Reading 8-9

Lecture #5
Systematic Abuse of IPs

 The Philippine Mining Act 0f 1995

Some Facts:
 The Philippines is ranked as:
 third in the world in gold deposits
 fourth in copper reserves
 fifth in nickel
 sixth in chromite

 Untapped mineral resources estimated at 840 billion dollars

o Why can’t the government maximize its share in mining operations?

1. Lack of monitoring personnel to examine mineral extraction (making it difficult for
government to assess its fair share of benefits to be obtained from mining
operations)
2. DENR has relatively few experts on natural resource valuation as most left the
agency to become consultants in the private sector
3. DENR has no capability to estimate the projected benefits of mining

o Has the Mining Act been effective?

 No
1. Unsuccessful in attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs)
Note: Job creation in mining sector depend heavily on the amount of new
investments (w/c would facilitate exploration, construction, development and
extraction of minerals)
2. Unsuccessful in preventing environmental disasters

o Cases of Environmental Damage?

1. Marcopper mines in Marinduque spilled out 3 to 4 million metric tons of mineral
tailings into the Makulapnit-Boac river system
 causing flash floods in areas along the river
 displaced 400 families, twenty villages were evacuated, drinking water was
contaminated killing fish and shrimp
 Boac river was declared unsuable

Tailings – materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from
the uneconomic fraction of an ore. Many tailings are toxic and must be kept perpetually
isolated from the environment

Ore – rock containing a metal compound (ex. Gold, iron, copper)

 2. Rapu Rapu mines in Albay
 responsible for cyanide spills and acid mine drainage and toxic heavy metal
pollution
 resulting to massive fish kills along the fishing grounds of Rapu Rapu island
and the adjacent municipalities on the eastern coast of Sorsogon

3. Philex Padcal Mines in Benguet

 spilled out 20 million metric tons of mineral tailings which drained into the
Balog and Agno river systems

 Philex, Padcal Mine has so far only cleaned up one million metric tons or just 5% of
the total amount of toxic mine tailings it spilled from its outdated dam facilities
 Bureaucratic red tape in the approval of permits by local and national government is
slowing the rehabilitation of existing mines and the development of new ones
(red tape: redundant and excessive bureaucratic regulation)

4. Nicua Mining Corporation operating in MacArthur Leyte

 released mine wastes resulting to a large fish kill in the rich fishing grounds of
Lake Bito Leyte

5. Toronto mine of Citinickel Mines and Development Corporation in Narra,

Palawan
 released waste from mining operations flowing a river and irrigation canals
affecting farms and a fish pond

o Is the government to blame for these disasters?

 Yes, Gov’t is partly to blame:
 red tape
 lack of technically qualified personnel for inspection
 inadequate budget for inspection
 bribery. Regional Directors of agencies who accept bribes from mining
firms in order to ignore violations of environmental regulations will lead to
more environmental disasters caused by non-compliant firms

o Overall effect to IPs?

 Destruction of biodiversity (mangroves, coral reefs, agriculture)
 Health hazard. heavy metal contamination of surface water, sedimentation,
and pit void which create both environmental and health hazards for residents
in the immediate vicinity
 Eviction of IPs from mining sites w/c are their homes to begin with
 o How does the Mining Act discourage investments?
 Consider this example: There is a completion of a mining agreement between the
DENR and a private mining (the issuance of a mining permit may be challenged
in the following cases)
 Under the Local Government Code, an ordinance may be passed to ban mining
operations which contravenes the Mining Act
 Under the Tax Reform Act, after the end of any “tax holiday” collection of taxes
shall be enforced regardless if the project is still within its “recovery period” or not
 Possible constitutional challenges (60-40 discrepancy)

o How does the Mining Act discourage investments?

 By IP organizations protecting ancestral domain and sacred burial sites by
requiring the certificate of Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) under the
Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997, which serves as a precondition to
mining operations
Note: (NCIP) had failed to effectively apply the law particularly with regard to
requiring the Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) before allowing several mining
operations to start

o Current state of the Mining Act?

A. The Mining Act, though unrepealed, now remains unimplementable because people
have become empowered and vigilant. Mining corporations have been constantly
pressured and forced to introduce more effective measures of waste disposal and
management
New entrants are finding that the Philippines is not exactly heaven for global mining
corporations as even exploration activities are subjected to protests. For many
people this is a significant victory in the campaign against the continued
environmental degradation of the Philippines

 Loss and Benefits Analysis

o Has the Philippines lost or gained more in driving away foreign corporations?
A. What the Philippines has lost by way of new corporate investment and foreign
currency earnings from mineral exports is insignificant compared to what the country
has gained. The Filipino people have preserved their natural resources and national
patrimony, protected their environment from extreme degradation, secured their
people’s livelihood from irreparable damage, prevented the genocide of its
indigenous communities, and achieved national and democratic power

o Illustrate the collective action against corporate mining

 In April 1996, a People’s Regional Mining Conference was held in the Cordillera
region, a traditional centre of large-scale mining in the Northern Philippines. This
was organized by Bayan and the Cordillera People’s Alliance, and attended by
30 delegates representing 87 grassroots organizations and coalitions. Besides,
 rejecting of the Mining Act of 1995, the conference resolved to resists any
exploration work done by mining companies
o Illustrate the collective action against corporate mining
 In September 1996, a similar conference was also convened for all the Visayas
islands in the central part of the country. This was spearheaded by the National
Council of Churches in the Philippines. Following this conference, protest actions
were held in various Visayan Islands, including a rally on Negros Island on
October where more than 15,000 mobilised
 In October 1996, another conference was held, gathering various indigenous
peoples in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. This focused on the impacts of the
Western Mining Corporation (WMC) FTAA in Cotabato. A conference was also
held in Nueva Vizcaya, gathering representing from all communities covered by
Arimco’s FTAA operation

o Horizontal and Vertical Networking

 This “horizontal” and “vertical” networking in strengthening the pressure effect
of the collective actions
 HORIZONTAL: linking with various interest group and issue-based
organizations, networks
 VERTICAL: linked local groups with provincial and national entities and
international orgs. Conferences and for a provided effective venues for creating
linkages that eventually led to coordinated actions