InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) claimed on Wednesday that the massive attacks against three mining firms in Surigao del Norte by the New People's Army (NPA) were not acts of atrocities or extortion, but a reflection of the group's firm anti-mining stance.
In a statement, Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the NDFP negotiating panel, said the policy of the Communist Party of the Philippines, its armed wing the NPA and the NDFP was always against mining corporations as these "destroy the livelihood, the environment and aspiration for industrial development and violate the rights and welfare of the indigenous people and the entire Filipino nation."
He further claimed that the policy of the NPA was to protect the indigenous people and their ancestral domain. Jalandoni also criticized President Benigno Aquino III for acting as "caretaker" of the mining firms in calling for a threat assessment following the attacks.
"He thinks only in the narrow terms of favoring foreign investments, even if extremely exploitative," Jalandoni said.
Anti-mining Jalandoni cited several disadvantages of mining. First, he said the extraction of non-renewable resources such as mineral ores for export at cheap prices to foreigners mars the country's prospects for industrialization. Locally, indigenous peoples are also at risk for being dispossessed of their ancestral land leading to "mass dislocation," he said.
Mining also affects the environment through pollution and wastes. Jalandoni said the coastal waters of Claver town where the three mining firms are located are already contaminated with waste from mining.
"Aquino shows no regard for the essential issue in the indigenous people's struggle for the very life of their communities, their children, their way of life, their future," Jalandoni said.
Writ of Kalikasan
The Tribal Coalition of Mindanao has filed a petition a write of Kalikasan before the Supreme Court last May 30 against the mining firms that were attacked.
The petitioners called for a Temporary Environmental Protection Order against Taganito Mining Corp., Platinum Group Metals Corp., Oriental Synergy Mining Corp., Shenzhou Mining Group Corp. and Marcventures Mining Development Corp.
The first two mining corporations were attacked by hundreds of NPA rebels on Monday. The rebels burned mining equipment and temporarily took hold of the mining executives.
In its petition, the Tribal Coalition of Mindanao charged the mining firms with “destroying and polluting the ancestral domain” of the petitioners “by failing to provide proper siltation dams for their nickel mines, thereby irreversibly damaging marine resources, mangroves, corals, and created serious health risks to the prejudice of the lives, health and properties of the tribes and inhabitants of the Provinces of Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.”
The petition cited that the University of the Philippines Natural Sciences Research Institute (UP-NSRI) tested the water and soil samples taken from the mentioned river and water systems and found nickel levels as high as 190 mg/L while the maximum acceptable level of nickel in drinking water should only be 0.02 mg/L according to the Department of Health (DOH) and the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD).
