2 killed in ambush by suspected tribesmen opposed to mining. ByOrlando B.
DinoyInquirer Mindanao DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur – A soldier and a government-backed militiaman were killed in an ambush perpetrated by suspected followers of anti-mining B’laan tribal leader Daguil Capion in Barangay (village) Kimlawis in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur on Friday, the police reported Saturday. Senior Superintendent Ronaldo Llanera, Davao del Sur police director, said Corporal Ritchie Maravilla, 38, commander of the Kiamo Patrol Base, and militiaman Enrique Tiogangco were walking toward their camp from an errand when they were fired upon by armed men around 8 a.m.
“They were injured and were rushed by their companions to the Gregorio Matas District Hospital in Poblacion, Kiblawan, but the attending physician declared them dead upon arrival,” Llanera said. Earlier this year, soldiers also killed Capion’s brother, Kitari, who also led a band of anti-mining B’laan warriors. Follow Us Recent Stories: Tribes oppose dams for MM folk’s water. MANILA, Philippines—Indigenous folk from the provinces of Quezon, Rizal and Bulacan are up in arms over the proposed construction of dams in the Sierra Madre mountain range that it is feared would submerge large swaths of forested and agricultural lands.
At a recent summit held in Infanta, Quezon, more than 100 leaders of the Aeta, Dumagat and Remontado tribes voiced their opposition to the national government’s plan to erect at least five dams to meet the water needs of Metro Manila. “If the dams push through, hundreds of hectares of pristine forest, agricultural land and our ancestral domain within the Kaliwa-Kanan and Agos River watershed will be submerged,” the leaders were quoted as saying in a statement by the Save Sierra Madre Network Alliance Inc. (SSMNA). “These mega dams are being pushed by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to divert water for the consumption of Metro Manila,” SSMNA said. Remedios Trinidad town. Philippine Mining Almanac Imaginet - Town residents welcome Tampakan mine—mayor.
Malaya - Tribal chiefs rally support for Tampakan mining project - The Plan PR Consultancy. Tribal head supports gold mine. Tribal chief backs mine. Xstrata-SMI’s stabs the government’s back by ordering Indigenous People’s to leave mine site « Makabayansocsksargen's Blog. Militants blast Xstrata-SMI’s latest attempt to drive away lumads from “mine site” « Makabayansocsksargen's Blog. Members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-SOCSKSARGEN lambasted the latest attempt made by Xstrata-SMI’s to drive away lumads from communities supposedly belonging to its mining site.
On March 15, 2012 the company posted “Notice as March 22 as Cut-Off Date” for the lumads of Sitios Bong Asbang 1, Alyong 1, Ayong 2 all in Brgy.Danlag, Tampakan, South Cotabato and Sitio Nakultana Kimlawis, Sitio Gumikit, Bong Mal, and Sitio Lafla, Brgy Kimlawis, all in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur to leave the area. Increased militarization in Tampakan. Tampakan rights abuses rising group. By MARVYN N.
BENANING Manila, Philippines – Anti-mining advocates have shifted gears and are now concerned with what they claim to be a spate of abuses in Tampakan, South Cotabato due to militarization. In a briefing held in Quezon City last Friday, a German Study Group on Mining in the Philippines or Philippinenbuero and members of the Tampakan Forum insisted that increasing human rights abuses have been noted in communities in Tampakan, South Cotabato that have been affected by mining. The same criticism was lodged by Clive Wicks, a foreign expert that claimed that the Tampakan mining operation was somehow linked to the murder of Fr. Fausto Tentorio in North Cotabato in October 2011. This charge was eventually rendered false after the New People’s Army (NPA) executed Patrick Wigener, a businessman and military agent, whose cellular phones showed messages from the principal suspects in the killing of the priest just before and after it happened. comments.
Xstrata-SMI, military use children, block solidarity mission « Makabayansocsksargen's Blog. Children carrying pro-mining placards aboard a pick-up vehicle, blocking anti-mining groups in Brgy.Pula Bato, Tampakan, South Cotabato In a desperate attempt to block any opposition to its destructive mining operation, Xstrata-SMI and the military block caravan led by environmentalists and militant groups going to Bong Mal, Kiblawan, Davao del Sur to conduct a solidarity mission with the barricading lumads in protest of the company’s plan to drive them out of their communities.Xstrata-SMI’s men and elements of 73rd IB, in civilian clothes arrogantly blocked the road in Brgy.Pula Bato in Tampakan, South Cotabato with two pick up vehicles, and used children to hold pro-mining placards.
They claimed that the road is private one and insisted that the group didn’t have permit from the municipal mayor. “It is pretty obvious that Xstrata-SMI is behind this. We doubt that the two Toyota Hilux are owned by any of the residents of Pula Bato. Mines and Communities: Philippines: Indigenous peoples point the way on mining. Philippines: Lumad communities set up blockades to resist relocation. Indigenous Lumad communities in South Cotabato have organized a set of blockades against an Australian-owned mining company that wants to relocate them to make way for a new copper-gold mine project.
A group of journalists were invited by a local Catholic Church this past weekend to sit down with the Lumads and discuss the situation. Speaking through interpreters, the Lumad explained how Sagittarius Mines Inc. Tribesmen block Tampakan project, claim they were not fully informed. SMI resettlement plan beneficial to Tampakan tribesmen. Govt urged to protect indigenous communities, not mining companies. MANILA, Oct. 18, 2011—A group that advocates empowerment among marginalized people has called on President Benigno Aquino III to repeal his approval for mining companies to organize its own armed units to protect its operations. The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center Kasama sa Kalikasan / Friends of the Earth - Philippines (LRCK-KsK/FoE-Philippines) in a statement on October 16, said it is the indigenous people and rural communities who are in need of government protection from violent attacks, and not mining corporations. “We are demanding from President Aquino to make a break in the cycle of violence that has marked government policies and actions in the past.
Do not use the rebel attacks against mining operations in Claver as an excuse to again escalate conflict and violence in ancestral domains and rural communities,” the group said in a statement. Ricardo Banad who had opposed the Mindoro Nickel Project of Norwegian Intex Resources was killed in his house in 2010. Mindanao bishops reject Tampakan mines; urge govt to protect people’s interests. MANILA, Dec. 16, 2011—Three Mindanao bishops called on the government to protect and promote the interest of the people and not of mining companies.
Kidapawan Bishop Romulo dela Cruz, Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Guetierrez and Digos Bishop Guillermo Afable, in a collective statement, urged for protection of the environment and promote sustainable development. No2MiningPH. The mineral wealth of our country, as the mining industry reminds us, is “staggering” – about $840 billion. Its potential to contribute to our country’s development cannot be discounted.
While mining has never been a driver of our development, not even during the mining boom of the seventies, we are here to find out if there is a way to realize that potential. And I thank the organizers of this Conference for taking this step toward that objective. IP groups to launch nationwide streamer campaign vs mining. MANILA, Feb. 18, 2012—A network of anti-mining organizations is launching a nationwide movement to protest the ongoing mining activities within the ancestral domain of the indigenous people.
Dubbed as “Thousand Streamer Campaign” (TSC) the movement is a protest against the ongoing sell-out of the country’s mineral resources to local and transnational mining corporations, as well as an expression of unity and support to the struggle of indigenous peoples for self-determination. About 60 percent of more than one million hectares of land that have been approved for mining explorations are situated within the ancestral domain of the indigenous communities.