Green group calls on PBBM to heed IP demand against mining

ATM Statement | October 4, 2023

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) called on the PBBM Administration today to heed the demands of Indigenous Peoples protesting against mining as it stood in solidarity with organizations in Mindanao in celebrating the closing of the Season of Creation and IP Sunday.

Jaybee Garganera, ATM National Coordinator, said “mining not only has harmful impacts on nature and the environment, it also destroys the social cohesion of indigenous groups through the deceptive orchestrations and divisive tactics of mining companies.”

Wilma Tero-Mangilay, a Subanen Indigenous leader, said “We have seen how mining damages ancestral lands and culture, disrupts the IP way of life, and creates conflicts among us. We do not want mining in our lands. We demand that government protect our right to self-determination and respect our resistance against large-scale and small-scale mining.”

In many areas, IP communities have been demanding that their right to land, food and livelihood be fulfilled and prioritized over the interests of the profit-oriented mining industry. They have also been calling on government to fully enforce the principle of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) among indigenous groups.

“As we observe IP Sunday and the closing of the Season of Creation, we reiterate our call for government to respect the right to self-determination of the IPs. For centuries, the IPs have preserved our natural resources as they recognize the sacredness in nature,” said Rev. Father Raymond Ambray, Director of the Ecology Desk of the Diocese of Tandag, Surigao del Sur. "Mining must not be allowed in ancestral domains and lands where mining is opposed.”