Solidarity Message to the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Katinnulong Daguiti Umili iti Amianan

Oct 25, 2008

It is our honor to extend the warmest greetings of Bayan Muna (People First) partylist to the Katinnulong Daguiti Umili iti Amianan, Inc. (KADUAMI) on the occasion of its silver anniversary today.

Twenty five years of operations as a service institution to the people in the provinces of the Northern Luzon is quite an achievement, more so since you have served the less-privileged sectors of our society that we are all endeavoring to change for the better.

It is high time that while continuing your much-needed services to the people, you should now take stock of your achievements, learn the lessons of your first 25 years, and push on with your patriotic duty to the people and the nation.

We congratulate you for siding with the people at the most critical times in our country’s history. We encourage you to continue your good work in the pursuit of meaningful changes in our country towards total human development.

Mabuhay kayo!

Satur C. Ocampo

House Deputy Minority Leader

Representative, Bayan Muna

Teodoro A. Casino

Representative, Bayan Muna<

MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY TO KADUAMI

October 25, 2008

In behalf of GABRIELA Women’s Party, I would like to congratulate KADUAMI for the 25 years it has served the marginalized and less-privileged people of Northern Luzon.

The institution’s efforts to achieve the total human development of the peasants, workers, indigenous peoples, and most especially of women and children, are laudable.

GWP hopes that it will continue to work through its projects and programs, to assert the Filipino peoples’ basic rights and promote their welfare.

Thank you and happy 25^th Anniversary!

In the interest of the Filipino people,

Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan

GABRIELA Women’s Party

MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY TO KATINNULONG DAGUITI UMILI TI AMIANAN (KADUAMI)

MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY TO KATINNULONG DAGUITI UMILI TI AMIANAN (KADUAMI)

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
October 25, 2008

As chairperson of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle and on my personal behalf as someone from the Northern Luzon, I wish to convey my warmest greetings of solidarity to all my compatriots in Katinnulong Daguiti Umili to Amianan (KADUAMI) on the occasion of its 25th founding anniversary.

I salute and congratulate you for all your achievements in socio-economic projects, campaigns and advocacy work, researches and publications and all other activities for the benefit of the indigenous peoples and peasant masses in the Cordillera, Cagayan Valley and Ilocos regions. I join you in celebrating the achievements.

I hope that you will be able to learn lessons from the long experience of your organization, build further on your achievements and define the tasks that will bring you to a new and higher level of development in the service of the people. May all your endeavors contribute to the people’s struggle for national freedom, democracy, social justice, development and just peace.

Long live KADUAMI!
Long live the people of Northern Luzon!
Long live the Filipino people!

CPA MEMBER JAMES BALAO MISSING

The family of JAMES BALAO, a member of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), has reported that he has been missing since 17 September 2008. He left his residence in Fairview, Baguio City at around 7:00 AM on the said date and since then, has not been in contact with his friends and family; nor can they contact him.

This is very unlikely for Balao, who his friends and family know to be conscientious as to informing them of his whereabouts. James is of medium-built, 5′7″-5′9″ tall, is chinky-eyed and was last seen wearing a black jacket, brown pants, visor, black hiking boots and eyeglasses. He was carrying a yellow and blue backpack and red travelling bag. He was going to spend the following days in the family residence in La Trinidad.

His absence is very alarming, as he has reported regular surveillance to hisfamily starting first week of June 2008 and has increasingly heightened until his disappearance. He has even observed white and blue vans that regularly tail him from his residence to his daily chores.

We are urgently calling on the authorities, particularly the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippins (AFP) and the public who know him (former classmates, friends), to aggressively assist the Balao family and us in our search for James. Any information in relation to James may be forwarded to the Balao family at 09175069404; the offices of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (442-2115); and the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (445-2586 and 09189199007). #

BEVERLY LONGID
Cordillera Peoples Alliance Chairperson

ATTY. RENE CORTES
Cordillera Human Rights Alliance Chairperson

JAMES BALAO PROFILE

James Balao is a founding member of the CORDILLERA PEOPLES ALLIANCE (CPA) when it was established in June 1984. Before the founding of the CPA, James was concurrently a researcher of the Cordillera Studies Program (CSP), the research and documentation arm of the Cordillera Schools Group (CSG), and a member of the Cordillera Consultative Committee then chaired by Atty. William Claver. The CSG published IGOROT: A People Who Daily Touch the Sky in 1986, and James’ name appears in the acknowledgment to the CSP staff. At present, he is the President of the Oclupan Clan Association and one of his tasks is to look into the registration and documentation of the clan properties.

Even before the founding of the CPA, James was working as a research staff of the Cordillera Resource Center (CRC), then Cordillera Consultation and Research (CCR). His forte and expertise in education and research were reflected in his work as head of the CPA’s Research and Education Commission as a trainor and researcher. He has invaluably contributed to CPA’s Research and Education work, especially in defining the particular manifestations of national oppression and the particular features of self-determination in the Cordillera.

James was with the CPA Regional Office until 1993, and then devoted his skills and expertise to the research and education work of the CPA chapters and network in the provinces such as in Ifugao from 1994 to 1997, with the Ifugao Research and Development Center (IRDC) and later with the Ifugao Peasant Leaders Forum (IPLF). Then onwards, and up to present, he extends the same services to other provinces in the region, carrying out CPA’s research and education work particularly in agriculture and the Cordillera peasant situation, and his main contribution has been in helping to clarify the features of semi-feudal exploitation in the Cordillera.

At the same time, James has been actively attending to family affairs as clan president of the Oclupan Clan Association. As an active member of the CPA, James makes it a point to attend the CPA’s CORDILLERA DAY Celebrations, such as in Tocucan, Mt. Province (2004) and Baguio City (2007).

Balao graduated BA Social Sciences (Psychology) from the University of the Philippines Baguio in 1983, with a double major in Psychology and Economics. In college, he was the editor-in-chief of the Outcrop (campus newspaper). James had also worked as a staff of Pons Benagen, of the 1986 Constitutional Commission on the drafting of the 1986 Constitution especially on provisions on indigenous peoples.

He is the eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur and Jane Balao of Atok and La Trinidad, Benguet and is the eldest of four children. He was born in April 10, 1961. #

SIGN OUR ONLINE PETITION:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/CPAjamesbalao/

Vizcaya Mine Suspended

http://bulatlat.com/2008/06/vizcaya-mine-suspended

Various people’s actions converged with a court decision and legislative initiatives to discontinue a foreign mining firm’s operations in Brgy. Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya. This coincided with a corporate decision to suspend contract work amid financial difficulties.

BY SHERRY MAE SOLEDAD
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 21, June 29-July 5, 2008

KASIBU, Nueva Vizcaya (200 kms. North of Manila) – Various people’s actions converged with a court decision and legislative initiatives to discontinue a foreign mining firm’s operations in Barangay (village) Didipio, this town. This coincided with a corporate decision to suspend contract work amid financial difficulties.

The Regional Trial Court issued a writ of preliminary injunction ordering Australian mining firm OceanaGold Philippines, Inc. and all other persons acting on its behalf to cease, desist and refrain from demolishing or dismantling (the omplainants’) houses until further court orders.

Last June 24, Australian mining firm OceanaGold Philippines Inc. (OGPI) said that it is suspending work at its $117-million gold-copper project amid the controversies hounding its operations over the past six months. In a company statement, OGPI said it is suspending a number of construction contracts as it tries to cut down on company expenses while looking for additional funding.

Environmental group Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE), together with its partner non-government organization (NGO) in Northern Luzon, Katinnulong Daguiti Umili iti Amianan (RDC-Kaduami) said in their statements, “We want to congratulate the people and the local government units of Nueva Vizcaya for successfully halting the operations of OceanaGold.”

Tactical victory

“Though temporary, this is a big tactical victory for the communities,” says Clemente Bautista Jr., national coordinator of militant environmental group Kalikasan-PNE.

Based on the annual reports of OceanaGold, it lost US$23.43 million and US$69.04 million in 2006 and 2007 respectively. This was despite the company’s infusion of additional capital of Canadian $90.00 million in its initial public offering in Toronto Stock Exchange last July 2007.

“It is not under the good grace and consideration of OceanaGold why it suspended its mining operation,” Bautista said. “For two consecutive years, this company is losing tens of millions of dollars while the opposition to the project becomes broader and stronger at the local, regional and national levels. These reasons forced the company to halt their operation. OceanaGold’s Didipio gold project is becoming more unsustainable and bankrupt everyday.”

Congressional action and provincial board’s withdrawal of support

At the national level, Bayan Muna (People First) Rep. Teddy Casino authored House Resolution Nos. 594 and 211 mandating the Congressional Committee on National Cultural Communities to probe Australian mining firms OceanaGold and Royalco Resources, respectively, which both seek to extract the mineral wealth of Nueva Vizcaya “to the detriment of the indigenous peoples, remaining forestlands and the critical watershed areas in the region.” These resolutions have led to on-site investigations held last June 7-9 in Brgys. Didipio and Kakidugen.

In a statement, Casino said, “Reports reveal that OceanaGold has ’suspended’ its operations – meaning their timetable to get into full swing mineral extraction and production is thrown off course. I am further galvanized by this positive initial victory to work harder to protect the long-term interests of the indigenous peoples and the environment in Nueva Vizcaya.”

Meanwhile, the provincial board withdrew its support to OcaenaGold June 25 with a 7:4 vote. One abstained and another was absent.

The provincial government earlier issued a cease and desist order against the company because of its failure to pay local taxes worth P28 million ($625,139 at an exchange rate of $1=P44.79). Also, Atty. Edu Balgos, a senior board member proposed an ordinance outlawing open-pit mining in the province.

Peoples’ action

The move is welcomed by different organizations as about 200 people rallied to the provincial capitol carrying placards calling for the pullout of Oceana Gold’s operation.

“However, our call is not based on the failure of the company to pay local taxes but because of the adverse impact it will bring on the lives of the people here,” said Allan Barnacha, spokesman of Nueva Vizcaya’s Save the Valley, Serve the People Environmental Alliance.

According to local leader Lucas Buay of the Kasibu Inter-Tribal Response for Ecological Development (KIRED) the people’s struggle would continue against OceanaGold and other foreign mining companies encroaching in indigenous people’s territories.

“We have no recourse but to fight back,” Buay said. “The Arroyo administration, the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) have all shown their indifference to our rights as indigenous peoples. They disrespected and ignored our local officials.”

Buay added that the national government and its agencies have forsaken IPs for its pursuit of selling out their mineral and ancestral lands. “They have the same interest with foreign mining companies to plunder our patrimony,” he said. Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat

Large-scale Mining Operations Threaten Food Security of IPs in NuevaVizcaya; bring disunity among people

Food security of indigenous peoples in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya is threatened by the large-scale mining operations of OceanaGold Philippines, Inc. (OGPI) and Oxiana-RoyalCo. At the same time, the FPIC process under the IPRA law brings disunity among the IPs residing in the mining-affected areas.

Different organizations like the Philippine Network for the Environment (PNE)-Kalikasan, Katinnulong Daguiti Umili iti Amianan (RDC-KADUAMI) which is a member of the EED Philippines Partners’ Task Force for IP Rights (EED-TFIP), joined the Congressional hearing with their partner Save the Valley Environmental Alliance together with the local people organizations and other civil society organizations. The House Committee on National Cultural Communities conducted two on-site hearings and investigations in June 7-8, 2008 in Brgy. Kakidugen and Brgy. Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya which are the sites of Oxiana-Royalco and OceanaGold,respectively.

Indigenous peoples expressed their concern about the adverse impacts that these mining operations will bring to the environment and their sources of livelihood and subsistence. “How do these mining operations address the food crisis of the people? We have been displaced from our ancestral lands in Ifugao and Benguet due to mining operations yet we are still facing the same problem here. We have witnessed the destructive impacts that these mining operations brought to the environment and we cannot allow this to happen again here. The people in these areas already have a sustainable source of livelihood than what these mining companies claim to provide upon entry of these operations,” said Lucas Buay of Kasibu Inter-Tribal Response for Ecological Development (KIRED).

The municipality of Kasibu has a wide forest area, about 30% of the total land area is forest land. It is proven that almost all crops except mango are suitable in this area.The primary agricultural products of the province are still rice and corn, but this gateway to the Cagayan Valley is envisioned to be the regional center for fruit and vegetable production and spice-based industries. “We cannot let the entry of these mining companies destroy our lands as Kasibu is considered the citrus capital of the country, with an annual output of about 10 million kilograms of oranges from an estimated 20,000 hectares of citrus plantations. The citrus farmers stand by its position that agriculture is still the sustainable development for the people as our independent study on the success of citrus industry here would show. We do not want mining here,” Alfonso Namuhje II of the Mallabing Tribal Development Association (MTDP) said.

In Nueva Vizcaya, about forty percent of its total population of 366,962 (based from the 2000 census) is comprised of indigenous people, e.g. Bugkalots, Ifugaos, Ibalois, Gaddangs, Isinais, Ikalahans and Ilongots. Bugkalots, a group of indigenous people from Nueva Vizcaya has entered into a peace covenant through a blood compact in 1950s with other IP groups who have migrated to this area after they had been driven away from their ancestral lands. The areas stated in the mining permit granted to the mining companies are within an ancestral land applied by the Bugkalots for Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claims (CADC), through the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). “We were not consulted by the NCIP during the process of securing the FPIC certificate because we are only migrant IPs in the areas and we are not holders of CADC. But there was no such thing in the provisions of the IPRA law that migrant IPs could not be consulted, especially that we have been here for three decades now,” Fidel Opay of the Lower Muta Valley Farmers’ Federation (LMVFF) explained.

The FPIC process is being questioned because of the bribery and deception controversies in securing the certificate. “ Our peace pact with the Bugkalot tribe is also threatened to be negated because of this conflict that arises due to these controversies,” Opay added.

Mayor Romeo Tayaban of Kasibu, who was one of the resource speaker during the hearing said, “mining operations claim that they will bring development to the people in Kasibu. But what kind of development is this if our people are disunited? We were once a peaceful community but these issues have divided us because of these operations.”

RDC-NL/ KADUAMI’s upcoming 25th Anniversary Celebration

KADUAMI will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary this coming October. We are inviting everybody who has become part of KADUAMI’s work. Activities and invitations are being finalized by the Management Committee (MC). Have you any queries, comments and suggestions about the celebration, please email: kaduami@yahoo.com.

Thank you very much.

Magnetite Mining in the Offshore Areas of Cagayan*

*Excerpt from the policy research conducted on March 2008 by KADUAMI entitled ‘Mining in Cagayan Valley: A Study of the Effects on Indigenous Peoples Rights, Food Security and Human Rights.’ Policy research was first presented during the 3^rd EED-TFIP National Conference on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Security held on March 29-30, 2008.

Context

The Republic Act 7942 popularly known as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 is a brainchild of President Fidel Ramos and a part and parcel of the Medium Term Development Plan or the Philippines 2000 program. The Philippines 2000 aims to comprehensively open the Philippine economy to foreign capital investments through deregulation (relaxation of government control to the economy), liberalization (removal or lessening of trade tariffs on imported goods and capital) and privatization of the public sector of the economy. These plans constitute the globalization in the Philippines.

These national policies have opened up vast tracts of Cagayan Valley’s land to the control of big mining transnational companies (TNCs). In 2004, President Arroyo passed EO 270 which brought forth the Mineral Action Plan (MAP) to strengthen the Mining Act. These shortened the time of processing of mining applications, “harmonized” conflicting laws that contradict the Mining Act, and subvert the people’s rights to oppose mining projects. (Defend Patrimony, MINING IN THE PHILIPPINES and the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 or Republic Act 7942)

The Philippines offshore area including the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is estimated at 2.2 million km². Potential mineral offshore resources are placer minerals including gold, chromites, magnetite, silica and aggregate resources (sand & gravel), decorative stones, manganese nodules/encrustation with associated copper, gold, zinc, and cobalt.

In June 2007, the then Secretary of Department of Environment and Natural Resources Angelo Reyes approved 11 new projects which include 6 mineral production sharing agreement and 5 exploration permits. Three of the five exploration permits were approved to Colossal Mining Corporation (CMC).

Colossal Mining Corporation, a 100 % Filipino owned company that engages in exploration, mining, and production of iron ore in the Philippines, holds three exploration permits of 36,000 hectares of offshore magnetite iron ore sites in Northern Luzon (Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur) of which 13,483.89 hectares are located in the province of Cagayan alone, situated in the municipal waters of Sanchez Mira, Pamplona, Abulug, Ballesteros, Appari, Buguey and Gonzaga of Cagayan. Colossal Mining Corporation is a partner of Bonaparte Diamond Mines NL, the sole company based in Australia that conducts marine diamond exploration.

What is Magnetite?

Magnetite is a magnetic and very dense (heavy) mineral of iron. Its chemical formula is Fe₃O₄. It has many industrial uses. Magnetite is an important source of iron for the iron and steel industries but it also has other uses as an industrial mineral to produce many value-added products. High-grade magnetite is used in many chemical processes including the production of iron sulfate, which is used to purify water in many major cities. Magnetite’s weight per volume makes it an important source of aggregate in the production of heavy concrete. Heavy concrete is used from the construction of baffles and containment tanks in nuclear power plants to things as everyday as counter weights in household washing machines.

Cagayan People’s Struggle against Magnetite Mining

In 2005, United Philippine-China Mining Corporation tried to drill and explore magnetite sand in the off-shore area of Brgys. Masisit and Namuac in Sanchez Mira. The company set-up a bunk houses and was able to operate for more than two months for sedimentary sampling. Residents protested and set-up a barricade in the area, calling for the company’s withdrawal from its operations. People from the affected areas, together with the church sector being led by Bishop Diosdado Talamayen, lawyers, medical doctors and other professionals and other pro-environment individuals have conducted series of education activities and mass actions. They said, a consultation was held but not all stakeholders were invited. The operation stopped and company’s equipment was pulled out. But another exploration of the area is at hand, now in the name of CMC.

At present, residents in Pamplona, Cagayan which is part of the area stated in the CMCs EP, have been conducting information and education campaigns against the impending entry and operation of the country. Four barangays in Pamplona have submitted a petition to the municipal council against the entry of this company. The municipal council has yet to take further action.

In Aparri, Cagayan, residents told the research team that on February 29, 2008, three sea vessels docked and drilled magnetite sand along the off-shore area. Residents trooped to the area of drilling operation and drove away the drillers. The drillers were able to get approximately 200 kls. of magnetite sand, according to residents, before they fled to other offshore areas of Cagayan. When the team was to leave the area, it had spotted a sea vessel still docked on a port in Aparri. The team documented and presented this to the MGB-Region II. Officials of the MGB-Region II were surprised upon seeing the photo and video documents, saying that this should not be allowed because this could be a case of minerals smuggling if this be transported outside the country. According to them, before anyone could transfer minerals abroad, the company has to secure an Ore Transportation Permit (OTP). They said this will be investigated by the MGB, together with the Bureau of Customs.

Potential Risks/ Effects

These mining projects claim to provide benefits to the people. The battle continues as people in the mining-affected communities in the region do not want to accept these operations as they are drawing the lessons in the experiences of others who had become victims of  mining operations.

On Environment:

Offshore mining of magnetite in Cagayan can increase vulnerability to floods as magnetite holds the sand together. The absence of magnetite in the sand can deplete and erode the coastal and near-shore areas as the experience of Bauang, La Union had shown. Bauang municipal government is now putting up seawalls as a mitigating measure for possible flooding.

On Sources of Livelihood and Food Security:

· Loss of farmlands near the coastal areas due to flooding brought about by coastal erosion and depletion

· Loss of marine sources of food and livelihood, especially in coastal areas of the region

On IP rights

The mining areas being targeted for explorations are usually those in remote areas being occupied by various ethno-linguistic groups classified as IPs that the main source of livelihood are farming and fishing. These groups also suffer from government neglect, denying them of even the most basic social services.

Policy Recommendation

There is a need to develop a new mining code that is not created for the purpose of serving the interests of big mining TNCs and local elites, but for the national industrialization that will cater to the needs of the country’s populace.

Strategies:

· Development of IEC materials to popularize and continue the struggle against mining operations;

· Strengthen the peoples organizations and alliances in the area to launch concerted mass actions and increase participation in local governance

· Broaden the network of advocacy groups that will support the mass actions and help in the projection of the issue at the national and international levels

· Support the resolutions and petitions passed by the local government units opposing these mining operations

· Support the policy recommendations and actions being undertaken both at the lower and upper houses

· Continue to create national and international pressure on the mining firms concerned

There’s Still Hope

April 16- In partnership with RDC-NL/KADUAMI, youth leaders in Baguio and Ilocos invited Jun Lozada, the NBN-ZTE Broadband deal star witness, to a caucus regarding the continuing call for truth and accountability. The gathering was attended by more than 100 youths coming from the different schools, colleges and universities in Baguio City and Ilocos, as well as from Baguio’s urban poor communities.

Lozada said that corruption in the Philippines is rooted in the system that it becomes an accepted reality. “Unfortunately, it is the poor people who are greatly affected by it,” he adds. Youth Act Now!, a national youth alliance, launched “Sako-Sakong Katotohanan, ” a quilt signature campaign using empty rice sacks that will reach out to other youths and students from the two regions of the Cordillera and Ilocos. Mr. Jun Lozada led the signing before passing it to the youths who were present in the gathering.

“Our campaign is based on Mr. Lozada’s expose about the corruption charges in the NBN-ZTE deal vis-a-vis the rice crisis that this country is experiencing. If these billions of pesos were instead given as subsidy to our farmers and the rice industry, it would have been a different story,” Louie Santos of Youth Act Now!-Ilocos said. One of the major parts of the caucus is the planning on how to sustain the campaign. Youth and student leaders suggested some activities that will become part of the regional campaign of the alliance.

“There is still hope for you, and I salute each of you for doing something for social change,” said Lozada as he addressed the youths in the caucus. Quoting a famous writer, Lozada said, “each generation writes its own history, ” adding that the youths play a very important role in making history in order for them to have a brighter future. #