ATM Statement

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Green groups denounce illegal mining operations in Nueva Vizcaya

Australian-Canadian miner Ocean Gold is lying, says ATM

Oceana Gold Philippines, Inc. (OGPI) is lying when they claim that they have secured approval from the government to continue operating the Didipio gold mines in Kasibu town, Nueva Vizcaya.

OGPI is spinning half-truths when they make this claim, as what they have is a letter from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of DENR, stating that in the opinion of MGB OGPI is allowed to continue operating its mines pending the confirmation of the miner’s application for renewal.

In response, the local governments of Barangay Didpio, the municipal government of Kasibu and the provincial government of Nueva Vizcaya have issued orders and implemented measures to restrain the operations of OGPI.  Local organizations are supporting these moves of the LGUs and have set-up barricades and check points to prevent the movement of trucks from the mining area.

ATM supports the local resistance led by community-based organizations DESAMA and SAPAKMMI in Didipio. As far as stakeholders are concerned, OGPI started illegally operating last June 21, 2019, when its FTAA expired and no renewal was secured.

We also support the strong political will of the local governments, as they exercise their mandate to ensure the protection of the general welfare of their constituency. The sanggunian barangay (barangay council) and sanggunian panlalawigan (provincial legislative council) have issued respective resolutions opposing the renewal of OGPI mining contracts this July 2019.

 Our alliance support the demands of the LGUs that a new set of requirements are needed to approve the application for renewal.

ATM believes that OGPI needs to submit these requirements, including i) securing free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) from indigenous peoples; ii) social acceptability thru a favorable endorsement; iii) a new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that will explain the impacts to access and use of water; iv) a management plan that will elaborate how its mining operations will not destroy the functioning watershed areas in Nueva Vizcaya. (By Jaybee Garganera, ATM National Coordinator – nc@alyansatigilmina.net / (+63917) 5498218)