Pro Mining Villagers air support for mining project

Villagers enraged by burning of firm’s office, air support for its mining project
Manila Bulletin Tue Apr 11, 2006

http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2006/04/11/PROV2006041161161.html

DINKIDI HILL, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya — Initially enraged by the burning of the field office of the Australasian Philippines Mining Inc. (Apmi) at the foot of the Dinkidi Hill in the mineral-rich Barangay Didipio by unidentified persons, villagers here rallied instead to air their support for the first large-scale mining project that straddles between Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino.

They believe that the burning was instigated by a group that wants to sow confusion and misunderstanding between the pro-mine and anti-mine factions in the community in the wake of the drive against rampant, small-scale mining at the slopes of the Dinkidi Hill, host to APMI’s gold-copper project. Most of the illegal miners come from the Cordilleras.
"The culprits also want to make it appear that most of the people in Didipio hate the project. But this senseless act of arson at the APMI offices here cannot intimidate us from supporting the project. It is our only hope for a better life," said Didipio Barangay Councilman Henry Guay.

The so-called silent majority of residents in the Didipio mining impact zone, also clarified that when the Didipio Earthsavers Multipurpose Association (Desama) recently filed a petition for mandamus against the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and (APMI) to force the agency to cancel the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) issued to the Australian mining firm, it was not the will of the entire Didipio but only that of Desama.

"The press statement circulated by a Church-based social action group is deceiving because the article makes it appear that most of the residents of Didipio are up against APMI’s gold-copper project, when, in fact, more than 80 percent of the tribal folk are in favor of the large-scale mining operation and we can prove this," said Evangelist Pastor Efren Dulawan, a Didipio resident.

"While we respect the right of Desama, with a handful of its members, to express opposition to the mining project, we can not allow it to misrepresent the whole Didipio community. On the contrary, a bigger part of its population are supportive of the project," said another resident, Simplicia Annanayo.

"Desama can not represent the whole Didipio. It is just a small fraction of the dwellers who were tempted to oppose the project," said Dulawan.
Dulawan said further that Desama is just one of the six NGOs using Didipio in their organizational tags. The others are the Didipio Farmers Irrigators Association, Dididpio Multi-purpose Cooperative, Bacbacan Affected Residents, Didipio Women’s Movement for Community Development, and the Sangguniang Kabataan of Didipio, all of which support the project.