Aquino asked to scrap plan to bid out Diwata gold mine

[GLT]

Aquino asked to scrap plan to bid out Diwata gold mine

By Frinston Lim
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 15:36:00 07/22/2010

Filed Under: Benigno Aquino III, Mining and quarrying

TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte – Small-scale miners on Mt. Diwata in
Compostela Valley have called on President Benigno Aquino III to scrap
for good the government’s move to bid out their mine-rich village to
capitalists.

On Wednesday, hundreds of small-scale miners trooped to the provincial
capitol grounds in Nabunturan town and held a protest against the
bidding out of the 729-hectare portion of Barangay Mt. Diwalwal, as
the area has been commonly called.

As this developed, the Philippine Mining Development Corp. (PMDC)
announced that the July 30 schedule of the bidding for the area had
been moved anew.

It was the third time the bidding had been rescheduled.

Anin said the new date would still be announced.

“It would depend on the new PMDC board of directors when the next
bidding would be. They will be the ones to decide,” Anin told
reporters.

But Francisco Tito, the fiery village chief of Diwalwal and leader of
the Diwalwal 729 Coalition, said they wanted the government to forego
the bidding.

“We want President Noynoy Aquino to listen to our plea that Diwalwal
should not be sold to big companies,” he said.

Tito said they had repeatedly called on the government to consider the
plight of small-scale miners, who would have nowhere to go if a large
company took over the mining operation in Diwalwal.

“Time and again, we have been asking the government to consider the
tens of thousands of poor people like us, who will be dislocated once
Diwalwal is sold,” Tito said.

He warned that the people of Diwalwal might resort to more drastic
actions if the bidding pushed through. He did not say what these
actions would be.

Diwalwal became known as the wild wild west of the Philippines in the
1980s when miners squabbling for a piece of gold-rich land got
involved in bloody confrontations.

It was only a few years ago that the violence had subsided after the
government fielded security forces to the area.

Tito said aside from asking Aquino to forego the bidding process,
small-scale miners also wanted him to dissolve PDMC and another
agency, the Natural Resources Development Corp. (NRDC), for alleged
mismanagement of Diwalwal’s riches.

Both state-run firms have jurisdiction over the gold-rich area.

“Mt. Diwata (Diwalwal’s other name) has been at peace until PMDC and
NRDC decided to sell this valued patrimony of the nation, which
thousands depend upon for their livelihood,” he said.

In their July 16 letter to Aquino, the miners said depriving them of
their livelihood “would be a blatant betrayal of your vision to give
equal opportunity to all.”

“The entry of foreign mining companies is an affront to social
justice, the government’s program on poverty alleviation and would rob
us of our right to decent living,” the letter reads.

Small-scale miners found an ally in several provincial officials.

Board member Heracleo Codilla said attempts to sell the place to big
mining industries should be opposed.

“This problem has been going on for so long already that it’s very
frustrating. We should make a stand on this one…Order PMDC to review
everything and see to it that all the rights of the small-scale miners
are respected,” he said.