IP GROUP BLASTS DUTERTE FOR REVIVING MINDANAO MINING VENTURE

The largest federation of indigenous and Moro groups in the Philippines has blasted the Duterte administration for reviving the copper-gold project of Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) in Mindanao that spans the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur.

President Duterte has approved the renewal of SMI’s Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) with the government and reinstated its environmental compliance certificate (ECC) without the knowledge of Sandugo-Movement of Moro and Indigenous Peoples for Self-Determination. The extension of the FTAA until 2032 was only made public earlier this year to the consternation of Sandugo, which opposed the venture.

“The mining company is officially allowed to extract gold and copper through open pit mining in an area covering 10,000 hectares, most of which are ancestral lands in Tampakan, South Cotabato, Kiblawan in Davao del Sur and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat,” Sandugo revealed. On October 18, 2012, a pregnant Juvy Capion, 27, a member of the B’laan minority and her two sons, Jordan, 13, and John Mark, 8, were mercilessly killed by soldiers of the 19th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army (PA) who claimed the family were “collateral damage” in a clash with the New People’s Army (NPA).

“The Capions led the tribe in opposing the operation of SMI’s destructive mining in their ancestral land,” said Sandugo. “And they were massacred because of this.” The case led to worldwide condemnation that forced the multinational mining giant Glencore PLC, then owner of SMI, to exit from the Tampakan project. After Glencore Plc sold its shares to Indophil Resources NL, Alsons Prime Investment Corp. eventually acquired SMI. Alsons, short for Alcantara & Sons, is a known ally of President Duterte in Mindanao.