Peace and Environment Advocate call PNoy to implement Tuwid na Daan in Bayog

(From left seating at the table) Pastor Beltran Pacatang,

Bishop Jose Manguiran, two victims Judy and Cherry, Sr.

Babes from Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Bishop

Antonio N. Ablon, Fr. Dionie Cabillas and standing at the

Roost Room is Fr. Davew Mitos (Photo by JONG CADION)

(From left seating at the table) Pastor Beltran Pacatang,

Bishop Jose Manguiran, two victims Judy and Cherry, Sr.

Babes from Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Bishop

Antonio N. Ablon, Fr. Dionie Cabillas and standing at the

Roost Room is Fr. Davew Mitos (Photo by JONG CADION)

By JONG D. CADION

PAGADIAN CITY - The Advocates for Peace (AdPeace), together with the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines as well as Karapatan and church leaders successfully conducted a 3-day Community Solidarity Mission (CSM) on July 15-17, 2013 in the municipality of Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur.

The main purpose of the mission is to share compassion and concrete love for the very least, exploited and taken advantaged sector particularly the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) (Subanen) and those suffering from the impact of large-scale mining operations.

Bayog, as in many municipalities of the province, is ecologically-abundant town. It is endowed with diversified landscapes.  Its mountain ranges down to hills and lowlands are rich in fauna and flora varieties more than enough to sustain food resources. A little segment of its populace, including the IPs (Subanen), are engaged in traditional small-scale mining as the area is also rich in minerals such as gold, silver, copper, manganese and the like.

Its richness, however, is ravaged by development aggressors, particularly Toronto Ventures Incorporated (TVI), a Canadian mining company. Since its arrival, TVI started open-pit mining operations under a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) covering 4,779 hectares. With the authorization of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB)-Region IX that forcibly displaced farmers and indigenous peoples.

In Barangay Balabag, for instance, about 250 small-scale miners and some 5,000 residents who have been making such livelihood since 1980, have been dislocated.

Peace and Environment Advocate convoy arrived at in front

Of Bayog Municipal Hall to pay courtesy call to Mayor Babasa.

(Photo by JONG CADION)

Bayog Municipal Hall Building (Photo by JONG CADION)

The impact of TVI’s open-pit operation is equally horrible to the environment. The extraction activity is unending: seven days a week, 24 hours a day, disrespecting sacred sites of the indigenous peoples, watersheds, forest reservations and farms. Vast rice fields down Bayog town have also been affected.

TVI operations have upset food security for the majority who depend on agricultural productions   and small-scale mining.

Based on initial reports, seven out of ten individuals in the community can hardly eat three square meals a day. Most of the children are undernourished, if not malnourished.

A frightening situation has also gripped the town of Bayog as more than a hundred people have been reported to have been summarily killed. Residents believed that the extrajudicial killings that have been going on in the area are related to the operations of TVI, Bishop Jose Manguiran from Dipolog City Zamboanga del Norte Diocese reported.

“It is this context that we are conducting a feeding activity among the children in the said town to cater to the lot, albeit temporary, of our underprivileged brothers and sisters, especially the children.  Alongside this is a tree planting undertaking which aims to rehabilitate the lost flora and fauna in the area,” Adpeace convenor Bishop Antonio Ablon of the Philippine Independent Church said.

The actual activity (community solidarity mission) was on July16. But delegates coming from Zamboanga Peninsula region are the cities of Zamboanga, Pagadian, Dipolog, Ozamiz and the municipality of Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay arrived at Pagadian City in the afternoon of 15^th. A press conference was also done yesterday, July 17 at the Cathedral of Iglesia Filipina Independiente in Pagadian City.

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To economize time and expenses, delegates will be dispatched aboard chartered vehicles by group. The pick-up points for any delegates coming from Zamboanga Peninsula region are the cities of Zamboanga, Pagadian, Dipolog, Ozamiz and the municipality of IpiL, Zamboanga Sibugay.

The cost of staging this mission comes from solicitations/donations from peace and environment advocates themselves. 

The rocky road going to Barangay Boboan, some 18

kilometers away from the Poblacion of Bayog. The

passengers was force to walk few meters due to hilly

road condition and difficulties (Photo by JONG CADION)

The rocky road going to Barangay Boboan, some 18

kilometers away from the Poblacion of Bayog. The

passengers was force to walk few meters due to hilly

road condition and difficulties (Photo by JONG CADION)

Peace and Environment Advocate convoy arrived at

Brgy. Boboan to share compassion and concrete love

to the affected community (Photo by JONG CADION)

Peace and Environment Advocate convoy arrived at

Brgy. Boboan to share compassion and concrete love

to the affected community (Photo by JONG CADION)

PRESS CONFERENCE

At least two victims seeking for justices were presented to the media to give their testimony regarding the incident. Judy Catampongan 18 years old, an IPs of Bayog was a victim of torture last August 2012 while on his way home after doing labor from the small scale mining operators he was arrested by allegedly TVI blue guard and illegally detained for 3 days.

Cherry Calunsag also of Bayog crying for justice for her elder brother Dexter and neighbor who were shot to death a day before last May election.

Human Rights Victims seeking for Justice (Photo by JONG CADION)

More than 50 victims were expected to come to the open during the activities in Bayog, particularly in Barangay Boboan but due to reported harassments few days before the visit of Peace and Environment Advocates for Community Solidarity Mission they were not able to come because of fear, Bishop Ablon disclosed.

Bishop Manguiran reported his observations and situation of environment that had destroyed the bio diversity and affect the life of the humanity. He also expressed his great dismay regarding the status of the case of “Writ of Kalikasan” he filed in the Supreme Court that until now more postponements hearing happened.

Rev. Beltran Pacatang of the United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP) reported the effect of mining and militarization in the area of Zamboanga Peninsula and other places in Mindanao that mostly the Lumad people were displaced from their Ancestral Domain and livelihood while Fr. Dionie Cabillas also reported the increasing victims of Human Rights Violations (HRVs) wherein the large-scale mining operations is located.

Bishop Ablon said that the Community Solidarity Mission in Bayog had come out with initial three findings and recommendations:

First, there is a pattern of threat, harassment and extra-judicial killings in Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur as a whole based on the data and facts gathered.

Second, there is a sound degree of fear among the people in the communities we visited.

Third, the human rights violation in Bayog is not isolated to one community alone but also exists to other nearby communities.

The group recommended further investigation on the data gathered must be done, Protection on the witnesses and victims must be given so that true justice will prevail and Interest of the communities in Bayog for peaceful life must be addressed.

“We Call on the government, to President Benigno Aquino III to take concrete action to the intensive extra-judicial killings in Bayog,” Bishop Ablon appealed.

Observation

Bayog Mayor Leonardo Babasa did not welcome personally the visiting group. According to his Municipal Administrative Officer, the mayor is very busy and had a meeting with his department heads.

“I am waiting for them in the afternoon but they did not come back,” Mayor Babasa said in his text message to the members of the media.

The Peace and Environment Advocate convoy proceeded to Barangay Boboan, Bayog after they were not allowed by the TVI security to enter going to Sitio Balabag, Barangay Depore, Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur where TVI mining operations located.

Two American ladies, Church Exposures’ from the Global Church Mission also joined the group as foreign observers concerning human rights violations.

 

(From left) Two American lady missionaries, wearing

a red cap is Bishop Antonio N. Ablon, Pastor Beltran

Pacatang, Bishop Jose Manguiran and Adpeace member

while at Brgy. Boboan  (Photo by JONG CADION)