Nueva Vizcaya IPs deny being 'squatters' over claims of firm

‘Disputed area ancestral lands’

QUEZON, Nueva Vizcaya -- Indigenous peoples (IPs) in this town assailed the purported claim of FCF Minerals Development Corp. that proliferation of squatters in its exploration site caused them to lose over P6 million.
    A member of an IP group, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said the company should be blamed for its refusal to respect the IPs rights over their ancestral domain.    

    The source said they were not squatters as alleged by the company, because they were living in their ancestral domain they inherited from their forefathers.

    While it is true that there was a certificate of non-overlap (CNO) that was issued by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples over the area where the company intends to conduct mining exploration, the source said provisions of the CNO were clear that when it will be found out that the area to be explored is within ancestral domain of IPs, it will be mandatory for the company to comply with requirement of free and prior informed consent (FPIC) before pursuing mining exploration.

    Another source criticized the mining company for trying to sow fear in their proposed exploration sites by bringing in the Philippine National Police and Philippine Army to serve as its security and prevent IPs from protesting the company's forcible intrusion over their private properties without the completion of mandated negotiations between the parties.

    According to them, IPs were simply asserting their rights over their ancestral domain because they valued the land that inherited from their ancestors.

    The same land, they said, will then be passed on to upcoming generations.

    The source said it was very clear in Republic Act 8371, or the "Indigenous Peoples Rights Act," that when the area to be developed by companies falls within the ancestral domain of IPs, it is mandatory for the proponents to secure the consent of the inhabitants through the prescribed guidelines governing the conduct of the FPIC.

    Earlier, the provincial government, through the provincial legal office, told FCF Minerals Development Corp. it should respect the status quo order in the proposed exploration site in Barangay Ronrono until such time that negotiations between the company and the affected IP group have begun.

    The source claimed the company should not have incurred such losses as being reported if their officers were sincere in negotiating with the IPs and not to resort to harassing and intimidating the indigenous tribes with the expectation that the ethnic group will simply give up their rights over their properties.