April 28, 2011
Pantukan tragedy: PNoy’s last wake-up call to end oppressive economic policy - Bayan
Davao City – We offer our sympathies to the families of those who perished in the landslide in Pantukan. Most of them and those who remain missing are the abanteros of small-scale mining tunnels who scour the earth with their bare hands for a living.
Sadly, in the wake of the tragedy, we hear government putting a blame on the victims themselves whom it forgets are the very people who are not supposed to end up dead had there been enough opportunities for them to cope with hard life.
Worst, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) director himself, Leo Jasareno, takes advantage of the situation by declaring a shift to policies that are prejudicial to the small-scale mining and in favor of the large-scale and foreign-backed mining..
It is unnerving for this top bureaucrat of the Aquino administration to say that the Pantukan disaster is “the last wake-up call of the government to cut back on small mining operations” while sparing, on the other hand, the 1,600 hectare area of the U.S.-backed mining company Nationwide Development Corporation (Nadecor) within the tragedy site in Pantukan, from such declaration.
But Jasareno, understandably, is just playing well for his master. After all, he is serving an administration that has constantly pursued an economic agenda of promoting more foreign investments and public-private partnerships in industries, one of which is mining.
In fact, just as President Aquino ordered a nationwide logging moratorium but failed to cancel logging permits of large logging concessions, he has rejected 903 pending mining applications from mostly Filipino corporations, while favorably endorsing 247 foreign-backed applications for processing.
Duplicity from the Aquino administration is the last thing Filipinos need at this time.
Mining areas have been the veritable graveyard of poor Filipinos, like the abanteros whose cheap labor are being exploited by the capitalists so the country may fulfill its tragic role of being a mere provider of cheap raw material exports to foreign economies.
The Pantukan tragedy will always be a reminder of the harshness that life has been for the country’s poor. For this, it should be the Aquino government’s last wake-up call instead to reverse its oppressive economic policy that has made the people suffer long enough.#
For Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao Region (Bayan-SMR),
FRANCHIE BUHAYAN
Secretary General
0999.195.3370
Showing posts with label mining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mining. Show all posts
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Mindanao tribal leaders press end of large-scale mining and other projects destroying lumad culture and life
KALUMARAN
Kusog sa Katawhang Lumad sa Mindanao
April 26, 2011
News Release
Mindanao tribal leaders press end of large-scale mining and other projects destroying lumad culture and life
(DIGOS CITY) -- Some 100 lumad leaders from Mindanao gathered for a Datu-Bai Conference calling for the stop of large-scale mining and other development projects that are destroying the ecology and Lumad ancestral domain.
The gathering continues at the San Isidro Labrador Parish, Digos City with a cultural gathering today and press conference tomorrow.
The traditional leaders include tribes from the Bagobo, Ata-Manobo, Matigsalug, Obo and Manobo in the Davao Region, B'laan and T'boli in Socsksargen, Higaonon, Kaolo, Banwaon and Talaandig in Northern Mindanao, Subanen in Zamboanga Region and Manobos in Caraga.
The Conference held April 25 pointed out that "development" projects have encroached in their ancestral lands such as large-scale mining, agri-business, and coal-power plants.
The recent deaths in a landslide in a mining area in Pantukan, Compostela Valley shows a possibility of what will happen if large-scale mining comes full blown. Datu Duluman Dausay, an Ata-Manobo from Talaingod, Davao del Norte said that while they firmly oppose mining in Davao Region, local officials fail to show the same resolve.
"It is no longer the destruction of environment, but the destruction of life as well" the leaders in the Conference said.
The traditional leaders point out that such projects do not contribute to the needs of the people especially to Lumads.
"Do the extraction of minerals go back to us? Do the plantations alleviate hunger?" asks Jomorito Guaynon, a Higaonon leader from Bukidnon.
The Datus and Bais said that these projects ultimately earn profit for foreign-owned companies at the expense of destroying the environment, and ultimately the life and culture of Lumads.
"What future do we leave for our generations if our land is gone?" the leaders asked
In a phone message, Datu Guibang Apoga, Ata-Manobo leader of Talaingod, Davao del Norte, called on fellow lumad leaders to never waiver in defending against “development” projects that destroy the environment.
Guibang also called on them to defend the ancestral land and culture of lumads.
There are 18 ethnolinguistic groups in Mindanao with a three million population. All share the common problem of environment plunder, and the military harassments accompanying these projects.
Large-scale mining companies encroaching the Lumad areas are Xstrata-Sagittarius Mines in South Cotabato and Davao del Sur, Toronto Ventures in Zamboanga del Norte, and four mining companies in Caraga.
Other projects affecting the lumad communities are coal-fired power plants in Davao del Sur and the Aboitiz in Davao City, the Hedcor hydro-power plant in Davao del Sur, plantations such as palm oil in Caraga and jathropa in Bukidnon.
##
Kusog sa Katawhang Lumad sa Mindanao
April 26, 2011
News Release
Mindanao tribal leaders press end of large-scale mining and other projects destroying lumad culture and life
(DIGOS CITY) -- Some 100 lumad leaders from Mindanao gathered for a Datu-Bai Conference calling for the stop of large-scale mining and other development projects that are destroying the ecology and Lumad ancestral domain.
The gathering continues at the San Isidro Labrador Parish, Digos City with a cultural gathering today and press conference tomorrow.
The traditional leaders include tribes from the Bagobo, Ata-Manobo, Matigsalug, Obo and Manobo in the Davao Region, B'laan and T'boli in Socsksargen, Higaonon, Kaolo, Banwaon and Talaandig in Northern Mindanao, Subanen in Zamboanga Region and Manobos in Caraga.
The Conference held April 25 pointed out that "development" projects have encroached in their ancestral lands such as large-scale mining, agri-business, and coal-power plants.
The recent deaths in a landslide in a mining area in Pantukan, Compostela Valley shows a possibility of what will happen if large-scale mining comes full blown. Datu Duluman Dausay, an Ata-Manobo from Talaingod, Davao del Norte said that while they firmly oppose mining in Davao Region, local officials fail to show the same resolve.
"It is no longer the destruction of environment, but the destruction of life as well" the leaders in the Conference said.
The traditional leaders point out that such projects do not contribute to the needs of the people especially to Lumads.
"Do the extraction of minerals go back to us? Do the plantations alleviate hunger?" asks Jomorito Guaynon, a Higaonon leader from Bukidnon.
The Datus and Bais said that these projects ultimately earn profit for foreign-owned companies at the expense of destroying the environment, and ultimately the life and culture of Lumads.
"What future do we leave for our generations if our land is gone?" the leaders asked
In a phone message, Datu Guibang Apoga, Ata-Manobo leader of Talaingod, Davao del Norte, called on fellow lumad leaders to never waiver in defending against “development” projects that destroy the environment.
Guibang also called on them to defend the ancestral land and culture of lumads.
There are 18 ethnolinguistic groups in Mindanao with a three million population. All share the common problem of environment plunder, and the military harassments accompanying these projects.
Large-scale mining companies encroaching the Lumad areas are Xstrata-Sagittarius Mines in South Cotabato and Davao del Sur, Toronto Ventures in Zamboanga del Norte, and four mining companies in Caraga.
Other projects affecting the lumad communities are coal-fired power plants in Davao del Sur and the Aboitiz in Davao City, the Hedcor hydro-power plant in Davao del Sur, plantations such as palm oil in Caraga and jathropa in Bukidnon.
##
Saturday, April 23, 2011
“Slain activist Santos Manrique paid dearly to defend land from U.S. mining plunder”- Bayan-SMR
April 24, 2011
DAVAO CITY – The alliance of patriotic and progressive organizations, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Southern Mindanao Region (Bayan-SMR) pays tribute to Santos "Ricky" V. Manrique, as he is laid to rest today in Pantukan, Compostela Valley.
Manrique, another patriotic and progressive leader paid dearly to defend Filipino land from U.S. imperialist agenda of plunder and destruction.
That he was killed amid an intensifying campaign of resistance launched by the people of Pantukan against the entry of American company, Russell Mining and Minerals Inc, shows that no other elements can have the motive to eliminate him but those whose agenda run counter to his political activities.
The state security forces hold the record of protectors of foreign large-scale mining entrants. Their hands are tainted with the blood of activists being killed similarly elsewhere in the country until today.
Manrique is the sixth activist killed in SMR and the 44th victim in the country’s record of political killings in the span of President Benigno Aquino III’s less than a year rule.
His death bore the patent of killings perpetrated by elements of state security forces against activists, the recent cases in the region include those of other Anakpawis leaders, namely Julius Tamondes and Reynaldo Labrador who were slain successively in Paquibato in the early days of Aquino’s rule; Vicente Felisilda in Mawab, and most recently, father-and-son, Rudy and Rudyric Dejos whose lifeless and tortured bodies were found in their homes just this February.
That Manrique was killed by four armed men on board two motorcycles who entered his home and shot him to death in view of his grandson and wife was meant to sow terror in order to quell the ongoing massive opposition against the entry of large-scale mining.
Manrique, as president of the Federation of Miners’ Aggrupation in Pantukan (FEDMAP) and member of the progressive party list group, Anakpawis, led small-scale miners, indigenous peoples, farmers and small traders of Pantukan who stood to be displaced if the US-owned Russell Mining and its local counterpart, Nationwide Development Corporation (Nadecor), would succeed in their claim on a total 1,663-hectare land area in Pantukan for large-scale copper and gold mining.
Like the many slain activists before him, Manrique’s death, was preceded by harassments, threats, and tagging as a leftist, if not, a member of the revolutionary New People’s Army (NPA), by elements of the AFP.
A month prior his death, Manrique was held and harassed by soldiers at an army detachment of the 1001st Brigade in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley as he was on his way home from a meeting.
Manrique was also the one who reported to progressive organizations sightings of U.S. troops offshore Pantukan, particularly in the municipal mayor’s family-owned resort Batiao Beach last end of January, where a military training dubbed “Fleet Marine Exercise Pagsisikap 2011, Amphibious Raid Capability Demonstration” was held.
His death shows that President Aquino has not departed from the fascistic methods employed by his predecessors in suppressing people’s legitimate dissent.
Contrary to its purported “humane and non-traditional approach” of carrying out its military program Oplan Bayanihan, Manrique’s death exposes President Aquino to be no different from Gloria Arroyo who carried out the murderous campaign, Oplan Bantay Laya.
After all, Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan, which is patterned after the US Counter-Insurgency (COIN) Guide in January 2009, serves best his role as the leading agent of the U.S. imperialist’s agenda in the country.
Manrique’s fight is testament to the people’s continuing struggle against ever getting fiercer oppressions in their midst wrought by a leadership whose policy is now getting clearer to be that of espousing sell-out of the country’s patrimony to U.S. imperialism.
But the people will persist. By this death of another of the people’s martyr, we carry on the fight for genuine national sovereignty and opposition to further U.S. control of the country’s economy.
For Bayan-SMR,
FRANCHIE BUHAYAN
Secretary General
0999.195.3370
DAVAO CITY – The alliance of patriotic and progressive organizations, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Southern Mindanao Region (Bayan-SMR) pays tribute to Santos "Ricky" V. Manrique, as he is laid to rest today in Pantukan, Compostela Valley.
Manrique, another patriotic and progressive leader paid dearly to defend Filipino land from U.S. imperialist agenda of plunder and destruction.
That he was killed amid an intensifying campaign of resistance launched by the people of Pantukan against the entry of American company, Russell Mining and Minerals Inc, shows that no other elements can have the motive to eliminate him but those whose agenda run counter to his political activities.
The state security forces hold the record of protectors of foreign large-scale mining entrants. Their hands are tainted with the blood of activists being killed similarly elsewhere in the country until today.
Manrique is the sixth activist killed in SMR and the 44th victim in the country’s record of political killings in the span of President Benigno Aquino III’s less than a year rule.
His death bore the patent of killings perpetrated by elements of state security forces against activists, the recent cases in the region include those of other Anakpawis leaders, namely Julius Tamondes and Reynaldo Labrador who were slain successively in Paquibato in the early days of Aquino’s rule; Vicente Felisilda in Mawab, and most recently, father-and-son, Rudy and Rudyric Dejos whose lifeless and tortured bodies were found in their homes just this February.
That Manrique was killed by four armed men on board two motorcycles who entered his home and shot him to death in view of his grandson and wife was meant to sow terror in order to quell the ongoing massive opposition against the entry of large-scale mining.
Manrique, as president of the Federation of Miners’ Aggrupation in Pantukan (FEDMAP) and member of the progressive party list group, Anakpawis, led small-scale miners, indigenous peoples, farmers and small traders of Pantukan who stood to be displaced if the US-owned Russell Mining and its local counterpart, Nationwide Development Corporation (Nadecor), would succeed in their claim on a total 1,663-hectare land area in Pantukan for large-scale copper and gold mining.
Like the many slain activists before him, Manrique’s death, was preceded by harassments, threats, and tagging as a leftist, if not, a member of the revolutionary New People’s Army (NPA), by elements of the AFP.
A month prior his death, Manrique was held and harassed by soldiers at an army detachment of the 1001st Brigade in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley as he was on his way home from a meeting.
Manrique was also the one who reported to progressive organizations sightings of U.S. troops offshore Pantukan, particularly in the municipal mayor’s family-owned resort Batiao Beach last end of January, where a military training dubbed “Fleet Marine Exercise Pagsisikap 2011, Amphibious Raid Capability Demonstration” was held.
His death shows that President Aquino has not departed from the fascistic methods employed by his predecessors in suppressing people’s legitimate dissent.
Contrary to its purported “humane and non-traditional approach” of carrying out its military program Oplan Bayanihan, Manrique’s death exposes President Aquino to be no different from Gloria Arroyo who carried out the murderous campaign, Oplan Bantay Laya.
After all, Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan, which is patterned after the US Counter-Insurgency (COIN) Guide in January 2009, serves best his role as the leading agent of the U.S. imperialist’s agenda in the country.
Manrique’s fight is testament to the people’s continuing struggle against ever getting fiercer oppressions in their midst wrought by a leadership whose policy is now getting clearer to be that of espousing sell-out of the country’s patrimony to U.S. imperialism.
But the people will persist. By this death of another of the people’s martyr, we carry on the fight for genuine national sovereignty and opposition to further U.S. control of the country’s economy.
For Bayan-SMR,
FRANCHIE BUHAYAN
Secretary General
0999.195.3370
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