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Prelates call for a stop to large-scale mining operations; repeal of mining law
http://bicoltoday.com/?p=3854

EBF Forum on Mining, South Luzon Area. PHOTO COURTESY: PNE KALIKASAN
By Janice M. Cave

MANILA, Philippines – Calling mining operations as unethical, a group of Roman Catholic and Protestant prelates has urged government to repeal the mining law and to issue a moratorium on large-scale mining.
 

In a joint statement, the Ecumenical Bishops Forum expressed alarm over the excessive mining operations by both local and foreign firms particularly in Southern Luzon and Bicol.
“Destructive mining is blatantly unethical, unjust, and senseless for it exacerbates poverty, causes dislocation of livelihood of the people, and even threatens the base of life and life itself,” the statement said.
 

The group cited several areas in Bicol province where large-scale mining has become prevalent, causing environmental degradation in the area.
 

They labeled the mining venture in Matnog, Sorsogon as “a deeper quagmire of maldevelopment of mining”, claiming operations there have turned from a small-scale to a large-scale operation.
Matnog has been declared as a geologically hazardous area being prone to landslide and flooding, according to the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau.
 

“It has been proven that the negative costs of mining operations far outweigh the gains,” the statement said.
 

In liberalizing the mining industry, the prelates said the government has failed to protect the environment and the people by favoring businessmen.
 

“Thus, to further liberalize the mining industry in favor of the mining corporations as being trumpeted by the Aquino administration will mean more suffering and death, dislocation, displacement and ruin of the environment,” it said. (PNA)

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Bicol church leaders call for mining moratorium
http://bicoltoday.com/?p=3840

LEGAZPI CITY (Oct. 06, 2011) – In light of the recent NPA guerrilla resistance to large-scale mining in Claver, Surigao del Norte, Roman Catholic and protestants bishops called for an immediate moratorium on large scale mining in the country and the scrapping of the government’s current mining policy. Leaders of the Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF) issued a statement after their Southern Luzon Regional Conference in Legazpi City. Church leaders and workers along with mining-affected community representatives attended the said forum.
 

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes said that mining in Bicol region have affected so many people like the polymetallic mining in Rapurapu island. “These mining operations have destroyed our rivers, seas and land. The flagship project of the government which is the Polymetallic mining in Rapurapu supposedly a model of responsible, clean mining but as expected from them we opened a pandora box of destruction. We will continue to oppose all destructive mining operations, both locally or foreign-owned. We call our brethrens to support the struggle of communities in their protection of their rights and environment against private and foreign mining corporations.”

“Defend Patrimony commends EBF in putting forward the demands of the people on the issue of mining. The support of church leaders is very important in the continuing campaign against environmental destruction and mineral resource depletion brought about by large-scale mining,” said Clemente Bautista of Kalikasan PNE and convenor of Defend Patrimony Alliance.
 

Bishop Deogracias Yniquez said “destructive mining is blatantly unethical, unjust, and senseless for it exacerbates poverty, causes dislocation of livelihood of the people, and even threatens the base of life and life itself. This is a result of mining liberalization of the government.”
 

The Ecumenical Bishops also call for the demilitarization of mining communities and the passing of House Bill 4315 or the People’s Mining Bill.
 

“The People’s Mining Bill provides a mining policy framework that ensures the protection not only of the environment but more importantly the people’s basic rights and welfare. Unlike the current mining policy, the said bill once enacted will lead to the resolution of mining conflicts in the mining-affected communities,” Bautista explained.
 

The EBF anti-mining statement was signed by Most Rev. Deogracias S. Iñiguez, Jr., UCCP Bishop Elmer M. Bolocon, Albay Bishop Joel Z. Baylon, UCCP Bishop Arturo R. Asi, Sorsogon Bishop Arthuro Bastes, IFI BishopThe Right Revd. Ronelio V. Fabriquer, IFI Bishop The Right Revd. Joselito T. Cruz, and UCCP Bishop Gabriel A. Garol.

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Aquino regime misses the essential points at issue
Luis Jalandoni
Chairperson
NDF-Negotiating Panel
October 05, 2011

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/aquino-regime-misses-the-essential-points-at-issue

President Aquino reacts to the offensives of the New People’s Army against certain mines in Surigao del Norte as if he were merely the caretaker of the foreigners and local big compradors. He thinks only in the narrow terms of favoring foreign investments, even if extremely exploitative. He is concerned only with providing military security for them.
 

He completely misses the following essential points: 1. the extraction of nonrenewable resources such as mineral ores for export at dirt cheap prices kills the Philippine prospects for industrialization, 2. the indigenous people are subjected to dispossession of land, mass dislocation and ruination of their lives and culture; and 3. the unbridled mining poisons the environment and damages agriculture and other forms of livelihood.
 

Aquino is unmindful of the fact that the rivers and creeks as well as the coastal waters of Claver in Surigao del Norte are already poisoned and that the Tribal Coalition of Mindanao et al, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court on May 30, 2011 against the mines targeted by the NPA.
 

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. This essential issue is clear in the petition cited above for a writ of Kalikasan calling for a Temporary Environmental Protection Order against Taganita Mining Corp., Platinum Group Metals Corp., Oriental Synergy Mining Corp., Shenzhou Mining Group Corp. and Marcventures Mining Development Corp..
 

The first two mining corporations stated above were subject of the NPA attack on October 3, 2011. The third corporation attacked is a sister company of Taganita Mining Corp.
 

The respondents are charged 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 states 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).
 

The policy of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines is to ban the mining corporations that 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. It is emphatically the firm policy of the revolutionary movement to protect the indigenous people and their ancestral domain and to prevent further damage to the environment.
 

Instead of being worried about the threat level or trying to lure investors, the Aquino government must heed the just demands and deep aspirations of the indigenous people and other sectors of Philippine society. #

Map showing mining operations that reportedly were attacked by the New People's Army from January 2007 to July 2008 as punishment to mining companies' offensives against the people and environment.
 

From:

2008 Mining Situation and Struggle in the Philippines

Published by Kalikasan PNE and Defend Patrimony Alliance

September 2008

Mining despoils Surigao del Norte
AT GROUND LEVEL By Satur C. Ocampo

(The Philippine Star)

Updated October 08, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (17)

The New People’s Army’s well-executed raids last Monday on three mining firms in Claver, Surigao del Norte razing a smelting plant, 28 heavy equipment, 132 dump trucks and nine barges, but not physically harming or killing anyone has provoked all kinds of reactions.

One good outcome: the incident spotlights the dire consequences of mining operations in the area since 1989 that should jolt the government, and the Supreme Court, into taking urgent positive action.

The policy of opening up the country to foreign mining firms needs rethinking, pronto.

Failure of the state security forces to stop the NPA attacks, which “dismayed” President Aquino, is a relatively minor issue. Beefing up security around the mines will not solve the problems that prompted the NPA attacks.

More compelling are the issues raised by the indigenous peoples and environmentalists against the mining companies including the three that were raided: Taganito Mining Corp., Taganito HPAL Nickel Corp., and Platinum Group Metals Corp.

The companies are accused of: 1) degrading the environment, and 2) dispossessing the communities of their lands and water resources, ruining their cultural heritage, and withholding royalty fees due to them.

Raising the ante further, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, with whom the government is engaged in peace talks, vows to ban mining corporations “that destroy livelihood, the environment, and the aspirations for industrial development, and violate the rights and welfare of the indigenous peoples and the entire Filipino nation.” (The NDFP is pushing national industrialization, including mining policy, in the socio-economic reforms agenda at the negotiations scheduled in a few weeks in Oslo, Norway.)

Last May 30, the Tribal Coalition of Mindanao filed at the Supreme Court a petition for a “writ of kalikasan,” a novel judicial remedy initiated by then-Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno to aid people who are aggrieved by environmental degradation.

The petitioners urge the SC to issue a Temporary Environment Protection Order (stop mining operations) against TMC, PGMC, Oriental Synergy Mining Corp., Shenzhou Mining Group Corp., and Marcventures Mining Development Corporation. They charge these firms with “destroying and polluting (their) ancestral domain... by failing to provide proper siltation venues for their nickel mines, thereby irreversibly damaging marine resources, mangroves, corals and creating serious health risks... to the tribes and inhabitants of the provinces of Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.”
 

As proof, the petitioners cite the UP Natural Science Research Institute finding that the water and soil samples taken from rivers and water systems near the mines contained nickel levels that far exceed the maximum acceptable level of nickel in drinking water set by the Department of Health and the Bureau of Food and Drug Administration.

The Supreme Court’s action on the urgent petition is anxiously awaited.

Leaders of the Mamanwa tribe in Claver, interviewed by the Philippine News Agency, affirm the “continuing injustice” their communities suffer because of the mining operations.

Datu Alfredo Olorico and Datu Totoy Bago lamented: “Our hope for peaceful living has gone. Our rivers that we used to fish and swim in and to irrigate our farms are gone... Our clean shores with crystal-clear waters... the forest, mountain springs that provided fresh potable water, all gone. What is left is harmful pollution and total environmental degradation.”

Overall chieftain Datu Heidi, holder of the Mamanwa ancestral domain claim, avers the mining firms have not paid P160 million in law-mandated royalty fees, representing one percent of their net income. From 1998-2010, the mining firms allegedly remitted only P43 million of the more than P200 million due to the communities.

Even the Internet provides evidence confirming the communities’ grievances.

Researcher-editor R. Luis Flores (user name @Liquid Druids) has blogged an incisively critical piece titled, “The Ugly Side of Surigao del Norte.” It encloses a Google Maps satellite image of Claver’s coastal mountain area with a strikingly reddish hue (which to me looks like a wide gaping wound). This is because, Flores points out, “the entire coastal mountain range is denuded of its forest cover.”

Having observed the area from a distance last September 22-24, Flores adds: “Claver supposedly has the largest iron mineral deposit in the world, and one can surmise that this denudation of the mountains is partly due to the mining activities that has gone on in the past years.”

He asks: Who should be called to account for allowing this to happen?

For good measure, Flores inserts a three-minute video on Barangay Taganito, taken from a moving vehicle last year and uploaded on YouTube by @taureanfate. It shows the denuded mountains, dump trucks running on the dusty road, and four ships (which load the nickel ore) docked at the pier. The note accompanying the video says: “The first time we passed this place, there were still a lot of ‘red mountains’ visible. The second time, almost everything was just flat and lifeless.”

In an update after the raids, Flores remarks: “While I’m no fan of the NPA (in fact I’m very much against it) I feel assured that there are at least people who are actively struggling against the environmental destruction, for whatever reason.”

Paging P-Noy: Take note and act fast.

NEWS REPORTS

NPA attacks 2 other mines
By Jamie Marie Elona
INQUIRER.net
Monday, October 3rd, 2011

MANILA,Philippines—The communist New People’s Army also bombed the pier of the Taganito Mining Corp. and placed bombs inside the premises of the mining firm in Claver, Surigao del Norte, after it burned several equipment and took four hostages on Monday, the latest report from the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.

NPA attacks cause worry on mining industry—Mines and Geosciences Bureau
By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
7:57 pm | Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

MANILA, Philippines—Monday’s attacks by communist rebels on mining areas in Claver, Surigao del Norte are sending jitters to the mining industry and the message that investments might not be safe without tight security, officials of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau said Tuesday.
“Any assault on a mine is a serious thing. There are investments there. A mining project is capital-intensive. If you hear such news of an attack, it’s a cause for worry for the industry,’’ MGB director Leo Jasareno said in an interview by phone.

NPA attacks on mining firms not extortion, but stand vs mining -- NDF
05-Oct-11, 10:47 AM | Abigail Kwok, InterAksyon.com

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.

NPA attacks on mining firms imperil peace talks, frighten investors
(philstar.com) Updated October 05, 2011 03:42 PM Comments (1)

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Coordinated attacks on Monday by armed guerrillas of the New People's Army (NPA) on three mining firms in Surigao del Norte in Southern Philippines would not only imperil the already stalled peace talks between the government and the leftist rebels but would also frighten foreign investors.

NPA attacks on mines create ‘climate of fear’ — investors

By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan and Danessa O. Rivera
10/05/2011

Communist rebel attacks on three local mines have created a climate of fear for investors just as the sector is seeking to cash in on the global resources boom. Malacañang condemned the raids that forced one of the country’s leading nickel producers to shut down a major venture, warning that the New People’s Army (NPA) action undermined peace talks.

NPA rebels attack 3 mining firms in Surigao del Norte
10/03/2011 | 04:06 PM

(Updated 4:31 p.m.) Suspected communist rebels on Monday attacked three mining firms in Surigao del Norte in a span of three hours, resulting in a number of damaged equipment, the military said.

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NDFP-Mindanao warns against destructive business operations
Jorge 'Ka Oris' Madlos
NDFP-MIndanao
October 5, 2011

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/ndfp-mindanao-warns-against-destructive-business-operations

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines in Mindanao (NDFP-Mindanao) commends the New People’s Army under the Pulang Diwata Command (NPA-PDC) in the North-Eastern Mindanao Region, and the masses who provided valuable technical and moral support, for meting out revolutionary punitive action on October 3, 2011 against three of the biggest mining companies in the province of Surigao del Norte, namely the Taganito Mining Corp. (TMC), the Taganito High-Pressure Acid Leaching Corp. (THPAL-Sumitomo), and the Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC).

The punitive action employed by revolutionary forces against the said large-scale mining companies is timely and warranted, delivering a fatal blow against rapacious business interests that ravage the environment and natural resources, and intensify the exploitation and repression of workers, peasants, and the Lumad people.

This sanction serves as a warning to other big mining operations in Mindanao, especially those which deliberately and consistently violate revolutionary policies on the protection of the environment and the welfare of the toiling masses. The revolutionary movement will not hesitate to severely punish mining companies, such as the Eastern Mining Corp. in Diwalwal, Monkayo, Compostela Valley; the Xtrata-SMI Mining Corp. in Tampakan, South Cotabat; the San Roque Mining Inc. in Tubay, Agusan del Norte; and the Toronto Ventures Inc. in Zamboanga Sibugay, if they continuously disregard these policies.

Far worse than the mining operations, destructive agri-business companies, such as Dole, Del Monte, and large-scale oil palm plantations which have poisoned our soil, air, and water, deprived thousands of peasants and Lumads of land and means of living, and exploited and oppressed workers, are likewise subject to the same revolutionary policies.

We also warn other environmentally-hazardous businesses, such as the Philippine Sinter Corp.-Kawasaki, the coal-fired power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, and hydro-electric power plants, including business entities still planning to put up similarly destructive operations.

In imposing upon the people to believe their self-serving and distorted concept of “development,” the Aquino regime, the local ruling classes, and foreign monopoly capitalists force us to kowtow to the interests of big foreign and local big bourgeois comprador firms. But, there is no real development to speak of when millions of tons of our mineral resources and agricultural products are hauled to imperialist countries to rake in super profits for foreign capitalists, and leave the masses more impoverished and at the receiving end of calamities brought about by their wanton destruction of our ecology. To reiterate, the revolutionary movement is not opposed to development if it serves the people’s aspiration for genuine land reform and national industrialization.

Worse than the Arroyo regime, the Aquino government is exposed of its connivance with destructive mining companies, such as Sumitomo, Nickel Asia Corporation, and SRMI. By allowing the said companies to operate and ravage the environment without let up, it only reveals the Aquino regime’s shameless sell-out of the nation’s patrimony to his real bosses: the profit-hungry foreign monopoly capitalists and their local stooges.

The revolutionary movement has delivered a clear-cut message to the Aquino regime, the big landlords, big bourgeois compradors, and their imperialist masters: We are serious and determined to protect our patrimony, sovereignty, and the general welfare and interests of the people and the environment. We will use the full potential of the revolutionary movement to carry out these just policies.

Only the revolutionary government genuinely fights to end the wanton destruction of the environment and the unrestrained depletion of natural resources by foreign monopoly capitalists. Only the revolutionary government is determined to stop the brazen exploitation and repression of workers, peasants, and the Lumad people.

Our socio-economic programs, such as land reform, environmental protection, economic welfare of the Lumad people, peasants and workers, are being implemented in our base areas, and those who consciously resist and violate these programs are subject to punitive action similar to the recent measure taken by the NPA against the three giant mining firms in Claver, Surigao del Norte.

The Aquino government still has a chance to redeem itself if it is serious enough to discuss through the NDFP-GPH peace talks regarding the defense and preservation of the national patrimony within the framework of the next substantive agenda on Socio-Economic Reforms.

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Press Statement
04 October 2011

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/sumitomo-mining-corporation-taganito-mining-corpoporation-and-platinum-gold-metal-corporation-punished

Sumitomo Mining Corporation, Taganito Mining Corpoporation and Platinum Gold Metal Corporation punished!

The NDFP-NEMR confirms the steps taken on October 3, 2011 to destroy the mining facilities and equipment of three giant mining companies in Claver, Surigao del Norte, which are the Tag-anito High-Pressure Acid Leaching (THPAL-Sumitomo), Tag-anito Mining Corporation (TMC), and the Platinum Gold Metal Corporation (PGMC), in the implementation of the policy of the revolutionary movement related to the protection of the environment and natural resources and the defense of the rights of the Lumad people, peasants, and workers. The company-size armed security guards of the company offered no resistance, many of them escaped. Those left were disarmed by The NPA.

The giant Tag-anito Mining Corporation (TMC) is one of three mining companies of the Nickel Asia Corporation in Surigao del Norte owned by Manny Zamora. The TMC has ravaged the area for nearly 30 years, and, within that time, has immensely destroyed the environment of the province. It has ruined both fresh water and marine sources, devastated mountains, violated the rights of the Lumad people, and displaced the livelihood of peasants. The said company is also active in the exploitation and repression of the rights of the workers. Instead of remitting Php 400 million in taxes to the LGU, through sheer bribery, the company is now only paying the local government Php 40 million. It is only right to punish this company.

The Platinum Gold Metal Corporation (PGMC) is mining nickel ore for foreign buyers with a permit to operate under the name of Mr. Atayde, but is currently operated by one Mrs. Tata Dasmarinas Marahomsar. Millions of tons of nickel ore have already been plundered and shipped to imperialist countries, which has resulted in the total effacement of forest and mountains within its concession, as well as the destruction of rivers and seas. Almost all workers in this company are under contract-basis, and the company is brazenly violating even basic bourgeois labor laws. It has also violated the rights of the Lumads. It is only right that its operations must stop.

This gigantic Tag-anito High-Pressure Acid Leaching Plant (THPAL), which processes nickel, is principally owned by the Japanese imperialist Sumitomo Mining Corporation, which is in cahoots with the Nickel Asia Corporation owned by Manny Zamora. Contrary to its claim that the processing plant is not a hazard, the truth is, it is a menace to the population and the environment. First, it uses, in massive quantities, sulfuric acid that is highly toxic to both humans and the environment. Second, this is a coal-fired plant that spews out tons upon tons of highly toxic fumes into the atmosphere. Third, the said plant only processes millions of tons of low-grade nickel ore coming from different mines from the four provinces of Caraga, as they prefer to export high grade nickel ore to foreign countries. At the rate they are currently mining both low and high grade nickel ore, in the next few decades, if left unabated, the environment in the region will completely be destroyed. The big
bourgeois compradors and the imperialists have already denuded our forests and mountains, and now they are out to totally wreak havoc on what has remained of our environment with their indiscriminate mining operations.

Token immediate benefits, such as limited employment, miniscule taxes given to the LGU, alms to the Lumads, and other enticements, from the company cannot restore the irreparable widespread damage it will cause to the environment and to the general interests of the Lumad peoples, peasants, and workers in Caraga. Within the last five decades, foreign capitalists have been proclaiming that logging will bring people prosperity, but now we bear witness to how they have destroyed our forests and mountains that resulted in the ruin of the environment, incessant calamities, further impoverishment to the people that benefit only big capitalist compradors and imperialists such as the Japanese. And now we are again about to be deceived by these companies, gloating that mining can bring development. True, development for the imperialist Japanese and big bourgeois compradors such as Manny Zamora and their local lackeys, but abject misery for majority of the people.

The US-Aquino regime and its agencies such as the DENR-MGB, NCIP and other national agencies, including the local government units in the provinces and municipalities, have conspired to establish these giant mining companies, with utter disregard of the damage it can inflict to the environment and to the people of Caraga region; even if foreign interests clearly trample upon our sovereignty and patrimony in exchange for bribes, and incommensurate taxes. The AFP and PNP have ensured that these giant companies are protected from the resistance and struggle of the people of Caraga.

Only the revolutionary movement can protect the country from the big bourgeois compradors’ and imperialists’ wanton plunder of our natural resources and from the unrestrained destruction of the environment in the region. It is only the revolutionary movement that we can rely on to defend the rights of the Lumad people. We can only rely on the Revolution against the dislocation and harm caused against peasants and against the intense exploitation and repression of workers in Caraga.

The revolutionary movement is not opposed to development if it genuinely promotes lasting benefit to the people, if this mining of our natural resources will result in establishing national industrialization. But, we are aware that it is the greedy will of the bourgeois compradors and the imperialists for the country to remain as source and exporter of raw materials like nickel ore, and, in so doing, perpetuate our dependence on finished products from imperialist manufacturing. THPAL’s production of nickel is still raw material production for export to imperialist countries.

In the interest of the greater masses of the people and in line with the national policy on mining, the revolutionary movement is open to talks with any mining company, whether foreign or local, large or small scale, under the condition that such a company is willing to fully recognize and comply with revolutionary policies. On the other hand, we warn other giant mining companies that the revolutionary movement is determined to defend the interest of people, including that of the environment. We also warn contractors who are working for these abusive giant companies that we will not hesitate to disable their mining equipment if they refuse to terminate their contracts with said companies.

(signed) KA MARIA MALAYA Spokesperson NDFP-NEMR

_______________________________________
 

PRESS STATEMENT
By Ka MARIA MALAYA
Spokesperson, NDFP-NEMR
04 October 2011

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/red-salute-to-the-npa-and-the-masses-for-punishing-thpal-tmc-and-pgmc

Red salute to the NPA and the masses for punishing mining companies THPAL, TMC, PGMC

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines – North-Eastern Mindanao Region (NDFP-NEMR) congratulates the Red commanders and fighters of the New People’s Army under the Pulang Diwata Command and the masses who supported for successfully launching simultaneous punitive military operations on 3 October 2011 against the three largest and most destructive mining companies in Surigao del Norte: Taganito High-Pressure Acid Leaching Plant (THPAL-Sumitomo), Taganito Mining Corporation (TMC), and Platinum Group Metals Corporation (PGMC).

As the NPA carried out one of its biggest and most daring punitive actions in recent history, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) forces, including paramilitary units, nearby were caught flatfooted, and utterly failed to respond and reinforce immediately.

As per initial field report, 200 heavy equipments, composed of dump trucks, excavators, tractors, and seven barges, owned by the Tag-anito Mining Corporation (TMC), were disabled and destroyed. The main and the accounting offices at TMC, including its laboratory, were totally damaged. The newly-constructed heavy-duty wharf of TMC-THPAL was also blasted using high explosives. The THPAL power plant and one vertical tank for gasoline were also heavily damaged. The THPAL compound is adjacent to the TMC compound.

On the other hand, 152 machineries owned by the Platinum Group Metals Corporation (PGMC) composed of bulldozers, pay loaders, cranes, compactors, graders, dump trucks, including ten barges and six tugboats, were virtually wrecked. PGMC is some ten kilometers away from the TMC-THPAL compounds along the Surigao Norte-Surigao Sur national highway.

Confiscated from the mining compounds were the following: several computer units and accessories of military value, combat boots, base radios, and 25 handheld VHF radios. Only 13 shotguns, ten assorted short firearms, including several M16 and .9mm magazines and ammunitions, were seized from the company-size mining security forces, because those armed with high powered rifles scampered away without putting up a fight. Contrary to PNP claims, there were no casualties on the part of the company security guards as far as our operating units are concerned.

In carrying out the punitive action against the three giant mining companies, more than 3,000 of their workers were gathered by the NPAs in different locations, and explained to them the reasons behind the punitive action. The three senior officials of TMC, the foreign official, and consultants of THPAL were held for five hours for questioning and were admonished for the unscrupulous practices of their respective companies, but were subsequently sent home late in the afternoon.

TMC, PGMC, and THPAL were punished for wanton indiscriminate mining operations in the mountains of Surigao del Norte that has inflicted irreparable damage to the environment and natural resources, and for the blatant violation of the rights of the Lumad people, exploitation and repression of workers and the displacement of peasant livelihood.

For defending the welfare of the greater masses and for upholding the policies of the revolutionary movement, once again, the NDFP-NEMR gives Red salute to NPA commanders and fighters and the masses for a victory well-executed, and well-deserved.

(signed) KA MARIA MALAYA
Spokesperson, NDFP-NEMR
 

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Information Bureau
CPP
October 6, 2011

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/aquino-officials-should-be-ashamed-for-defending-tag-anito

Aquino officials should be ashamed for defending Tag-anito

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today assailed the Aquino government for defending the Tag-anito Mining Company after it was punished by the revolutionary movement for having caused massive destruction in the mountains, agricultural land and waters of Surigao del Norte.

The CPP chided Secretary Jesus Robredo of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for urging Taganito officials to continue its operations, "completely ignoring the numerous complaints of local residents against the mining company which has caused grave destruction to agricultural lands and fishing grounds, violated the rights of the Lumad people, displaced peasants and fisherfolk and subjected its workers to extremely exploitative working conditions."

Last Monday, NPA units carried out orders from revolutionary authorities to destroy facilities and equipment of three mining companies in Claver, Surigao del Norte. Local residents celebrated the successful operations which put a stop to the destructive operations of Tag-anito High-Pressure Acid Leaching (THPAL-Sumitomo), Tag-anito Mining Corporation (TMC), and the Platinum Gold Metal Corporation (PGMC),

According to the National Democratic Front-Northeast Mindanao spokesperson Maria Malaya, senior officials of TMC, a foreign official and consultants of THPAL were held for five hours for questioning and were admonished for the unscrupulous practices of their respective companies, but were subsequently sent home late in the afternoon.

"By planning to beef up military and police security for the Taganito company and other mining companies, the Aquino government is openly defending the biggest despoilers of the environment," said the CPP.

"Employing more military forces, however, will not stop the revolutionary forces from enforcing the policy of the democratic people's government of banning all enterprises that engage in the large-scale plunder of natural resources, landgrabbing and the destruction of the environment."

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Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines

Press Release
October 04, 2011

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/cpp-congratulates-npa-in-northeast-mindanao-for-punishing-big-foreign-mining-company

CPP congratulates NPA in Northeast Mindanao for punishing big foreign mining company

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today congratulated the New People's Army (NPA) for successfully carrying out punitive actions against destructive mining operations in the Caraga region, even as it laughed off statements from Malacañang dismissing the NPA attacks as "isolated."

Yesterday, hundreds of NPA Red fighters carried out simultaneous attacks against big-scale mining operations of Taganito Mining Corporation in Claver, Surigao del Norte province to enforce the policy of banning foreign mining and logging firms that engage in the large-scale plunder of natural resources and destruction of the environment.

NPA fighters succeeded in disabling machinery used by the Taganito Company in its large-scale mining operations. Taganito is one of the biggest mining companies operating in the Philippines and among the top extractors and exporters of nickel. It is owned by Japanese multinational Sumitomo Company.

According to National Democratic Front-Mindanao spokesperson Jorge "Ka Oris" Madlos, local residents and revolutionary authorities wrote several letters to Taganito and its Japanese bosses telling them to stop their destructive mining operations and to inform them of the policy of the people's democratic government regarding mining operations. Taganito workers also complained of low wages and extremely exploitative working conditions.

Taganito officials ignored the appeals of their workers and local residents and failed to heed summons issued by the revolutionary authorities. Their refusal to cooperate with the local authorities of the people's democratic government compelled the revolutionary forces to carry out yesterday's attacks.

The CPP said the attacks "demonstrate the determination and capability of the New People's Army to enforce the policy of the people's democratic government to ban all big foreign mining and logging companies that plunder the Filipino people's natural resources, seize land from the peasants and national minorities and cause environmental destruction."

"This policy is being carried out in small and big ways by NPA units across the country," said the CPP. "The revolutionary forces will continue to enforce this policy to defend the people's national patrimony, protect the environment and advance agrarian revolution."

"The success of yesterday's attacks will inspire other units of the NPA to carry out similar operations in other parts of the country."

Plunder in broad daylight.

The country has vast amount of treasure. Foreign companies come in and take them out right before our eyes and with permission and even with incentives from the government.
In 2010, the mining industry earned P144 billion and  the owner of those treasure, the people through its government,  was given only the loose change of P14 million as its share..
Why does the government allow the foreign companies to rob us of the treasure that belongs to us and to the future generations?
At the moment the plunder of our wealth in Surigao by big transnational  corporations has been stopped temporarily  because of the punishment dealt by the New People's Army on three Surigao mining companies.
 

What I think of the NPA's raid on Taganito Mining
by Kei Valmoria-Bughaw

Posted as a Note on Facebook

on Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 11:27pm

Kei is a member of Garbiela-Cebu
 

My uncle was one of the so-called "hostages" during the recent raid of the New People’s Army in a Surigao mine. Of course, being known as left-leaning, I am moved by family and friends to post my stand on the issue. So here it is.

WHAT HAPPENED?

On October 3, 2011, the New People’s Army attacked three mining sites in Claver, Surigao del Sur. These were owned by the following companies: Taganito-Sumitomo, Taganito Mining Corp., and Platinum Gold Metal Corp. These are sister companies, owned by Nickel Asia’s Manny Zamora, and co-funded by Japanese investors.

The CPP-NPA-NDF* stated in their websites that this was a punitive action. For several years now, local residents as well as lumads (indigenous people) have complained of environmental degradation, shockingly low wages, and, for the lumads, refusal to pay royalties for mining on their ancestral lands. Note that in the statements of the group, there were no references to increasing revolutionary tax, which the AFP and Aquino government stated was the reason for the attack.

According to NDF Mindanao spokesperson Jorge Madlos, the residents have written numerous letters to Taganito and the Japanese bosses to heed summons to a discussion but these have been ignored. Furthermore, the Tribal Coalition of Mindanao has already filed a petition in the Supreme Court last May 30, 2011 to hold these 3 companies accountable for violations of environmental laws and ancestral domain.

The NPA disarmed guards, herded key personnel for debriefing, and set fire to mining equipment. All the detained employees (not hostages), including my uncle, were released after the punitive action was completed.

THE REACTIONS

As expected, Noynoy Aquino and his mouthpieces in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) crowed about NPA greed, citing the demands for bigger revolutionary tax to be paid by TMC-Sumitomo. Of course, that’s about the only thing they can say to defend themselves.

As NDF’s Luis Jalandoni pointed out, Noynoy chose to ignore these:

Large-scale mining and export of non-renewable minerals via cheap labor and operations that destroy hope of Philippine industrialization;
 

Dislocation of the Mamanwa, indigenous people of the Surigao provinces, and dispossession of their ancestral lands; and Widespread environmental impact of the mining operations.

Pollution of the nearby coastlines has long been a complaint of local residents. And Noynoy and his people knew this. Long before the raid, a documentary of the Taganito mining operations was shown to the Presidential Adviser on Environmental Protection Neric Acosta. He can be seen saying on the GMA 7 documentary in a shocked voice: “My God, ano yan (what's that)?”

Well, who wouldn’t be shocked with 160 square miles of exposed earth and unbridled violations of environmental laws? In the petition submitted to the Supreme Court, it is revealed that the UP- Natural Science Research Institute conducted tests on water and soil samples taken from the site and found that nickel levels were way, way higher than acceptable levels. In fact, the samples contained 190mg/liter—a far cry from the 0.02 mg/liter acceptable level.

THE REAL ISSUE

If you’d listen to the statements from the AFP and the Aquino administration, you’d think that this is a mere extortion case. Some even chose to distort the statement by Maria Malaya, NDF national spokesperson where she said that the company owes the local government 400 million pesos in taxes but gets away with just 40 million by bribing local officials in Surigao. My relatives actually bought the military’s line: the NPA is asking for 400 million! Hahaha. My, my. Read the NDF statement from the links below.

And here's more that the military and Noynoy failed to mention:
 

Just last September, the Office of the Ombudsman suspended two officials of the NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous Peoples) after they were found guilty of graft and abuse of authority. This includes pocketing millions of pesos worth of royalties to the Mamanwa people, payment for turning their ancestral lands into 160 square kilometers of exposed earth.
 

Outstanding royalties to the Mamanwas amount to over 200 million pesos. But that’s a pittance compared to the profits Taganito and its foreign investors have accumulated for exporting millions of tons of nickel in 30 years.
 

Three decades of large scale mining operations have resulted in total denudation of a huge area of the Surigao mountains. Take a look below at the picture generated by Google Earth.
 

Sumitomo’s coal-fired Acid Leaching Plant, which refines the nickel, spews out toxic fumes daily, resulting from its usage of sulfuric acid in the refining process.
Taganito employees are paid very low wages in comparison to the millions of dollars they get for stealing our natural wealth.
 

YES! It is OUR natural wealth. The Philippines IS wealthy in natural resources. However, our TRAITORS in government SELL our gold and minerals to IMPERIALISTS like Japan and the USA. And what do we get in return?

DESTROYED FOREST ECOSYSTEMS
WORKERS EXPLOITED FOR CHEAP LABOR
POLLUTED COASTLINES AND RIVERS

MY STAND

I have always been against mining, specifically, large-scale mining. There's little harm in panning or individual mining. Unaided by large machines that carve out the earth, there is less environmental destruction. But once the huge machinery come in, there is no way you can return the earth back to its original state nor can you avoid pollution as an end-result.

The mining officials say, “Oh! We did reforestation efforts!” or “No way, we always clean up our act. See this treatment plant?” I'd say, “Can you really replace full-grown trees, 40-50 years old? Can you stop all the tailings from exposed mines once the torrential rains come?” It’s BS, I say. Total BS.

I will not comment on the revolutionary tax supposedly paid by Sumitomo/TMC to the NDF. I guess they must’ve paid one time or another; most companies operating in NPA-controlled areas do. But I am not going to discuss the political reasons of the NDF for doing so. I can’t speak for them and what’s more, that’s not the real issue here.

For me, the real issue, which breaks my heart, is the dislocation and the corruption of the Mamanwa culture by 3 decades of mining issues. I am disheartened that ancestral lands are given a specific VALUE to be paid out in pesos. No, let me revise that—I am OUTRAGED!

Long before the arrival of the colonialists, the proud Mamanwas lived in this land. And now, they are reduced to the indignity of asking for royalties from foreigners. This is not a Filipino value, its clearly Western. Our forefathers knew that LAND cannot be owned. It is owned only by God, whoever and whatever he was, according to their beliefs. Land is revered for its ability to give life, to provide food, fresh water, and wood for shelter. Now some foreigners and their local counterparts can rape our sovereign land, they just have to pay 200 million pesos for stealing it from the Mamanwas? 200 million for the land of our fathers? FTS.

In July 2010, Mamanwa warriors trooped to TMC and burned some mining equipment in protest of the unreleased royalties. The AFP went after them as if they were terrorist fugitives. The mines were more important than some puny, black-skinned, kinky-haired taga-bukid (mountain-dwellers). Isn’t that tragic?

In an interview, Nickel Asia president Gerard Brimo laughed off as “populist rhetoric” the NDF statements. “TMC stands by its exemplary social and environmental record for the past 24 years, which have earned the company various awards in these fields,” he said.

Oh, Mr. Brimo, we watched GMA’s documentary and clearly, you are caught in a big fat lie. As for Noynoy and his mouthpieces, they are either deaf-blind OR they are big fat liars too.

And as for my Uncle being detained by the NPA, I have never doubted for a second that he would be safely returned to his family. I am sorry he had to go through the ordeal, after all he’s just my second most favorite uncle in Surigao, but I’d worry more if it was the AFP who abducted him.

The NPA doesn’t have a reputation for abducting, raping and torturing, and murdering unarmed civilians. But guess who does?


*For international readers: CPP-NDF-NPA means Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front-New People's Army. The New People's Army is the armed component of the party and carries out military actions.

Links:
http://www.piplinks.org/House+Committee+on+National+Cultural+Communities

http://www.piplinks.org/Zenaida+Brigida+Pawid+

http://www.piplinks.org/Ruben+de+los+Santos

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/14529/taganito-mining-resumes-operations-after-attack

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/10/04/11/reds-justify-attacks-surigao-mines

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/10/03/11/patroller-sends-photos-surigao-mine-attack-aftermath

http://www.ndfp.net/joom15/index.php/media-releases-mainmenu-53/statements-

mainmenu-71/1211-npa-punishes-sumitomo-mining-corporation-taganito-mining-corpoporation-and-platinum-gold-metal-corporation.html

http://www.bomboradyo.com/news/regional-news/cebuano-news/79325-taganito-mining-co-ug-platinum-metals-group-co-sunod-sunod-nga-giatake-sa-200-ka-npa

http://natoreyes.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/tv-docu-shows-aquino-government-knew-of-mining-issues-in-claver-surigao-even-before-npa-raid/

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/aquino-regime-misses-the-essential-points-at-issue#.ToxWuHtzhrI.facebook

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/cpp-congratulates-npa-in-northeast-mindanao-for-punishing-big-foreign-mining-company#.ToxWN__TKKI.facebook

http://arnoldpadilla.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/mining-and-climate-change-aquino%E2%80%99s-policy-incoherence/

The above video is from the blog at this link:

http://liquiddruid.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/the-ugly-side-of-surigao-del-norte/#more-14351

The blogger write:

My job entails a lot of traveling- mostly in the areas of Mindanao. Took this video last year and I just thought of putting some sort of bg music for it.

For people who don't reside there, this place is known to them as The Red Mountain. The land/soil is really close to bright red. It's really a sight!
The first time we passed by the place, there were still a lot of "red mountains" visible. The second time however, was really frustrating. Almost everything was just FLAT and lifeless.

Residents living nearby knew that something is going on. With all the big ships that were docked near the shores, they knew that the truckloads of land/soil were being transported to somewhere. They said, they all go to JAPAN.