Beyond Good Business

1. BAKWIT: Indigenous Peoples,
Women and Children in the face of
Mining and Militarization in the
Philippines
Conference on
BEYOND GOOD BUSINESS: Advocating for Women’s Rights
In the Context of Natural Resource Extraction and
the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
Woburn Suite Senate House 26 OCTOBER 2015, London, UK
Jane Lingbawan Yap-eo
Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera (CDPC)
Innabuyog, AIPNEE.
Baguio City, Cordillera- Northern Luzon, Philippines

2. Topic Outline
1. Who are the
Indigenous Peoples
IPs)?
2. The quest for GOLD
3. Dare to struggle -
Dare to survive :
IPs oppose and
resist development
aggression
4. HOPE for a better
future

3. Who are the IPs (Phil)
Mapping IPs in the Philippines
15% or approximately 12 to
15 million of the Philippine’s
total population of 92,337,852
million are Indigenous Peoples
(IPs)
composed of 110 ethno-
linguistic groups and are
located in 50 of the country’s
78 provinces.
inhabit more than five
million hectares of ancestral
lands of the country’s total
land mass of 30 million
hectares.

4. Land is Life:
Indigenous
peoples have a
distinct way of
life. Life
revolves in the
land with all the
resources
therein. This is
also tied to
their diverse
culture.
(Photos show a typical
Cordillera- Phil IP
community)

6. RICH IN RESOURCES:
Gold – 17th gold producer
worldwide as of 1997;
Northern and Southern Luzon,
Bicol and Surigao
- 3rd in the world for gold
reserves
Copper – ranked third globally
in copper reserves
Nickel: 5th in the world:
Zambales and Surigao
Chromite: 6th in the world –
Zambales, Eastern Samar,
Northeastern Mindanao
Iron – low grade but total
resources is estimated at 4
billion
Others: Cadmium, Bauxite,
Marble, Limestone, Silver...

7. * IPs artisanal gold mining (pre
colonization).
-Mining was crude using water
and heat an stone to break up
ore from which was processed
copper and gold. Copper was
made into pots, containers,
utensils, tobacco pipe, others.
-Women are part of the prod’n.
* Trading (13th-14th century)
- with lowland villages for
animals ( pigs, cattle, carabao,
horses), salt, cloth weaving,
chinese jars, and others with
Chinese merchants.
Quest for GOLD and other basic minerals:

8. Spanish : 1521 – 1898
Regalian Doctrine- All lands are owned by
the King of Spain.
Mid 16th – mid 19th: Spanish military
expeditions and resistance by indigenous
highlanders who fiercely defended their
mines, villages, and way of life.
 Mid 19th Spanish mining company, Sociedad
Minero -Metalurgica Cantabro – Filipina de
Mancayan, established in the southwest of
Cordillera. Persuaded elders to sell land, and it
started operations in 1856. Brought in Spanish
engineers and smelters from Mexico.
Closed down in 1874-not profitable due to
low level of technology. The indigenous
method was more efficient.
* Invasion for gold by colonizers (Spain, Americans)

9. Large Scale Corporate Mining Established by
American Colonial Regime:1900-1947
>Mining claims on rich mineral lands,
already occupied and regarded as
ancestral lands by indigenous peoples,
based on U.S. Mining Law.
Land Registration Act (1902)- To
legitimize land grab, required titling or
free patent of all lands.
Public Land Act (1905, 1918) that
declared as “public land” all that was
not titled during the Spanish regime.
 Mining Act of 1905 further opened
to any American or Filipino any
unregistered land for ownership-
prospecting-mining operations.
> Mining Act of 1935
prohibited traditional
small scale mining,
mining companies rights
to forests and water
sources.

10. Massive Mineral Extraction by Multinational
Corporations.
Mining Act of1995:
> Legal basis for liberalizing mining industry in
the Philippines.
> This law allows total ownership and control of
mineral resources by foreign mining companies.
> Mining corporations are allow to operate for a
maximum area of 81,000 hectares in a span of 25
to 50 years in exchange of a minimum
investment of US $ 50 million.

11. Massive Mineral Extraction by Multinational
Corporations.
Mining Act of1995:
* The local mining industry’s contribution to the
Philippine economy since the time the Mining Act of
1995 was implemented has barely reached 2 percent
of gross domestic product (GDP).
In contrast, agriculture, a sector that is often
negatively impacted by mining activities, contributes
a solid 16-17 percent of GDP.
> Agriculture will benefit more Filipinos while mining
will only benefit a few.
(* From study conducted by the University of the
Philippines and Ateneo de Manila)

12. Companies granted
with Mineral
Production Sharing
Agreement (MPSA),
Exploration Permit (EP)
and Financial &
Technical Assistance
Agreement (FTAA)
Massive Mineral Extraction by Multinational
Corporations.

13. On-going mining
concessions, out of
the areas granted
for mining

14. Mining
concessions
presently
applying for EP,
MPSA and FTAA

15. > The aggressive mining
program of the Phil. This is
how the MNCs through the
government is currently
exploiting the natural
reserves of the country.
Laws and policies to
regulate and control the
extraction and utilization of
its mineral resources must be
in placed.
 Respect and recognition of
the rights of IPs must be a top
priority.
 Women and youth must be
recognized and involved in all
the process (FPIC to full
implementation).

16. Operating mines
3 Copper mines (with
gold and silver)
1 Copper mine (with
gold, silver zinc)
5 Gold mines
1 Chromite mines
1 Magnetite mine
18 Nickel mines
1 Nickel Processing
Plant
1 Copper Processing
Plant
2000+ sand and gravel,
cement and other non-
metallic operations

17. ? Who benefit
from mining
 Peak
contribution of
Mining to
Excise Taxes
was in 2007.
(2000-2009)
1.7%
Mining
Alcohol
Tobacco
Petroleum
Others

18. On poverty alleviation:
Mining has the highest poverty incidence of any sector in the
country 48.7%.. The only sector where poverty incidence
increased between 1988-2009. High poverty incidence in many
mining areas i.e. CARAGA (47.5%), Zamboanga Peninsula
(42.75%), Bicol region (44.92%) , the national average being
26%. At the municipality of Bataraza in Palawan where Rio Tuba
has been operating for 30 years, the poverty incidence (53%) is
double the national rate.
 The mining industry is correct in pointing out that the
statistics do not establish causality. But the data at least shows
an association between mining and poverty that raises
questions on the claim that mining improves the quality of life
in its communities.
(Atty. Christian Monsod, Senate Hearing on Mining and Agriculture, March
2, 2012)

19. Impacts:
1. Massive
violations of
collective
rights of IPs.
Plight of IPs and women and children begin,
worsened and continuing.

20. Human Right Violations (EJKs, Ethnocide)
> 115 recorded cases
of extra judicial
killings of Indigenous
people within the BS
Aquino regime, 15
are women and 7 are
children.
> Intense military operations
by the 26th IBPA and
paramilitary group Maggahat
forced 935 Banwaons to
evacuate. Sought sanctuary at
the RGS Hospital grounds in
Balit, San Luis, Agusan del Sur.

21. Human Right Violations (Against Women)

22. Human Right Violations (Against Women)
0
5
10
15
20
25
5 to 10 11 to 15 16 to 20 21 to 25 26 to 30 31 to 35 36 to 40 41 to 45 46 to 50 51 to 55 56 to 60 61 to 65 66 to 70
Numberof Victims by Age
Age

23. Human Right Violations (Against Women)
> Rights of women are violated starting at the age of
5 to 70 years old.
> It means, violation to our right to life. > As
indigenous women, our life springs from the land. It
death for us when all these extractive projects take
on our land. It is losing our power as the primary
nurturer of the land and food producer.

24. Human Right Violations (Against Women)
It is losing our identity when the viable indigenous
systems to ensure the survival of our families, clans
and tribes, of which indigenous women are also
the knowledge holders, are lost. We lose the
source of our lives, identity and knowledge when
extractive projects are imposed on our lands. We
lose our dignity if these corporate extractives
invade our territories. What we ought do to uphold
our life, identity and dignity? We resist.

25. Human Right Violations (Against Women)
When we resist, we face danger as both the
security forces of the state and corporate attack
our resistance. We are threatened, intimidated,
harassed and even killed. Sexual violence is used
to weaken and defeat us. But we remain firm. We
study, we mobilize for collective actions, we
mobilize support just what we are doing now, we
engage with duty-bearers including the UN and
demand their responsibility and accountability.

26. Human Right Violations (Against Women)
We seek justice and that we all bound to do as
indigenous women leaders here. Your stories of
violence are our stories of violence, your hopes are
our hopes for dignity of indigenous women, your
struggles are our struggles. We claim and reclaim
our dignity, together as sisters of the land.

27. 2. Economic dislocation through
decreasing productivity and income
on mining-affected peasants, fisher
folks and small-scale miners
> 27 rivers are contaminated by
mining operations.
Clare Short said: “I have never seen
anything so systematically destructive as
the mining programme in the Philippines.
The environmental effects are catastrophic
as are the effects on peoples livelihoods.” (
Photo 3 and tex by Fr. Edwin A. Gariguez,
FPE,NASSA)
British MP "enormously shocked" by
mining operations in Philippines
http://philippinesfactfinding.blogspot.
com/ ( Fr. Edwin A. Gariguez- FPE, NASSA)

28. 3. Land-grabbing,
increasing poverty
incidence, disaster
vulnerability...
Photo top left & 1st right by
Fr. Edwin A. Gariguez- FPE, NASSA

29. 4. Force Evacuation
> Women and children
are the most affected.

30. Dare to struggle, Dare to survive
IPs are
sacrificed in the
name of
development for
a few (1%).
IPs oppose and
resist
development
aggression

31. Dare to struggle, Dare to survive
Women
are in the
forefront of
the struggle
against
mining.

32. HOPE: A better future???
more HARASSMENT
more OPPRESSION
more POLITIC(KING)
more EVACUATIONS, killings (massacres, ejks)
* All these are happening beyond good business.
All these are happening despite the UN principles
on Human Rights and Business...
X
X
X
X

33. Our Appeal as Women
For the Philippine Government to muster its political will to fully
and effectively comply with its obligations to its constituents,
especially the indigenous Peoples (women and Children):
• Ensure access to justice by indigenous women who are
victims and/or survivors of gender and human rights
violations;
• Build awareness and capacities of government personnel to
be able to effectively respond to gender and human rights
violations at the local level;
• Pull out all military elements from indigenous territories.
And repeal the department of education’s memorandum
221, 2013 allowing the use of schools by the military;
• Stop recruitment of indigenous youth into paramilitary
service.
HOPE: A better future???

34. This is the world that we like...
End Culture of Impunity (Phil
Gov). Full justice for all victims
of human rights violations.
Peace and order Resumption of peace talks
* Social Change (Self-Determine Sustainable
Development)
Criminals must be punished.
Stop violating basic/collective Rights!
NO to MINING!
Oppose and Resist Development Aggression!

35. Iyaman unay!
Thank you so much!