tribes in Mindanao.

Militant Group Refutes MEDCO Statement On Mining Industry

DAVAO CITY – The militant party list group, Anakpawis, on Friday refuted the Mindanao Economic Development Council's (MEDCO) that the infusion of foreign funding in the local mining industry would boost Mindanao’s economy.

Editha Duterte, the group’s spokesperson, explained that MEDCO's “two-pill solution” will solely benefit foreign capitalists while the natural resources and labor force would bleed dry.

"Anakpawis Party-list and all its member organizations and alliances have been unrelentingly campaigning for years already about the adverse consequences of selling out our abundant resources to foreign direct investments."

"This comes as a surprise to us because it is essentially contradictory to their statement regarding NEDA Secy. Alfonso Neri's bid to partner Mindanao’s economy to 'big brother' economies," Duterte said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

MEDCO earlier this month debunked Neri's opinion, saying that Mindanao's economy is unequipped to contend with rich countries' economies. "MEDCO was short in pointing out that we should strengthen our own economy instead of allowing foreign companies to exploit our resources."

Duterte said that foreign direct investments are eating up local economy because the small and medium businesses can never compete with the capital funding and technology of transnational companies.

"How many of our small-scale mining industries have closed down due to the aggression of foreign mining companies?" she asked.

"Instead of helping our home-grown economy, we kill it by letting foreigners exploit our natural resources. Worse, these foreign industries are afforded with onerous tax holidays and meager to no tariffs while our local businessmen are wrung out with stringent tax obligations. What have the foreign mining companies given to Mindanaoan's in the past decades?"

"These companies have dislocated Filipinos from their lands and extracted them from their livelihood. In Southern Mindanao alone, seven areas have been direly affected by the forceful entry of these foreign mining industries to date. In fact, transnational companies are one of the most repressive and anti-worker capitalists in the region." Duterte said.

TVI Completes Canatuan Social Dev't Plan

In the area of Community Infrastructure,TVIRD hopes to complete the Tanuman Settlement Area that the company will build together with the indigenous people. Under the SDMP Education Program, TVIRD will strengthen the Functional Literacy Program for Canatuan; expand the College Scholarship Program; and continue to provide daycare and elementary schoolteachers in nearby villages. TVIRD will strengthen and expand its livelihood program, which will now include, among others, the production of medium to long-term crop like abaca and rubber.

ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE (Rochell Hilario / 22 Dec) - After many months of consultations with residents of communities within and around its gold-copper project in Mount Canatuan in Siocon town in Zamboanga del Norte provice, TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD) has completed the approval process for its Social Development and Management Plan (SDMP) from the Philippine Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

The approval enables the TVI to build on the gains of its social development initiatives in its host and impact communities since it began production in 2004. This will be done through the enhancement of ongoing initiatives with the introduction of various organizational and program mechanisms that are responsive to the needs identified by these communities.

“While we have endeavored to fulfill our initial community development objectives in the first two years of our operations, we have also been working hard to finalize this important document that would formalize our commitment to the sustainable development of Canatuan and its neighboring barangays,” said Eugene Mateo, TVIRD president.

“We are glad to have finally accomplished this requirement, and we thank the MGB for acknowledging the tangible projects we have done for the improvement of the quality of life in our host community prior to the approval of our SDMP.”

Felice Yeban, TVIRD Community Relations and Development Organization director, said the consultation process and amount of time taken to produce many iterations resulting from feedback from the community and accommodating the community’s wishes took a while to complete the SDMP. "We are happy with the result but we view the Plan as a living document, a work in progress. We intend to do more and, as can be gleaned from our concrete development initiatives in the first phase, that is, from mid-2004 to mid-2006, our actions will speak louder than our words,” Yeban said.

These initiatives, Yeban said, include the cleanup of mercury and cyanide tailings left by illegal small-scale miners that previously operated in Canatuan and the planting of more than 62,000 trees in 2 ½ years. And the building of roads, health clinics, and schoolhouses, as well as the provision of livelihood projects, employment, and previously inaccessible basic services like water supply, electricity, including housing to the Subanon ancestral domain owners of Canatuan.

“TVIRD’s approved SDMP provides the framework that will serve as the company’s guidebook, as it continues to support the welfare of the people in its immediate and secondary affected communities,” MGB Western Midnanao regional director Constancio Paye, Jr., explains. “We now have a document that captures the many good things the company has done and will continue to do for its host communities in the areas of livelihood, basic services, health and environmental safety, their socio-economic enhancement and sustainability on and beyond the mine life.”

According to the TVIRD SDMP, the company will principally strengthen and expand first phase programs in the second phase (mid-2006 to 2008) through socio-economic projects and services spelled out during the community consultations.

These include a livelihood program that will focus on the production of medium and long-term crops like abaca and rubber; the formation of farmer instructor technician team that will spread the sustainable food security and environmental protection technology to other small farmer groups; the establishment of cooperative-operated trading center in strategic marketing locations; as well as the continuous upgrading of technical skills in upland farming of FIT and clients on upland crop diversification.

Included in the Health and Sanitation Program are the provision of a potable water system to five needy immediate impact barangays; the completion of a community hospital; and the establishment of herbal gardens.Under the SDMP Education Program, TVIRD will strengthen the Functional Literacy Program for Canatuan; expand the College Scholarship Program; and continue to provide daycare and elementary schoolteachers in nearby villages.

In the area of community infrastructure, the company hopes to complete the Tanuman Settlement Area that TVIRD will build together with the IPs.

TVIRD will implement five distinct but interrelated strategies to achieve the second phase: Sustainable Community Development; Organizational Development; Information, Education & Communications; Institutional Networking/Advocacy; and Resource Accessing.Following the provisions of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, TVIRD allots a minimum of 1% of the direct mining and milling costs annually – over and above the royalty equivalent to 1% Net Smelter Revenue that Subanons have been receiving from the company.

Of this amount, 90% is appropriated to implement the SDMP, and the remaining 10% for the development of mining technology and geosciences, as the well as the corresponding manpower training and development.In 2005, the Subanons of Canatuan received a total of P5 million in royalty payments from TVIRD. From January to September 2006, they earned P10 million, and are expected to get P4 million more by yearend.

TVIRD’s SDMP was revised in two timeframes. In April 2005, the company employed the services of the Green Earth Multi-Purpose Cooperative which touched base with the Canatuan Project’s impact areas, particularly those communities covered by the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title.

In the first quarter of 2006, TVIRD’s Community Development Office – recently reorganized as CReDO – initiated individual community profiling and consultations in 11 villages affected by the project, namely: Tabayo, Pisawak and Bulacan in Siocon town; Kilalaban in Baliguian town (both towns of which are in Zamboanga del Norte Province; and J.S. Perfecto, Malubal, New Sagay, San Fernandino, and San Antonio, all in R. T. Lim town in Zamboanga Sibugay Province.

TVI Participates in Canadian "Roundtables" on Corporate Social Responsibility

MANILA (Rochelle Hilario / 12 Oct) – The Canadian government has been holding roundtable sessions to hear the public’s views on “recommendations for government, non-government organ izations, labor organizations, businesses and industry associations on ways to strengthen approaches to managing the external impacts of international business activities to benefit both businesses and the communities within which they work.” In other words: Corporate Social Responsibility, particularly in the "extractive industries" of mining and petroleum, in developing countries.

The TVI Resource Development Philippines. Inc., recommended the following:

The Canadian Government become a signatory to the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, an initiative organized by the two NGOs, Business for Social Responsibility, and the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum;

Industry to adopt, and report on, Best Practices in their projects, as defined by internationally agreed standards; and to participate in the Voluntary Principles program where security is an issue;

NGOs to commit to the Accountability Charter for NGOs, to improve responsibility, due diligence and "CSR" in the conduct of advocacy;

Government, Civil Society, Industry to develop a system of Accredited Monitors who could independently and professionally review CSR performance in international projects and make recommendations.

On the basis of TVI’s experience, in which the company’s reputation has been unjustly impugned by civil society and political-agenda organizations in the Philippines and abroad, TVI believes that a key issue is the lack of mechanisms for credible, independent monitoring and verification of project performance.

The availability of accredited monitors would go a long way toward resolving misrepresentation and conflict issues in project evaluation and execution.

TVI’s presentation to the Canadian Government Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility, submitted in Calgary, October 10, is available for download by clicking on this link.

TVI Tackles Mining Issues In Dipolog Forum...

Fielding questions from both pro-mining and anti-mining advocates during the open forum held in Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte province are TVIRD officials Yulo Perez (extreme right) and Rocky Dimaculangan (2nd from right), along with Mines and Geosciences Bureau Region 9 chief Constancio Paye (2nd from left) and Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Legal Counsel Atty. Jesgal Sarmiento (extreme left).

...Presents Social Commitment Initiatives to Zamboanga del Norte government and non-government representatives.

DIPOLOG CITY (Rochelle Hilario / 10 Oct) - Officials of TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD) recently participated in the first-ever mining forum held in the provincial capital of Zamboanga del Norte, host of TVIRD’s Canatuan Project.

The officials fielded questions from both pro-mining and anti-mining advocates during the no-holds-barred open forum designed to help clarify issues and concerns regarding mining as an engine of economic development for Mindanao, as well as the company’s operations in Siocon town. (TVI/Read more)