Tribe rejects mining application in Kalinga

PASIL, Kalinga  –  The “Guinaang” tribal folks here rejected a mining application over at least 3,000 hectares of their ancestral lands.

In a manifesto of the Guinaang Indigenous People Organization (GIPO), the folks signified their rejection of the proposed mining application of the Makilala Mining Co. Inc.  (MMC).

The manifesto signed by 700 representatives of the tribes in six barangays in Pasil namely  Guinaang, Dangtalan, Pugong, Malucsad, Galdang and Bagtayan are asking the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to declare the MMC application “a failure”.   The manifesto specified that MMC did not get the IPs’ Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) as provided by law.

The NCIP Kalinga was furnished a copy of the manifesto.

Barangay assemblies were conducted where  tribe members agreed to submit their written manifestation of rejection to the entry of MMC.

Embracing mining, they said,  “would mean permanently losing their rights over their ancestral land and their rights to develop the Tabia gold fields for their livelihood.”

GIPO also requested NCIP to inform the mining company  to refrain from approaching them  anymore.  They said they want to preserve their mining resources for their children and reserve their right to develop and control it to benefit their communities.