‘Lumad’ want self-rule, too

‘Lumad’ want self-rule, too

Tribal leaders seek autonomous region

By Ma. Cecilia Rodriguez
Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 02:31:00 08/26/2008


CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Fired up by the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) that would govern an expanded Bangsamoro homeland, the lumad (indigenous peoples in Mindanao) are seeking an autonomous region for themselves.

At a gathering here Monday of around 200 representatives of 13 indigenous peoples’ communities in Mindanao and Palawan, several tribal leaders called for the creation of an Autonomous Region for the Lumad of Mindanao.

The proponents are lumad leaders critical of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on ancestral domain between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government.

The MOA, aimed at ending the Moro armed struggle in Mindanao, seeks to expand the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Sulu, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan and Marawi City) as a Bangsamoro homeland with broad economic and political powers.

Timuay Nanding Mudai said the lumad should have been primarily consulted in the crafting of the MOA as many areas included in the BJE were their ancestral domain.

“Who gave the MILF the authority to represent all the people in Mindanao and propose the BJE? We have a claim to these lands. There are pending CADT [certificate of ancestral domain title] for these lands,” he said.

Mindanao hosts at least half the 11.8 million indigenous peoples in the country. A third of the 110 ethno-linguistic groups in the country are found in Mindanao.

*Unified stand*

The two-day Mindanao-Palawan Indigenous Peoples’ Consultation was called to consult the lumad leaders and come up with a unified position on the BJE.

Former North Cotabato Rep. Gregorio Andolana said there were enough bases for the indigenous peoples to ask for autonomy.

“The United Nations declaration and the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) are enough bases for the lumad to call for autonomy. Why not ask the congressmen or senators to pass a law creating the Lumad Autonomous Region,” he said at the gathering.

Andolana said including the lumad in the consultations on ancestral domain based on the framework of coming up with a final peace agreement between the MILF and the government would be another option, which he described as a “shorter route.”

Besides the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the proposed Bangsamoro homeland would include the municipalities of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal in Lanao del Norte; and hundreds of barangays (villages) in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato, which voted to become part of the ARMM in 2001.

The MOA also provides for the inclusion of the Bangsamoro’s “ancestral domain” in Mindanao, Palawan and Sulu.

The proposed Bangsamoro homeland will be governed by the BJE, which will have authority to send trade missions to and enter into economic cooperation agreements with other countries, provided it does not include aggression against the Philippine government.

Protests from Christian communities in Mindanao and a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court scuttled the signing of the controversial MOA this month, prompting the MILF to stage attacks on several towns in Mindanao and triggering counterattacks by government forces.

*Lumad in BJE*

Andolana said that indigenous peoples should be made principal representatives in the BJE and not just as observers.

“The indigenous peoples are stakeholders in Mindanao. It is their land that is being discussed here. Historically and legally, they have a big role in juridical entity,” Andolana said.

He said the MOA would have serious implications on the IPRA of 1997.

“The IPRA gives the indigenous peoples the right to the land and their political rights. The BJE does not give due recognition to the ancestral domain claims of indigenous peoples with IPRA as basis,” the former lawmaker said.

Lumad leaders also urged the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to fast-track the delineation of territories and the processing of applications for certificates of ancestral domain title (CADTs).

“The NCIP should help us lobby the government to include us in the review of the BJE and in all consultations as principal members. Otherwise what are they for?” Mudai said.

As early as two years ago, the tribes have been worried that if their ancestral territories were included in the BJE, they would not be able to pursue their political and economic life consistent with their culture and traditions.

They lamented the non-consideration of their position in the Malaysia-brokered negotiations between the government and the MILF.

*Lack of recognition*

During the gathering of indigenous peoples in Davao City for the State of Indigenous Peoples Address last month, the different tribes in Mindanao conveyed their alarm over the Bangsamoro claim on ancestral domain.

In the State of the Indigenous People’s Address, they said the “the lack of recognition of our legitimate rights to our ancestral domains in the government-MILF peace process is a denial of our existence.”

This is a very “urgent concern,” said the convenors who included tribal leaders Timuay Fernando Mudai, a Subanen; Normal Capuyan, a Tagbanua; Datu Ompongan Sambili Jr., a Tagoloanon-Talaandig; and Bernardo Linikid, a Mansaka.

They stressed the importance of finding a viable way, this time, for “ensuring that (their) voices will also be heard.”

But beyond territorial questions, the lumad leaders also agreed to tackle equally important peace-enhancing concerns.

Carl Cesar Rebuta of the non-government group Legal Rights and Natural Resource Center (LRC), the secretariat of the meeting, said the lumad leaders identified, among others, seeking workable sociopolitical arrangements that ensure peaceful coexistence with the Bangsamoro people.

This is very much true for the Teduray tribe, which lives within the ARMM, the core area of the BJE.

*Peaceful solution*

The convenors said the meeting was held “in the spirit of finding a peaceful solution to the issue.”

The community representatives who participated in the meeting mostly came from the affected lumad territory identified under Categories A and B of the BJE area as stipulated in the MOA.

The participants included Subanen, Higaonon, Talaandig, Armunanen Manobo, Ubo Manobo, Manobo Pulangiyon, Dulangan Manobo, Teduray-Upi, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat, Lambangian, Blaan, Tboli, Tagakaolo, Bagobo, Banwaon, Mamanwa, Tagbanua, Mandaya, Mansaka, Ata-Manobo and Mangguangan.

Human rights activists have considered Mindanao a significant terrain for the indigenous peoples’ struggle for recognition and self-determination. */With a report from Ryan Rosauro, Inquirer Mindanao
/*

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080826-156825/Lumad-want-self-rule-too

NPA Raiders Hunted In Mindanao

NPA Raiders Hunted In Mindanao
<http://zamboangajournal.blogspot.com/2008/01/rebels-raid-mining-firm-in-southern-rp.html>

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 07, 2008) – Philippine
soldiers mounted fresh operation against communist insurgents who raided
a mining firm in Compostela Valley province in Mindanao, officials said
Friday.

Officials said dozens of New People's Army insurgents attacked the Apex
Mining Company late Thursday near Masara village in the town of Maco.
Gunmen, numbering more than 50, disarmed the security guards and carted
their weapons, said Col. Benito Antonio de Leon, spokesman for the
Army's 10^th Infantry Division.

He said the NPA torched several equipment owned by the mining firm
before escaping under cover of darkness. "Troops are pursuing the rebels
and we are awaiting reports from ground commanders and so far there have
been no clashes between soldiers and rebels," De Leon told the Mindanao
Examiner.

Apex is partly owned by an international mining company, Crew Gold
Corporation based in London and has interests in Lefa Corridor Gold
Project in Guinea; Nalunaq Gold Mine in Greenland; and the Maco Gold
Mine in the Philippines, where it employs close to 2,000 people.

De Leon said the motive of the attack is still unknown, but the NPA has
previously raided mining firms that refused to pay so-called
"revolutionary taxes."

"We still don't know the motive of the attack. But the rebels had in the
past targeted mining firms that refused to pay extortion money. The
weapons, particularly long firearms such as automatic rifles, use by
security guards is also a magnet for NPA attacks," he said.

In January, communist insurgents also raided the Swiss firm, Sagittarius
Mines Inc. (SMI), in the town of Tampakan in South Cotabato province.
The attackers torched buildings and equipment and also raided a military
post near the mining firm.

The NPA accused SMI of plunder, land grabbing and environment
destruction and said the attack was a punishment. The rebels said the
raid was in response to a longstanding demand of the people to put a
stop to the firm's operations in the area.

Indigenous tribes were protesting the operation of the SMI, saying, the
mining activities allegedly encroached into ancestral lands and caused
pollution in rivers and streams in Tampakan, which is considered a
watershed area and is believed to be one of the world's "best new
large-scale copper gold mines," with an estimated 11.6 million tons of
copper and 14.6 million ounces of gold.

SMI is partly owned by Xstrata, one of the world's largest mining
companies based in Switzerland.

Rebel forces have previously raided other mining firms in Mindanao which
refused to pay illegal taxation. The attack sent a chilling warning to
the government that the NPA can carry out offensive despite a massive
military operation to crush the growing insurgency problems in Mindanao.

In March last year, rebels also raided a private coal mining firm, the
MG Mining Company, in Raja Kabunsuan village in Surigao del Sur's Lingig
town.

The Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation
Front, last month also warned mining firms to stay away from ancestral
lands in Mindanao.

MILF rebels have previously attacked and killed 13 Filipino miners
working for the Calgary-based TVI in Zamboanga del Norte province after
they ignored warnings to stop operation in Mount Canatuan in Siocon
town, a sacred altar to an indigenous tribe called the Subanon whose
ancestors settled in the area centuries ago.

The Philippines is estimated to have at least US$1 trillion unexploited
treasure trove of minerals and is promoting the rejuvenation of the
mining sector to boost the economy and cut its budget deficit and debt.
(Mindanao Examiner)
<http://zamboangajournal.blogspot.com/2008/01/rebels-raid-mining-firm-in-southern-rp.html>

Philippines: Minister threatens campaigners

Philippines: Minister threatens campaigners
16 May 2005

The Philippines' Environment Minister has threatened local and foreign
campaigners with arrest if they continue to 'agitate communities'.



The move is a response to criticisms of TVI, the Canadian mining
company which operates a gold mine on the land of the Subanen tribe.
'They have no right to meddle in the affairs of the country,' said the
Minister. Survival-International

Subanen face eviction

Subanen face eviction
24 February 2005

Several Subanen familes fear eviction from their ancestral land by the
Canadian mining company, TVI. Three families have already received
letters from the company threatening court action and saying, 'We
demand that you leave the company premises.' Nearly 100 families
overall are threatened, including Visayans who have come into the area
in more recent years.



Many Subanen have been campaigning for years to have TVI removed from
their land. The company operates an open-pit gold mine there though
under Philippine law it is illegal for anyone to enter the Subanen's
land without their permission. The latest threats follow a series of
violent attacks on the Subanen, including the wounding of four people
in 2004.



The Subanen Timu-ays (leaders) have said, 'Our land is sacred. It is
the source of our daily needs, and most of all our ancestors have been
buried here. Land is the source of life for all creatures and things.'



The Subanen, or people of the river, are the most numerous of the
Philippine tribal peoples, numbering 300,000. They are scattered across
the mountains of the Zamboanga peninsula, which they believe was given
to them by God. They live in small agricultural communities and
practice shifting cultivation. Over the last century much of their land
has been settled by outsiders; more recently, there has been a further
invasion of logging and mining companies. The Subanen's protests have
been brutally suppressed by the Philippine army, and many Subanen have
been forced to leave their homes. Survival-International

CADT of the Subanen People finally awarded

After more than a decade of fighting for the recognition of their ancestral domains, the Subanen people of Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte finally received their Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) last June 6, 2003. In an auspicious affair held at the Siocon town center, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assisted by NCIP Chairperson Atty. Reuben Dasay-Lingating, himself a native Subanen; officially awarded the long awaited CADT to Timuay Boy Anoy, the head of the Siocon Subanen Association, the local Peoples Organization which spearheaded the long struggle to recover and protect the traditional lands of the Indigenous Subanen.
The Subanen ancestral domain has long been the subject of a bitter feud between the local people and the Canadian-based Toronto Ventures, Inc. engaged in the exploration of gold deposits in Siocon. The Subanen people have consistently protested the awarding of a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement in favor of the TVI, claiming that the MPSA was illegally secured as the TVI had not secured a Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) from the affected communities. Furthermore, the Subanen aside from expressing their fears with the irreparable impact of the TVI activities to the environment, claimed that unwarranted operations of the multi-national company has caused deep divisions and conflict among the once tightly-knit Subanen communities.

It is hoped that the awarding of the Siocon CADT to the Subanen people by no less than the resident of the Philippines lays the framework of the Governments policy towards the current conflict between the Mineral industry and the Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines. PAFID