Friday, August 22, 2008 IPs have weapons in fight vs mine firms (Conclusion) By Ace Alegre
Instruments of Hope
AS AN instrument of hope for indigenous peoples, Windel Bolinget, a true-blooded Igorot from Mt. Province and secretary-general of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) said the Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Undrip) are two instruments indigenous peoples (IPs) in the country can assert over projects which affect them.
"The FPIC is not merely a process but a basic inherent right of indigenous peoples which entails genuine participation and decision-making of IPs. That is, the right to grant or deny their consent to any project in their territories."
Even Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Cordillera Director Neoman dela Cruz vows they are very keen on respecting FPIC when mining firms apply to mine minerals in the Cordillera. Without it, he claimed, firms must be closed down.
While villagers chronicle bad experiences from large-scale mining in the region, communist rebels appear to be on the side.
They had admitted that their stepped-up attacks in the region are closely tied to foreign mining interests.
"Since January this year, the 503rd Army Brigade prioritized Abra in their counter-insurgency operations because of the more than 36 mining applications in the province awaiting approval," Wadagan said.
The 50th Infantry Battalion and the 53rd Reconnaissance Company accordingly concentrated combat operations in the Abra, Mt. Province, and Ilocos Sur tri-boundary particularly in "Dilong Valley", while the rest of the forces of the 503rd Brigade were deployed in Baay-Licuan.
Wadagan claimed the latest mining interest in Dilong Valley -- the Philippine Metals Corporation owned by an Australian mining firm with government paramilitia leader Mailed Molina as local negotiator.
On August 1, rebels ambushed troops from the Bravo Company of the 41st Infantry Battalion killing two of them and wounding two others "as a punitive action, and in defense of revolutionary gains paid in sweat, blood and lives of martyrs," Wadagan said. He insisted they actually killed six soldiers but the military only acknowledged two.
Wadagan admitted rebels used a command-detonated claymore mine on government troops, who "deserves it because they are terrorizing the people of Malibcong Poblacion, Duldulao, and Bayabas, and are forcing the people to allow the establishment of detachments."
Cordillera police intelligence and investigation chief Jesus Cambay acknowledged there is increased rebel activity in various areas in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
Three weeks ago, three Army troopers were also slain in a rebel ambuscade in Pinukpuk town, Kalinga. Three days before that, rebels bombed a Globe cellular site and its equipment also in Pinukpuk town, giving hints to government intelligence agencies of a concerted effort by communist rebels to attack private installations and other government targets around the country.
Abra police director Alexander Pumecha also believed there is increasing rebel activity after communist cadres failed in the Sallapadan, Abra detachment attack in July. He believes rebel attacks in the boundaries of Abra with Ilocos Sur, Mt. Province, and Kalinga might be indications of something authorities must be ready for.
"Their presence in these areas is consistent," Pumecha said.
More than two months ago, intelligence agents have also monitored unusual rebel sightings along the boundary of Benguet and Ifugao, prompting government security forces to fortify possible targets like the Lepanto Mining giant in Mankayan town.
The firm is a rebel target for so long because it has allegedly been polluting Cordillera and Ilocos rivers with its mining activities since the 1930's.
