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TVI mining sets to blast Subanon sacred ground
SIOCON, ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE—Farmers in barangay Tabayo, Siocon town, province of Zamboanga del Norte expressed alarm over the plan of TVI Resource Development Phils., a subsidiary of the Canadian mining company TVI Pacific, to blast another portion of Mount Canatuan. The Subanon people in Siocon consider Mount Canatuan as their sacred place.
Raul Purigay, a farmer in Tabayo, reported to the non–government organization called DIOPIM Committee on Mining Issues (DCMII) that TVI officials asked them last December 12 to vacate their farmland, their home at Mount Canatuan as the company has scheduled to blast said area through the use of dynamite explosive for open–pit mining.
(December 19, 2008) READ MORE>>>
EU ambassadors visit evacuation camps in Mindanao
Ambassadors from the European Union (EU) visited last week evacuation camps in Mindanao to see for themselves how the European Commission is helping the women, men, children affected by the armed conflict.
In a statement, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said that the tour conducted by the EU ambassadors is the "clearest sign yet that they are directly concerned about the plight of civilians in this conflict and the need for immediate political settlement."
(December 21, 2008) READ MORE>>>
Mission team reports tales of rights abuses in Mindanao
ZAMBOANGA CITY—Mohalidin Mandi's family together with their neighbors fled their homes in Barangay Tee, Datu Piang town of Maguindanao province early morning of Sept. 8, this year. As the two boats that carried the villagers composed mostly of children negotiated a treacherous river of the village that lead to town site, a fighter plane droned above and dropped a bomb near them killing instantly eight—six of whom were children—and wounding four others.
These are among the documented cases by the National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission (NIHM) in Maguindanao and North Cotabato last Oct. 23–25 convened by Kalinaw Mindanao.
On the occasion of the International Human Rights celebrations, the NIHM report called on the Arroyo government to investigate the alleged human rights violations and their perpetrators be made accountable as it called for the conduct of an independent probe to fully take into account the wide range of human rights abuses that have so far taken place since renewed fighting broke out. (December 9, 2008) READ MORE>>>
Farmers install 15–foot scarecrow to ward off mining firm
"The women, men, youth, and children assisted in the installation of a 15 feet tall scarecrow as our symbolic edifice against mining," Rizalina Lisbos, a mother of four, narrated.
Scarecrow is a common edifice in the rice fields of Anislagan to frighten crop destroying birds. This time, the farmers installed a huge scarecrow to ward off one of the world's largest mining companies. (December 4, 2008) READ MORE>>>
Calls for resumption of peace talks,
reconciliation during Mindanao Week of Peace
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—As this southern island celebrates what is dubbed as the "Mindanao Week of Peace", different sectors are calling for reconciliation and resumption of peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
"We need especially to show, in the midst of unrest, that the only way to peace is peace and that weapons of war have no place in creating a lasting peace for all in Mindanao," Interfaith Forum for Peace Harmony and Solidarity, a group which has taken responsibility for organizing the annual Mindanao Week of Peace celebrations in Cagayan de Oro City,
said in a statement. (November 27, 2008) READ MORE>>>
CARP extension draws diverse views
SIAY, ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY—The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) reported to have distributed 7.2 million hectares of land in the Philippines to some 4.5 million farmers over the past 20 years, much of it through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
The agrarian reform, Task Force Mapalad said, has failed to break centuries–old feudal relations in Philippine rural areas, particularly in the province of Negros Occidental where big
sugar haciendas tilled by poor farmers largely remain in the hands of few landowners. (November 27, 2008) READ MORE>>>
Sumilao farmers join campaign vs aerial spray
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The Sumilao farmers of Bukidnon yesterday joined the farmers from Davao City in a protest march around the city against the inaction of the Court of Appeals over the case that halted the implementation of the ordinance banning the aerial spraying in banana plantations.
The Sumilao farmers made headlines when they walked their way from Bukidnon to Malacañang to fight over ownership of a property in Sumilao.
For the past eight days, 19 farmers from Davao City have camped outside the Court of Appeals building as a sign of their frustrations over the snail–paced resolution of the Court of Appeals on the aerial spray case. (November 17, 2008) READ MORE>>>
Laid off and left out: Close to 1,000 mining workers lament loss of jobs
TUBAY, AGUSAN DEL NORTE—Close to 1,000 workers, 80% of the work force of large–scale mining company San Roque Metals, Inc. (SRMI), were laid off by the company middle of this year.
SRMI informed, via flyers, the residents of Tubay town, province of Agusan del Norte that the reasons the company laid off a number of their workers were due to the low price of nickel in the world market and the high cost of oil.
A resident of Tubay asked, "Where are the promised mining jobs?" (November 12, 2008) READ MORE>>>
Life in Datu Piang: Personal account
of a woman armed–conflict survivor
My hometown (Datu Piang, Maguindanao) is frequently hit by calamities—whether natural or man–made calamities. If not flood, it is armed–conflict.
My worst experience is the present armed–conflict in Datu Piang town, Maguindanao (province) and the nearby towns. Almost every night, the sound of mortar shelling hitting unknown destinations becomes.... (October 25, 2008) READ MORE>>>
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