TANDAG, SURIGAO DEL SUR—More than two thousand indigenous people, mostly Manobo, in Surigao del Sur have fled their villages in November 2007 due to increased military operations in their ancestral domain.

Even as evacuation of the indigenous people and increased military operations continue, there are indicators that the very ancestral domain the indigenous people have left and where the military have increased their operations is planned out for coal mining.

Two Manobo tribal leaders in Surigao del Sur, Datu Kuyaw and Datu Tejero, reported that tribal leaders in sitios Panamin and Labangan, barangay Carras–an, Tago town, Surigao del Sur, have been consulted by personnel of the regional office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) about the government’s coal mining plans in their ancestral domain.

Datu Kuyaw and Datu Tejero are opposed to mining. The tribal leaders reported that they are afraid they would be pressured in giving their consent to the coal mining plans with the increased military operations in their ancestral domain.

On December 15, 2007, about 150 indigenous people from sitios Panamin and Labangan fled their homes due to the presence of hundreds of military men. The evacuees reported that hundreds of military men are now occupying/living in their villages. They also said they evacuated their villages for fear that they would be caught in the crossfire between or among armed groups in the area.

Jenny Tejero, an evacuee in Surigao del Sur, said that the very intention of the military operations is mining. With mining, “Unsa may mahitabo sa mga tawo nga lumad? Asa naman ang among sumusunod paingon? (What will happen to the indigenous people? Where will our descendants go?” she asked.

On December 5, 2007, during one of the negotiations with the evacuees, supporters of the evacuees, and the military; the military leader then said that the reason for the increased military operations in Surigao del Sur is the search for the alleged factory of landmines.

May of this year, the Department of Energy (DOE), in a statement, reported that more than 20 local and international upstream companies have evaluated the investment opportunities for coal, geothermal and petroleum exploration and development in the Philippines.

“We are very pleased that a number of local and international upstream companies have expressed keen interest in participating in the exploration and development of the country’s coal, geothermal and petroleum resources. The proposals submitted will now be reviewed by the DOE on the basis of work program, financial and technical qualifications of contractors, among others,” DOE undersecretary Guillermo R. Balce said.

The energy department reported that in December 2006 the DOE opened for bidding promising sites for coal, geothermal and petroleum exploration and development.

“Fourteen areas were offered for exploration, development and production of the country’s coal resources. These areas located in Quezon, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Sur, Davao Oriental, and Zamboanga Sibugay have a total resource potential of 421 million metric tons (MMT) of coal. The awarding of contracts is expected before the end of 2007,” DOE said.

Bulk of the coal areas offered by DOE comes from the provinces of Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.

The exploration, development and production of coal prospects in Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte and Tandag–Tago–Lianga–Bislig, Surigao del Sur were also offered under the 2005 Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR).

COAL

What is coal? DOE defines coal as “a black or brownish black, solid combustible rock containing less than 40% non–combustible inorganic components formed by the accumulation, decomposition and compaction of plant materials under long–acting geological processes.”

Coal, DOE said, is used mainly in the generation of electricity and manufacture of cement. Currently, coal–fired thermal power plants remain as the number one producer of electricity and account for a total of 3,967 MW or 25% of the country’s total installed powered generating capacity.

Environmental watchdog Greenpeace, meanwhile, maintains that coal–fired power stations are dirty and dangerous sources of electricity.

“We are heavily dependent on coal for energy needs, but besides being extremely dirty, the burning of coal is an industrial process that creates huge quantities of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas causing global warming,” Greenpeace said.

With reports from Roel Caseñas and Social Action Center of the Archdiocese of Tandag

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