Yellen Zata, chair of Hublag Kontra Mina (HUKOM) based in Barangay Ned, asserts that SEPC was not able to secure an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) within a year after the contract was awarded.

“Dapat maghalin na sila sa amon lugar karon kag dapat hindi na sila liwat hatagan sang kontraata kay nagapakita lang nga hindi sila sarangan magmina [They  should leave our place now and they should not be awarded with the same contract because it shows they are not a capable of engaging in mining]” said Zata.

SEPC was awarded COC No. 134 for coal production and development of about 7,000 hectares of land on February 23, 2009.

Under Section 12.7, DoE has the power to cancel the contract should the company fail to secure an ECC within one year from the awarding of the said contract.

“Kon hindi mag-aksyon ang DoE, nagapakita lang nga nagadapig sila sa mga kapitalista kag indi sa katawhan kag kinaiyahan [If DoE will not act, it only shows that they side with the capitalist more than the people and the environment]” Zata said.

In 2006, residents of Brgy. Ned formed Sagip Kalikasan (Save the Environment) to rally the people against coal mining projects in the area.

Two years later, on September 16, 2008, Sagip Kalikasan changed its name to Hukom Kontra Mina (Movement Against Mining) to emphasize its strong opposition to coal mining.

Hukom has been opposing coal mining in their areas for environmental and health reasons.

Residents assert that Ned is part of a protected watershed area and their only source of livelihood being an agrarian reform community (ARC).

They added that mining would displace them economically and physically. Aside from SEPC, two contracts are also operating in the area, namely: Coal Operating Contract No. 126, signed with the Daguma Agro-Minerals, Inc. (DAMI) on November 19, 2002 and Coal Operating Contract No. 138, signed with the Bonanza Energy Resources Inc. (BERI), sister company of DAMI on May 2005. The two contracts cover 10 blocks or about 10,000 hectares of land.

The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/FoE-Phils), on the other hand, calls for the immediate stop of SEPC’s test pitting.

“SEPC should not be allowed to further conduct test production because its permit is deemed canceled” said Jean Marie Ferraris, LRC Davao Regional Office.

LRC-KsK/FoE-Phils is a policy and legal research and advocacy institution working for the empowerment of the marginalized indigenous peoples and rural communities.