The Mamanwas are a group of indigenous peoples in northeast Mindanao. Considered as a "lumad" group, they did not convert to Christianity or Islam and are among the poor marginalized upland communities in the Philippines. As the mountains of the Philippines are rich with mineral deposits, these communities are displaced from their ancestral lands as mining firms scramble for precious ores.
Mamanwa tribe now on their 2nd week of "human barricade" vs mining firms in Taganito
Monday, 09 February 2009 11:21
Monday, 09 February 2009 11:21
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/08 February) -- Some 400 members of the Mamanwa tribe are now on their second week of staging a "human barricade" along the highway of Taganito in Claver, Surigao del Norte, demanding their right to one percent royalty from the gross output of the operations of four mining firms there.
Mamanwa members earlier sent notice of termination to the mining firms, informing them they will no longer allow mining in their ancestral lands, claiming the firms failed to pay their one percent royalty fees since 1997.
The barricade started on January 29.
The four firms, Taganito Mining Corporation (TMC), Oriental Synergy Mining Corporation (OSMC), Case Mining Company (CMC) and Platinum Group Mining Company (PGMC), are operating on the Lumads’ 48,678 hectare ancestral land in barangays Taganito and Urbiztondo. The land is covered by a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT).
In a statement on February 4, Datu Joel Buklas of the Taganito Mamanwa Association, said, "Today, 4 February 2009, is our seventh day of human barricade along the highway of Taganito, Claver, Surigao del Norte to demand before the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) on our share agreed for allowing the mining companies to ruin our lives and our ancestral domain."
The statement noted that TMC has been operating in their ancestral domain since the 1960's and “got a new contract to operate for another 25 years in the red mountain of Surigao del Sur.”
“The moving truck loads of nickel ore is a regular scene for motorist passing along the Claver highway.
Literally, the red mountain of Claver is moving inch by inch every day.
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