(Ottawa/Manila, December 18, 2018) - In October,
27 individuals and a number of organizations in the Philippines found
themselves targeted in a way that is a common precursor to extra-judicial
killings. The one thing these individuals and organizations have in common is
their open criticism of Canadian mining company OceanaGold’s copper-gold mine
in the Province of Nueva Vizcaya.
In
mid-October, large signs started to appear along major roads and thoroughfares.
The crude signs accused various organizations of being associated with the
country’s New People’s Army (NPA), an outlawed long-running communist guerilla
movement. Following the signs, a pamphlet was distributed with the names of 27
individuals and two organizations. All were accused of being in one way or
another associated with the NPA – known in the Philippines as
“red-tagging.” Neither the signs nor the pamphlet identified who had
produced them.
Five
of the individuals targeted live in the village of Didipio, where the
OceanaGold mine operates. One is an elected provincial board member. One is
lawyer, advocating for critics of the mine, and one is a priest who supports affected
villagers. Others include scientists who have lent their expertise to the
affected villagers. One of the organizations named, Sapakkmmi, is in the
village of Didipio. Other organizations operate provincially and nationally on
behalf of villagers from Didipio directly impacted by the mine.
“Getting
yourself red-tagged and vilified in the Philippines is often a prelude to
murder most foul,” says Clemente Bautista of the Philippine organization
Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, one of the organizations named
on the posters. “The recent massacre of nine sugar plantation workers—and
subsequently even their own legal counsel—in the town of Sagay, Negros
Occidental Province last October was preceded by months of vilification drives
by the military.”
“The
only thing these red-tagged people and organizations have in common is that
they are known to be critical of the OceanaGold mine and supportive of the
locally affected Ifugao Indigenous people,” says Jaybee Garganera of Alyansa
Tigil Mina (Alliance Against Mining - ATM). “The mine has had a major negative
impact on their food security and water resources, among others.”
“I am
the only one named on the pamphlet who does not live in Nueva Vizcaya,” says
Manila-based scientist Feny Cosico of AGHAM (Advocates of Science and
Technology for the People), “and my organization is also named on the posters.
I think it is because we have been helping the people of Didipio to understand
the social and environmental impacts of the large-scale mining operation
of OceanaGold with the Environmental Investigation Mission that we conducted in
2014.”
“I am
the duly elected village head of Didipio where the mine is located.” says
Barangay Captain Erenio Bobola. “I think I was named on the pamphlet because I
am representing so many people in Didipio that do not want the mine to
continue, or to expand, because of all the negative impacts we have been
experiencing and the mine’s broken promises.” On October 2, Bobola handed over
a petition to Minister Cimatu of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) asking for the suspension of the project and asking that the
mine comply with its commitments to the people of Didipio in an MOU signed in
2013. Bobola and the village council of Didipio prepared a resolution on
October 19, stating that the villagers of Didipio who were ‘red-tagged” are
“law abiding citizens” with “no record or involvement in any NPA activities.”
The
OceanaGold mine’s 25 year lease comes up for renewal in 2019. Local opposition
to the mine is one factor that will be taken into consideration in the mine
lease renewal process.
“I am
deeply concerned that these Indigenous people, and those who support them, now
have targets on their backs for no other reason than that they are standing up
against a Canadian mining project that has a history of human rights abuses and
unacceptable environmental impacts,” says Catherine Coumans, of MiningWatch
Canada. “For that reason the Canadian embassy must do everything in its power
to keep these people safe.”
On
November 15, Coumans accompanied four villagers from Didipio, three of whose
names appeared on the red-tagging pamphlet, as well as Ms. Cosico and
representatives of Kalikasan and ATM to the Canadian Embassy in Manila. There
information was shared and a discussion was had about how Canada’s “Voices at
Risk” policy should be mobilized by embassy staff to help protect these rights
defenders.
For more information see:
- Background brief on information shared with the
Canadian Embassy in Manila
- Photographs of “red-tagging” posters
and pamphlet here
- Resolution prepared by the village council in support
of the local villagers and their organizations that were “red-tagged.”
Contact:
- Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch
Canada, catherine@miningwatch.ca
- Jaybee Garganera, Alyansa Tigil
Mina, nc@alyansatigilmina.net
- Clemente Bautista, Kalikasan People’s
Network for the Environment, secretariat@kalikasan.net
- Feny Cosico, AGHAM (Advocates
of Science and Technology for the People), finesacosico@gmail.com
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