Indigenous peoples of Brgy. Lamag, in Quirino, Ilocos Sur have rejected an application for mining exploration, asserting their preference for traditional resource utilization.

BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 13, May 4-10, 2008

Indigenous peoples of Barangay (village) Lamag, in Quirino, Ilocos Sur have rejected an application for mining exploration, asserting their preference for traditional resource utilization.

The Ilocos Sur provincial office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), as part of the process of acquiring the consent of affected Lamag residents, facilitated a referendum to determine the position of the people on the proposed mining exploration by the Phelps Dodge company in their ancestral domain.

The results of the referendum showed that 34 residents voted in favor of the exploration, while 118 voted against it.

The area covered by the application for exploration overlaps with the ancestral domain of the indigenous I-Lamag. Republic Act No. 8371, otherwise known as Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), provides that the free and prior informed consent (FPIC) of the affected communities be sought by companies seeking to conduct mining operations within indigenous peoples’ ancestral domain.

In an interview, residents said allowing mining exploration would open the entrance of mining operations in their area. Lamag is located in the tri-boundary of Abra, Mountain Province and Ilocos Sur.

In the past, mining corporations tried to get their approval for mining operations in their area but the indigenous communities rejected the offers.

Most of Lamag is forested. The people enjoy the utilization of the resources located there particularly when agriculture work is lighter.

“The mountains are the source of our water, the Balas-iyan River, that originates from Besao and Sagada, Mountain Province,” tribal elders told Nordis in earlier interviews.

Alfredo Silot, a Lamag resident, said that their traditional water resource use practiced with their neighbors in the upstream Balas-iyan communities assured them of water supply for their rice fields. “They can have two crop-harvests every year enough for their food and the excess sold for their other needs and education of their children,” he said.

Lamag is considered a rice granary of Quirino due to its abundant rice production through the Balas-iyan River, added Silot. Residents said that allowing mining in their areas would pollute the Balas-iyan River.

Residents say that the Abra River – which begins at Bauko, Buguias and Mankayan and flows down through Ilocos and Abra to the South China Sea – is already silted and polluted due to wastes from the Lepanto Mines.

“The destruction of the Abra River due to mining is an eye opener for us, that is why we rejected the mine exploration,” an elder added.

The community vote on the mine exploration happened last month. Northern Dispatch / Posted by (Bulatlat.com)

 Save as PDF