Mining in the Cordilleras: A Case Study

By: Angelica De Vera

Indulgence in mining activities in Benguet was and is inevitable as it has become part of the life and ways of the people. Some may say that, especially those who are contained in these corporations, lucky are those who lived within the range of these mining lands for they benefited from the “extra” municipal services such as electricity, communication systems, roads, recreation facilities, schools, hospitals and chapels. These may be of great benefit to them, but only for now. And if people will just quantify the extracted resources and equate it to these services- we can really say that they are just plain pakunswelo de bobo and are really of no value.

Mining laws are constitutionalized to protect the indigenous people and the state against exploitation. The “Philippine Mining Act of 1995” otherwise known as Republic Act 7942 emphasized the “rational exploration, development, utilization and conservation of mineral resources. Payment of royalty fees and mandatory consent of affected indigenous communities was also emphasized.

This is supported by “Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997” (IPRA) otherwise known as Republic Act 8371 which emphasized on the need for “free and prior informed consent” prior to entry of programs and projects into indigenous communities as well as “just and fair compensation” for any damages which they may sustain as a result of a project. These salient provisions of the law mandate prior consent of indigenous cultural communities concerned preceding the opening of any ancestral lands for mining operations.

Yet ironically, President Macapagal-Arroyo’s SONA involved a 10-Point Legacy names including 23 priority mineral resource development projects and 37 priority mining exploration projects for investment by foreign transnational corporations (TNCs). And of the 23 priority development projects, five are in the Cordillera Region which covered the Pacdal Expansion Project of Philex Mining Corporation and Anglo-American Mining Company in Tuba, Benguet; Teresa Gold Project of the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. in Mankayan, Benguet; Far Southeast Gold Project of Lepanto in Mankayan, Benguet; Itogon Gold Project of Itogon Suyoc Mines in Itogon, Benguet; and the Batong Buhay Gold Project of the government in Pasil, Kalinga.

This implied that though indigenous peoples- as per experience- consider mining as tantamount to forcible and oftentimes bloody displacements, killings and the eventual loss of ancestral lands and its resources the government still manage to not only promote ore/mineral extraction but tolerate threats to the people, especially to the indigenous peoples and the environment.

And despite the aggravated amount of benefits from Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation (1996-2000) amounting to P 21 768 00.00 for health, arts, recreation etc., and government tax that equates to P 551 047 651.31, exclusive of those from Philex Mining Corporation and Benguet Corporation. Still, there is the need to utilize and conserve the country’s minerals as wisely and judiciously as possible for the good of the greatest number, including generations yet unborn.