<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)
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