PLACER, SURIGAO DEL NORTE—Last January 6, about 70 residents of barangay Anislagan, together with their barangay council, installed a human barricade thereby preventing the entry of the workers of Anglo American Corporation, the word's second biggest mining company.

Anglo American Corporation workers were on their way to a mining exploration site located in a village adjacent to Anislagan when the were blocked by human barricade.

Anislagan is a hinterland barangay in the municipality of Placer, Surigao del Norte. It is mainly populated by peace loving migrant farmers from different islands of Visayas, majority of whom are from Cebu and Bohol. These migrant farmers from Visayas prefer to be called Surigaonons as they have lived for decades already in Surigao.

The entry of mining activities in the municipality of Placer could be traced back in the early 1980s through Manila Mining Company (MMC), a subsidiary company of a London–based transnational Lepanto Mining Company, which was awarded a mining permit.

In 1997, MMC's tailing ponds collapsed and the mine's waste flowed into the river and down to the nearby sea causing alarm to the entire municipality of Placer. Twice, their mines tailings' dam failed. The company's commitment to uplift the economic situation of the municipality had remained a promise. MMC did not have a good environmental record and even failed to implement the required safety and rehabilitation program. They also failed to build a good relationship with the town's residents.

Series of negotiations were conducted that resulted to the "temporary" closure of the mining operation of MMC in barangay Poblacion, also part of Placer. But in the later part of 2001, MMC applied for an Exploration Permit.

In 2002, MMC was awarded the Exploration Permit which included barangays Anislagan and Makalaya. Alarmed by the re–entry of MMC, the community in Anislagan put up a barricade thereby preventing the entry of the company in the area. The community organized Anislagan Bantay Kalikasan Task Force (ABAKATAF).

Letters of protest and a signature campaign against MMC were initiated by ABAKATAF. Rallies and pickets had become a common sight in Anislagan.

As a consequence to their strong opposition, community members were slapped with various charges, ranging from administrative, to civil and criminal cases. What is most glaringly unusual in these cases is that these were filed as far as Paranaque and the Office of the Ombudsman.

To appease the raging anger of the community, MMC—with its approved Exploration Permi—ambiguously declared that Anislagan would be excluded in the mining area. Later on, MMC was temporarily shut down.

Still, 23 cases were filed against the community members in relation to the picket in 2002. However, these cases were later on dismissed in 2007. This is one of the common forms of harassment committed by corporations: file cases in various forums to prevent the people from exercising their rights to assemble and of expression which are for the future generations.

In 2007, MMC finally won the approval of the Philippine government to explore and extract minerals such as copper and gold from an area that includes a development area of Anglo American Corporation.

MMC signed a new Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSA) covering 5,000 hectares, or 12,355 acres, in the province of Surigao del Norte.

The on–going exploration in barangay Timamana, Tubod, Surigao del Norte caused alarmed again to the residents of Anislagan, an adjacent village. Anglo American hired workers had to pass Anislagan because of the impassable road in Timamana brought by the heavy equipments.

"My constituents strongly oppose any mining activities in our barangay. We have seen the impact brought by MMC to the lives of the people and to the environment in Placer, Surigao del Norte during the height of their mining operation in Placer," said Manuel Tejada, a newly elected Barangay Captain of Anislagan, Placer and ABAKATAF member.

Report from Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center ⁄Friends of the Earth (LRC/FoE)

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