Philippines Mining a Sacred Mountain: Protecting the Human Rights of Indigenous Communities
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Philippines Mining a Sacred Mountain: Protecting the human rights of indigenous communities The Research Team Siocon Subanon Association Apu’ Manglang Glupa Pusaka Save Siocon Paradise Movement (SSPM) Pigsalabukan Bansa Subanon – Subanon Federation (PBS) The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, Inc.- Kasama sa Kalikasan (LRC-KSK/Friends of the Earth-Philippines) The DIOPIM Committee on Mining Issues (DCMI) Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links (PIPLinks) MiningWatch Canada (MWC) Tebtebba Summary CHINA Taiwan In 2005, the Canadian company TVI Pacific Inc. Hong Kong officially opened the Canatuan mine on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, although the company P h i l i p p i n e had a presence in the area for several years before. Luzon S e a Producing gold, silver, copper, and zinc, the open- pit mine has created some jobs in an impoverished THAILAND area and generated revenues for the indebted Manila national government. However, it has also displaced A PHILIPPINES many families; divided the local indigenous people, I D VIET NAM known as the Subanon; deprived thousands of O B small-scale miners of their livelihood; and negatively M C A affected rice farmers and fishers living downstream. Mindanao Because of increased levels of sediment and metals Siocon in local rivers and creeks. One of the most contro- BRUNEI P AC IFI C versial aspects of the mine is that it is located on the peak of Mount Canatuan, which the Subanon living OCE A N MALAYSIA in the area consider to be sacred. Sumatra INDONE S I A Mindanao has been the site of a sustained conflict between various Muslim groups and the SINGAPORE Philippine government for the last three decades. TVI Resource Development (Philippines) Inc., the subsidiary operating the mine, has hired personnel from the Philippine army to providePAPUA security. These security forces have cleared people from the area, including indigenous peoplesNEW and GUINEA small-scale miners, Jakarta and confronted local demonstrators. Some confrontations have been violent. Members of the Subanon have repeatedly complained about the mine and related human rights issues to the Philippine govern- ment. They also brought their case to the UN Working Group on Indigenous Peoples. Java A coalition of local and international organizations, including indigenous, church-based and commu- nity groups, conducted a human rights impact assessment of the mine, piloting the draft methodology provided by Rights & Democracy.1 Several of the local groups involved have been clear in their opposition to the mine for some time. This caused tensions during the assessment because the company and some local groups questioned their credibility. The coalition tried to canvass all points of view, including those of TVI Resource Development, which co-operated with the assessment. The central finding of this report is that the investment has had a negative impact on the ability of the Subanon to enjoy the human right to self-determination, to human security, to an adequate standard of living, to adequate housing,AU to workS TRALIand to education. A This case study is an excerpt from a publication entitled Human Rights Impact Assessments for Foreign Investment Projects: Learning from Community Experiences in the Philippines, Tibet, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Argentina, and Peru This case study was prepared by independent third parties with the support of Rights & Democracy. Rights & Democracy was not in a position to verify all of the facts stated in the report, but it picked the case study with care and provided guidance to the research team. Neither Rights & Democracy, nor any of its employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information contained in these case studies. The views and opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of Rights & Democracy. © International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, 2007. To order the complete report, please visit Rights & Democracy’s website: www.dd.rd.ca. This report is also available online. ISBN: 978-2-922084-97-9 2 Human Rights Impact Assessments for Foreign Investment Projects Preparation of the torched the town of Ipil on the Zamboanga peninsula. In Case Study May 2003, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front attacked the town of Siocon, where the TVI mine is situated, killing 22 people and injuring many more. An estimated Scoping 120,000 people have died and millions more have been The Philippines is an island nation located in the Malay displaced in more than three decades of fighting.7 Archipelago in Southeast Asia. It was colonized by Spain Economic growth in the Philippines has lagged (1521-1898) and the United States (1902-1936), and behind that of its East Asian neighbours. Foreign was occupied by the Japanese during World War II debt is estimated to be 3.96 trillion Philippine pesos before becoming an independent country in 1946. (US $77 billion). This does not include sizeable domestic Ferdinand Marcos was president and then dictator of debts. About half of the existing debt has been incurred the country from 1965 until 1986, when he was forced under President Arroyo. from power by a popular movement. Governments The Philippines is rich in mineral resources, including have since been elected democratically, although gold, copper, nickel, and chromite which is used in the corruption has been a persistent problem.2 Gloria manufacture of steel and certain chemicals.8 However, Macapagal-Arroyo, the current president, took power these resources have not been well developed for a variety in 2001 when Joseph Estrada resigned due to allega- of reasons, including continuing political unrest and tions of corruption. She won re-election in 2004, but opposition from farmers and fishers concerned with the her government has since been undermined by a environmental impact of mining. Heavy seasonal rains series of scandals. and frequent seismic activity (the Philippines is in a zone During the Marcos regime, the military was used prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions known as the to protect the economic and political interests of the Pacific Rim of Fire), have also affected mining activity. country’s elite, resulting in grave abuses of human In an effort to improve economic growth and rights. People considered to be opponents of the increase revenues (which it needs in part to pay debts), regime were subject to torture, arrest, and detention. the government has liberalized the legal regime for Many disappeared.3 The current government has also mining, passing the Revised Philippine Mining Act in been criticized for its human rights record. Many 1995. The legislation was drawn up with the help of the activists, journalists and community leaders have been World Bank. In 2002, a new national mineral policy was killed or declared missing. In 2006, the Philippines was implemented by executive order. It streamlined govern- tied with Afghanistan as the second most dangerous ment procedures to grant mining permits to foreign country in the world for journalists, after Iraq.4 Few investors. A 2004 ruling by the Philippine Supreme Court perpetrators are caught and brought to justice. allowed foreign companies to own 100% of mining The population of the Philippines is estimated to be operations, eliminating the previous limit of 40%.9 about 90 million people.5 One quarter of them live on The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines says that the large, southern island of Mindanao, where many large-scale mining will provide additional revenue for of the richest mineral deposits are found.6 Despite the government and jobs in isolated mining areas.10 this resource wealth, many of the people of Mindanao However, much of the mining and exploration is live in abject poverty. This is especially true of those taking place in sensitive areas, provoking local opposi- living on the peninsula of Zamboanga, where the mine tion. One such place is on the Zamboanga Peninsula operated by TVI Resource Development (Philippines) Inc. on the island of Mindanao. The peninsula is home to is located. approximately 350,000 indigenous people known Mindanao, with a mainly Christian population, is collectively as the Subanon (also known as Subanen, the site of a conflict which began in 1970 between Subanan, and Subanun).11 They are mainly farmers Muslim separatists and the Philippine government. or fishers and revere a common ancestor called Apu Groups involved in this armed conflict include the Moro Manglang.12 Their highest traditional council in the Islamic Liberation Front, the Abu Sayyaf Group, and the New People’s Army. In 1995, the Abu Sayyaf Group phiLippiNES 3 Rights & Democracy Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (1967); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990); and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1981). Regarding the protection of indigenous people’s rights, a major step was taken at the international level when members of the UN Human Rights Council adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in June 2006.16 Among other things, the declaration TVI’s mining activity caused the deforestation of the top of Mount Canatuan. TVI is currently expanding operations at this site. recognizes the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples, especially their region of the mine is the Council of the Seven Rivers, rights to lands, territories and a group of traditional leaders. resources, which derive from their political, economic For the Subanon of the southern peninsula, Mount and social structures, and from their cultures, spiritual Canatuan is a sacred place and they want the area to traditions, histories and philosophies. It is important to remain untouched.13 Historically, it was where leader mention that a national Philippine law, the 1997 Apu Manglang made a covenant with the Apu Sanag, Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, is based on the same an immortal being, to save the people from a disease principles as the UN declaration.