MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Mindoro Hunger Strike (MHS), involving twenty-five individuals belonging to the Mangyan indigenous tribe, local government officials, two Catholic priests and some residents, together with more than 80 organizations nationwide as their support group, vows to take more actions to press the revocation of the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) issued to a Norwegian company on the Mindoro Nickel Project (MNP) in the island province.

The MHS was triggered by the outburst of the Mindoreños when an ECC was issued to Intex Resources, with local subsidiaries, Aglubang Mining Corporation and Alag-ag Mining, last October 14 despite the lack of social acceptability evidenced by the numerous local ordinances and resolutions from the local governments of Oriental and Occidental Mindoro,  no genuine consultation and consent from the indigenous peoples (IP) of the Mangyan tribes, which acquire certificate of ancestral domain claim (CADC) affected by the MNP and the strong opposition from Catholic Church and civil society groups committed to protect environmental sustainability and IP rights in the island province.

Since November 17, 2009, the MHS has staged their protest against the USD 2.4 billion nickel mine project in the front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) central office along Visayas Avenue, Quezon City. Although dialogues with Environment Secretary Lito Atienza and DENR officials have been facilitated, local government officials and representatives of the mining affected communities were not satisfied by the DENR’s suspension order on the Intex ECC.

“In 2001, the Philippine Government scrapped the MNP based on environmental and social impacts. We still carry the same issues why we strongly oppose the MNP,” said Oriental Mindoro Governor Arnan Panaligan.  “We find DENR disrespectful of our local autonomy for not recognizing  our province’s existing 25-year mining moratorium issued in 2002,” added Governor Panaligan.

“We are not satisfied with our dialogues with the DENR. Our call for the revocation on the Intex ECC should not be watered down to a suspension of the ECC. We will further exhaust all legal and all extra-legal means to fight for our local autonomy to protect the long-term interests of the our people,” said Oriental Mindoro Vice-Governor Estela Aceron.

“Our tribe has an existing CADC to our land and we are in the process of securing our certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT). If the MNP pushes through, all our hard efforts in asserting IP empowerment will be ridiculed. We ask President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, if she truly stands for the interest of the Filipinos especially the marginalized sector, to protect our rights as IPs by revoking the Intex ECC,” exclaimed Librada Isidro, tribal leader of Mangyan Alangan.

“We have expressed our strong opposition to the MNP for more than fifteen years now. Our call is for the revocation of the Intex ECC and not merely a suspension, which reflects the government’s bias on the mining company over the interest of the people of Mindoro. Our protest have already escalated to the level of putting our lives at stake. We will not leave the grounds of DENR and we are committed to continue our protest until the Intex ECC is revoked!,” exclaimed Fr. Edu Gariguez, who submitted himself on hunger strike from Alyansa Laban sa Mina (ALAMIN).

“The campaign of the Mindoreños against large-scale mining has already reached international attention and has already impacted the mineral trade. The government should stop undermining or insulting the protest of the Mindoreños with a mere suspension order on Intex ECC instead of an ECC revocation.  In fact, it was reported that the share trading of Intex Resources is halted by the Oslo Stock Exchange after a 8.2 percent fall to a 10-week low for the stock following the suspension of a mining permit (Reuters, November 18) issued due to the pressure of the Mindoreños. We, in ATM, commends the strength, high spirits and bravery of the Mindoreños and we vow to continue our utmost support on their fight for a sustainable future,” said ATM national coordinator Jaybee Garganera.

For more information:

Fr. Edwin A. Gariguez, ALAMIN, (0919) 8005595, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , http://earthjedi.blogspot.com/

Jeff Rafa, ALAMIN (0918) 9443561

Jaybee Garganera, ATM Coordinator, (0915) 315.37.19/

Roslyn Arayata, ATM Policy Officer (0917) 521.7937