This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 37, October 23-29, 2005
Buaya
Tribe Resists Mineral Exploration
The Buaya tribe
of Kalinga province affirmed their opposition to the mineral exploration venture
by Cordillera Exploration Inc. (CEXI) in their ancestral domain in both Kalinga
and Apayao provinces.
By Abigail T.
Bengwayan BALBALAN,
Kalinga - The Buaya tribe of Kalinga province last week affirmed their
opposition to the mineral exploration venture by Cordillera Exploration Inc. (CEXI)
in their ancestral domain in Tawang and Laukon, Balbalan town, including a
portion of Conner in Apayao province. The exploration operations cover 8,000
hectares. Residents of
Barangay (village) Tawang signed a declaration Oct. 2, registering their stand
against the CEXI exploration. They said that the CEXI activities in their tribal
domain would only lead to human rights violations. A copy of the
declaration was submitted to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)
- Tabuk. During the
Asia Pacific Mining Conference picket in Makati on Oct. 11, Buaya elders Juanito
Baguingan and Canuto Bagsao said that the voting held in their community last
Oct. 2 misrepresented the real position of the tribe. “The residents
of Brgy. Tawang boycotted the voting to show their opposition to the project,”
they said. The results reflected that only two individuals were against the
mineral exploration, as reported by a local publication. The women of
Tawang authored a separate statement expressing their opposition to CEXI’s
exploration activities, and its eventual mining operations. The same statement
was also forwarded to the NCIP-Tabuk. Tribal elders
from Conner and Buaya participated in the Oct. 11 picket in Makati, deploring
the onslaught of corporate mining in the region, which they said is at the
expense of indigenous peoples in the concerned communities. Nordis / Bulatlat © 2005 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat