Aussie mining firm deceiving people, says Vizcaya bishop

Aussie mining firm deceiving people, says Vizcaya bishop
By Florante Solmerin, Northern Luzon Bureau
The Manila Times June 20, 2005

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2005/jun/20/yehey/prov/20050620pro1.html

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya: The Australia-based Climax-Arimco Mining Corp. (CAMC) is allegedly deceiving the residents of at least 29 barangays in Kasibu town in this province to persuade them to endorse their mining project in mineral-rich Barangay Didipio, according to Bishop Ramon Villena of Bayombong.

“Unable to get the majority consent of the residents-opposed gold and copper project has the consent of the Kasibu people,” Villena said in an exclusive interview with The Manila Times.

The bishop admitted that seven barangays passed resolutions endorsing the gold and copper project, but he claimed that four of these barangays retracted their endorsement after they were informed of the consequences of the project.

Citing a study made by the Didipio Earth Savers Multipurpose Association (Desama) and the Diocesan Social Action Center, Villena said the two groups documented since 1997 numerous cases of deception committed by the mining proponent to win the endorsement of local communities.

“Foremost among these is that the company has been doing everything to show to the public that the Didipio council and majority of the residents support the project by showing an alleged resolution of the barangay council after the 2002 election and a resolution from the residents endorsing the project. These were purely deceptions committed against the Didipio people,” Villena said.

He said it turned out that the resolutions were penned by an organization called the Didipio Special Administrative Council, which CAMC created and which may have misrepresented the true sentiment of the residents. “Desama members won five seats in the June 2002 barangay elections including the barangay chair,” Villena said.

Desama presented resolutions of the town council denying endorsement for the project in November 2002 as well as the endorsement of the Regional Development Council, also in 2002. Both councils repeatedly rejected the company’s request for an endorsement.

The bishop disproved the company’s claim that barangays other than Didipio and Sitio Tubo, Dingasan in Cabarroguis, Quirino, will not be affected. “CAMC explored most of its FTAA area for gold and copper including the area of Malabing Valley, the booming citrus capital in the country.”

Villena said there’s no truth to the company’s claims that its project would bring economic relief and development to Kasibu, particularly the Didipio residents.

“It [CAMC] had once connived and deceived the Didipio council and later broke their promises for economic development. Many claim that a majority of the barangay council, before Dincog’s term, was under the payroll of the company. They donated a truck, supported a clinic, hired students for summer jobs but all these, I think, were designed to divide the Didipio people,” the bishop said.

Villena further said that the promises of employment for the Didipio people is a “farce” because the company needs skilled managers, engineers and workers to run the machinery. “Many of the Didipio residents do not possess these skills since majority of them are farmers.”

“We’re hoping that on Monday the summit will correct these deceptions made by CAMC against the interest of the Kasibu people. The Church hopes that the people will push for the banning of all forms of large-scale mining in Kasibu in particular and in Nueva Vizcaya in general,” he said.

The company was allowed to explore some 37,000 hectares in Mamparang mountains at the boundaries of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino, but the area was reduced to about 21,000 hectares due to the annual area relinquishment.

The Ramos administration granted the company a financial technical assistance in 1994, a year before the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 was signed into law.

Former environment secretary Heherson Alvarez suspended the company’s exploration permit because affected Ifugao residents refused to endorse the project.

Recently, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources reiterated that any mining development project will not be allowed on the ancestral lands of indigenous people without the free and prior informed consent of the affected people.

Civic and local government leaders of Kasibu and Nueva Vizcaya are set to convene a mining summit today to decide whether to allow the project.

The summit was organized by the local government of Kasibu together with the Desama, a people’s organization based in Didipio where the proposed open-pit mining operation is located.

Antonio Dincog, chair of Barangay Didipio, said the summit will determine the town’s development priorities.