Spare Mindoro from destruction

[GLT]

Mangyan protester appeals to Arroyo: Spare Mindoro from destruction

By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 13:38:00 11/25/2009

Filed Under: indigenous people, Global Warming, Environmental Issues,
Mining and quarrying

MANILA, Philippines—A "hungry and weak" Mangyan protester has appealed
to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to spare Mindoro island from
environmental destruction and revoke the mining clearance of Norway-
based Intex Resources.

In an open letter written in a native Mangyan dialect and script,
Ponyon Kadlos, coordinator of the Kapulungan Para sa Lupaing Ninuno
(KPLN), told President Arroyo that "our whole life is at risk" if the
mountains of Mindoro will be dug for nickel ore.

"Kanmi sagradong lugay ay madaot din. Kami ay mapapalayas ginan sa
kanmi daga, ag ti kalikasan ay madaot. (Our sacred land will be
ruined. We will be displaced from our ancestral domain and the
environment will be devastated)," Kadlos said.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza issued the environment compliance
certificate (ECC) on October 14, allowing Intex to mine for nickel
11,600 hectares of land in Mindoro.

This was made despite a 25-year mining ban in Oriental Mindoro
province and numerous municipal and village ordinances in Occidental
Mindoro opposing the project, said Fr. Edwin Gariguez, one of the
hunger strikers camped outside the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources head office.

"Adok mga buhi ti mamatay no ituloy ti planong pag mina, sa sulod daga
ginurang. Buo kanmi paghadlang sa daka pagmimina. (Our lives are at
risk because of the proposed mining within our ancestral domain. We
strongly oppose large-scale mining)," Kadlos said.

"Kanmi paghagadon sa kanmo bilang pinakaabwat lider sa Pilipinas ay
bul-on yi kay bisa ti ECC na ipinahintulot sa Intex Resources. (As the
highest leader of the Philippines, we ask you to revoke the ECC issued
to Intex Resources)," he said.

"Ti mag hagad mga Mangyan sa Silangang Mindoro. (We ask this on behalf
of the Mangyans in Oriental Mindoro)," he added.

The $2.4-billion nickel project straddles the municipalities of
Victoria, Pola, and Socorro, in Oriental Mindoro, and Sablayan in
Occidental Mindoro.

The DENR’s Environmental Impact Assessment Review Committee has
recommended the ECC denial for the nickel mine, citing a lack of
baseline information on the terrestrial flora and fauna in the project
site and public consultations in the direct and indirect impact areas.

The hunger strike of the Mangyans, priests and environmental activists
entered its ninth day Wednesday.

"Kami tay nguna ay tanan yi magkalun-os ag magkagasa yi. (We are now
hungry and weak)," Kadlos said.