SPECIAL REPORT
Corporate Mining: Assault on IP Lands
First of
two parts
The assault
of massive corporate mining will surely be met with strong resistance by
indigenous communities who have continued to nurture and protect their
territory. The people will not simply allow the devastation of their land
and resources in the name of profit which has no value in their life.
By
Joan Carling*
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
When the
Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Mining Act of 1995 with
finality in February this year, the Philippine government aggressively
embarked on a total sellout of the people’s mineral resources, with
several incentives to foreign mining companies. The following month,
government identified 20 priority projects for corporate mining in
different parts of the country. Sixteen of these priority projects cover
indigenous territories in Mindanao, Palawan and Mindoro, and the
Cordillera.
In the Cordillera, northern
Philippines, more than
66 percent of the total 1.8 million hectares of the region is now covered
with mining applications, with more than 140 mining applications of both
local and multinational mining companies. The province of Benguet had
hosted 14 mining operations in the past decades with Benguet Corporation
as the oldest mining company in the country. Two of the largest corporate
mines, namely Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company and Philex Mining
Company continue to operate, this time using high technology for
large-scale mineral extraction.
Mining interest in the region
started during the Spanish colonization because of traditional small-scale
production of gold by the Ibalois for trade with people of the lowland.
Since then, the Cordillera region has earned the interest of both local
and foreign mining prospectors.
Based on the geophysical
survey of the Cordillera region, the mineral deposit of the region of gold
is 25 percent while copper is 39 percent.
Indigenous
peoples’ collective rights
Of the
Philippines’s 84 million
total population, indigenous peoples number about 10 to 12 million,
representing at least 110 ethno-linguistic groups. Around 60 percent of
these are in Mindanao and 30 percent in the Cordillera. While the groups’
culture and lifestyle are diverse, they have common indigenous concepts
and systems, principles, values and aspirations.
The basic commonality of
indigenous peoples in the
Philippines and the world
over is the regard and concept of land as the source of life of which
their identity, spirituality, and collective socio-cultural and economic
systems are rooted. The persistence of this, despite centuries of external
and internal colonization, genocide, displacements, exploitation and
oppression, as well as attempts for assimilation and homogenization of
culture remains as the distinct feature and difference of indigenous
peoples from the rest of society.
As indigenous peoples, their
world view and concept of nature and resources in terms of ownership, use,
management and development are different from the western/capitalist
impositions. Given the value of land and nature to indigenous peoples,
these are not treated as commodities.
Instead, the natural
environment should be protected and nurtured for it to continue providing
for the needs and survival of the present and future generations. Unlike
the capitalist view of resources as separate elements to be exploited or
extracted because of their own commercial value, indigenous peoples regard
these resources with their symbiotic relationship and interdependence and
its use should only be in response to basic needs and not for exploitation
as source of surplus.
Further, indigenous values
revolve around collective survival and development so cooperation and
mutual assistance is necessary, as opposed to individualism and
competition.
Because of the historical
social injustice committed to indigenous peoples, and the continuing
assertion of their distinctness in oneness with the land and territory,
they are entitled to certain collective rights with the fact that they
have nurtured and protected their natural environment for centuries.
These rights are the right
over their land and resources or territory, to their identity and
integrity as distinct peoples with their own customary laws, language,
socio-cultural systems, beliefs and spirituality and the right to self
determination economically and politically. The recognition and respect
for these collective rights are necessary to ensure the continuing
survival and development of indigenous peoples.
Assault of
corporate mining
Corporate mining is a form of
development aggression and national oppression of indigenous peoples.
Contrary to claims about its contribution to economic development,
affected indigenous communities and others have become poorer and deprived
of their land and resources which is the material base of their culture
and distinct lifestyle. Likewise, it has caused long-term destruction of
the environment and the inter-generational livelihood source of indigenous
communities.
The entry of corporate mining
operations without the consent of IP communities is a blatant disregard
and violation to the territorial integrity and self determination of
indigenous peoples. Mining companies are given by government the priority
rights over mineral lands, even if these are indigenous peoples’
territories.
Likewise, the companies are
also given the right to extract minerals in the most profitable way, using
high-technology for massive extraction with the least cost and greater
profit. Further, they are also given the prior right to control, manage
and use all other resources such as water bodies, timber and others they
may need to support their mining operations.
Territorial integrity of
indigenous peoples is a matter of right because of their decades of human
investment through their blood, sweat and tears in nurturing and
protecting their natural resources. Because of this, indigenous peoples
inherently have prior right and ownership of their land and territory as
the material base of their collective survival and the source of their
distinct lifestyle. It is also in their strong relationship with their
territory that defines their collective identity as distinct from others.
This complete disrespect to the territorial integrity of indigenous
communities paves the way to physical and economic displacement of
indigenous communities leading to their alienation from the very source of
their existence and collective identity, which is tantamount to ethnocide.
Indigenous
peoples’ ancestral land rights
For indigenous peoples, land
is not a separate entity from all the other natural resources which
comprise their territory. With the extractive nature of corporate mining,
massive destruction of ancestral land, water bodies and the natural
environment cannot be avoided due to massive land extraction and thousands
of tons of mine waste generation. This does not only directly threaten the
health and well-being of indigenous peoples, but also violates their right
to protect and nurture their natural environment which sustains their
tribes, clans, and families from generation to generation.
It also violates the rights
of indigenous peoples to freely determine their own path to development,
with the use, management and development of their own human and natural
resources. Likewise, the destruction of their subsistence economies and
particular livelihood activities by large-scale mining operations is a
direct threat to their food security. It also violates their indigenous
resource management systems that provide them their basic needs, while
protecting these resources from massive exploitation.
For example, indigenous
forest management systems have certain prohibitions or regulations in
cutting timber and gathering of forest products to protect the watershed
areas and biodiversity of the IP territory. All these will be adversely
affected by corporate mining operations, because of its very extractive
and destructive nature. For mining companies and their business partners,
the mineral deposit in the territories of indigenous peoples is regarded
only for its commercial value, and not in relation to other elements of
the natural environment, which indigenous peoples have been using for
their livelihood activities. Mining companies seem not to mind the
symbiotic and interrelationship of nature and indigenous peoples. More
important to them is the extraction of minerals for profit, even if the
consequences of this kind of extractive and destructive operation
out-rightly deny indigenous peoples of their collective rights.
Collective
socio-political systems
Indigenous peoples are
governed by their own socio-cultural and political systems, which include
customary laws as tribal/village governance systems to ensure the
protection of the common good, promote cooperation and mutual assistance
and community peace, harmony and security. They also include collective
mechanisms on decision-making on matters concerning them, as well as on
the participation of all members of the tribe/ village on various
activities and cultural practices.
With the imposition of
corporate mining through legal mechanisms and various forms of deception
and divide-and-rule tactics, mining companies out-rightly violate the
socio-cultural and political systems of indigenous peoples as they have
shown complete disrespect to these collective processes and ways of life
of indigenous peoples.
Mining companies usually
resort to misinformation drives, bribery of local leaders, deception
through promises of employment, funds, projects, scholarships and health
facilities among others, in order to get the support of affected
communities. At the same time, they consciously hide their real motive for
profit, and the adverse and long-term impacts of their mining operations.
For indigenous communities which have long been neglected by the
government for their basic services and sustainable livelihood assistance,
these promises then become very attractive that, in turn, pave the way for
community divisions. It is deplorable that mining companies take advantage
of the dire condition of neglect and marginalization of indigenous
communities to pursue their vested interest, leading to break up in
community cohesion and unity.
Likewise, given the impact of
corporate mining in terms of physical and economic displacements, intact
communities and villages then become dispersed, thereby weakening the
practice of their socio-cultural and political systems. In their efforts
to cope with worsening poverty and marginalization, individualism and
competition become second nature, contrary to the tradition of mutual
assistance and cooperation for their collective survival.
Likewise, indigenous systems
of decision making are either subverted or co-opted by mining companies
for them to claim they have the consent of affected communities. This has
been the case in several ongoing mining operations in
Mindanao, southern
Philippines, affecting Lumad communities.
In conclusion, corporate
mining in indigenous lands affect all strands of the peoples collective
life as distinct from others, and directly threatens not just their
economic survival but also their collective existence in their territory
as the source of their culture and identity.
The assault of massive
corporate mining will surely be met with strong resistance by indigenous
communities who have continued to nurture and protect their territory. The
people will not simply allow the devastation of their land and resources
in the name of profit which has no value in their life.
IPRA and
corporate mining
The Indigenous Peoples Rights
Act (IPRA) was passed in 1997, claiming to uphold the collective rights of
indigenous peoples. Its problematic implementation is characterized by the
lack of substance in fully recognizing the collective rights of indigenous
peoples, and the insincerity of the national government to pursue social
justice for indigenous communities.
While IPRA claims to
recognize ancestral land rights through certificates of ancestral
land/domain titles, this right is still within the framework of the State
having prior right to the people’s natural resources.
Thus, in its ruling on the
constitutionality of the Mining Act of 1995, the Supreme Court said that
the national government has the liberty to allow 100 percent foreign
control of mineral resources and contracted areas for their mining
operations in the name of national development, even in indigenous lands.
Thus,
ancestral land recognition is merely a stewardship arrangement and the
State can still intervene legally on how the resources in IP territories
can be utilized. What can be useful for indigenous peoples under IPRA is
the provision for the “Free, Prior and Informed Consent” ( FPIC ) of
indigenous communities affected by any project/ activities within their
territory or may adversely affect them. The FPIC provision is based on
the principle of self determination, and the indigenous peoples’
participation in the decision-making process on matters affecting them.
But because of the difficulty of mining companies in acquiring the
consent of affected communities, it has been pressuring the National
Commission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to weaken the provisions of FPIC.
In particular, it wants this process to be technical and procedural,
instead of ensuring the substance of proper and thorough consultations and
decision making processes, availability of needed information, and
ensuring the participation of all affected members of the communities.
Thus,
while there are legal avenues where indigenous peoples can continue to
assert their collective rights, what is more important and critical at the
moment is for indigenous peoples to actively defend their territories
through various legitimate forms of struggle, and the exercise of their
right to self-determination at various levels. It is also important to
strengthen cooperation and unity among indigenous peoples, while building
bridges and networks for support. Northern Dispatch / Posted by
Bulatlat
*Joan Carling is the
chairperson of the Cordillera People’s
Alliance (CPA) based in
Baguio City.
Corporate Mining:
An Unjust Imposition
on IP Collective Rights
and Systems
Last of two parts
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