Corporate Mining and Indigenous Resistance in the Cordilleras
By Paul W. Bolick

If I could close my eyes and create my homeland, it would be an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands covered with lush tropical jungles, virgin forests of beautiful lakes and running rivers, exotic animals and communities that live harmoniously with mother nature. However, I cannot create my homeland, and after months of political education and a pilgrimage to our homeland, my Kasamas (comrades) and I understand the stark reality of the Philippines. My imagined homeland is overshadowed by tractors and bulldozers; deforested mountainsides with huge gapping holes; and contaminated river systems. Yes, many parts of our beloved Philippines continue to have the untouched "exoticisms" that National Geographic enjoys to portray, but it is rapidly disappearing. From the northern island of Luzon to the southern tip of Mindanao, corporate mining and dam building continue to threaten the natural environment of the Philippines.

In April of 2001, I was member of a delegation of Filipinos from the United States that
traveled to the Cordillera region of the Philippines. The Cordillera region is comprised of 1.8 million hectares of and is home to 1.3 million people. We were invited by CPA (CordilleraPeoples Alliance) to learn, be exposed to, and participate in the annual indigenous gathering known as Cordillera Day. "Cordi Day" developed after the assassination of Macli'ing Dulag, an indigenous activist and organizer of the Cordilleras who led the resistance against the Chico River dam project. Since the mid 1980s, the Cordillera peoples have organized the annual gathering in honor of Macli'ing Dulag to commemorate the martyrs who have given their lives in defense of their land and lives and to discuss the common problems facing the indigenous communities of the Cordilleras.

Cordi Day 2001 was hosted by the community of Colalo in Mankayan, which is presently
fighting against the expansion of Lepanto Mining Corporation. Corporate mining and the
exploitation of indigenous land dates back to Spanish colonization. It later intensified with American imperialists and their various attempts to steal and privatize tribal lands. In 1995 a new Mining Act was passed under then-president Fidel Ramos. The 1995 Mining Act allows 100 percent foreign ownership of mining companies operating in the Philippines, as well as permits to mine the land for up to 75 years. It also gave mining corporations the power to evict indigenous communities off of the land they have been living on for hundreds of years, without compensation.

When our delegation arrived in Colalo, we were greeted by smiles and handshakes. It did not take long to see the results of over 70 years of corporate mining. In the near distance, we could see a deforested area where several huge yellow tractors were parked. That same day hiked down to take a closer look at the Lepanto tailings dam (a dam used as a repository for the contaminated waste-water which is a by-product of gold and copper mining). After our 20-minute hike downhill, our eyes fell upon an orange-yellowish stream. The surrounding communities' fresh water source was turned into Lepanto's tailings dam and had become an eerie thick chemical syrup. It was explained to us that all mines need a continuous water source to wash a way the excess dirt and chemicals needed to get to the desired minerals. The tailings dam was filled with water contaminated with cyanide and other toxic chemicals.
On our return to Colalo, we passed by a town on the banks of the tailings dam. In
the late 1990s, the town literally collapsed during a heavy rainstorm. It seemed as if the
earth swallowed up entire houses, half of a basketball court and the community's schoolhouse.Geologists from the University of the Philippines based out of Baguio City gave two reasons for the collapse: One, after bulk mining under the town, Lepanto did not completely refill the empty spaces they had dug out; and two, the tailings "dam" was actually just a "dike," meaning that the water was not contained on all sides. As a result, the toxic chemicals spread outward and seeped into the surrounding soil underneath the town, which sank in like quicksand after the rainstorm. Lepanto refuses any responsibility for the "collapsed area," the 36 families that
had to be relocated, and or the schoolteacher who died trying to save school materials during the storm.
"Land is Life" is a concept that echoes throughout the Cordilleras. Since time immemorial the indigenous people of the Cordilleras have lived harmoniously with their natural environment and ancestral lands. As with all Indigenous peoples around the world, the Cordillera peoples' spiritual, traditional and cultural essence is deeply rooted in their ancestral land. An article by Project Underground illustrates the importance of ancestral lands to the Cordillera people:
"The inherent right of the tribes and indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands or territories emanates from the centuries of labor, blood and sweat they invested in cultivating, developing and protecting the resources found therein. Land is the very source of their lives and comprises the material base of their distinct cultures. Tribes maintain a symbiotic relationship and interdependence with their natural environment for survival. Thus, for indigenous peoples, their land and territory define who they are as a people, and land must be protected and defended to ensure the continuity of their tribes."

With this understanding, the indigenous communities of the Cordilleras have been organizing a collective struggle against corporate mining.

Signs of Hope Through Indigenous Resistance
As a result of the Mining Act of 1995, two-thirds of the entire Cordillera region are under
applications for corporate mining. This has alarmed the Cordillera indigenous communities, and they have intensified their organizing and tactics of resistance. For the Cordillera people, education and organizing the masses around the issue of corporate mining has been the foundation of their struggle. With mass support, they have lobbied the government and picketed the offices of government officials. Other communities have taken more drastic measures to save their lives by declaring "Tribal War" on the foreign corporations, which justifies armed resistance. The Igorot community warns, "To those who are trying to intrude into our ancestral lands, blood will be the answer."

After living through the horror of the collapse of their sitio along the tailings dam, the
people of Colalo began to organize in defense of their ancestral lands. Joan Carling, Secretary General of the Cordillera People's Alliance described how the people of Colalo formed a human barricade to prevent further mining on their lands. For three months, in rotations of 50 to 100 people, the people of Colalo used their bodies, their spirits, and their will to protect their ancestral lands to stop Lepanto's expansion. According to Lola Nora, an elder from Masadiit, human barricades have always been an effective form of resistance. She remembers in 1973 being woken by her mother in the middle of the night and told to "climb the mountain with the others" to ward off land surveyors. Since then, she has used her body as a barricade several times.

In 1996, mining and environmental injustice became a reality to the entire Philippine nation, not just the indigenous communities. A tailings dam broke at Mar copper mine, where 4 million tons of toxic mine tailings destroyed ten million hectares of agricultural lands and affected a total 126 million hectares of land around the rivers. The toxic chemicals affected 14 villages and isolated thousands of families. The Mar copper incident manifested a national outrage and a campaign against the 1995 Mining Act. All sectors of Philippine society -peasants, workers, fishermen, students, middle-class environmentalists and several politicians took to the streets, went to the media and pounded the doors of Congress protesting the Mining Act.

Following this momentum, the Cordillera struggle and other regions facing environmental issues catapulted to center stage. In 1996, the Cordillera people organized the Cordillera People's Regional Mining Conference where 130 delegates representing 87 grassroots organizations and coalitions participated.

In addition, the Cordillera people have been organizing an annual Cordillera Day gathering since the mid 1980s. Since last year (2000) they began inviting international delegations to participate in their annual event with hopes that the foreigners will return to their respective countries and internationally continue the Cordillera struggle for their ancestral land and indigenous sovereignty. Delegations from Australia, Taiwan and Filipinos from the U.S. have participated in the annual Cordi-Day gathering.

By the end of our five-day visit and participation in Cordi-Day 2001, we understood that although the struggle is far from over, there have been tremendous victories. The problems that were once considered an "indigenous issue" or a "regional issue" have been consolidated into a broad based movement against mining and environmental injustice. Through creative organizing, there is now strong dialogue and activism that has linked the peasants, workers, fisherfolk, indigenous communities, urban poor, students and middle class environmentalists. The voices of the people and their determination to stop mining on their ancestral lands have neutralized the government from enforcing the 1995 Mining Act. During this period of neutralization, various communities have been able to pass laws prohibiting corporate mining. IBON reports that there were expectations of an increase in mining investments and exports, but
statistics actually show a decline. As a result of effective mass organizing, "the Philippines is no longer anywhere near the global top mineral exporters. As of 1998, it has dropped to 20th in global gold production, 23rd in copper, and improved to 14th from 11th in nickel."
Illustrating the light at the end of the tunnel, IBON writes, "Global corporations are now wondering how attractive an investment site the Philippines is, considering the social and legal concerns they now have to face if they enter, or if they stay."

By Paul W. Bolick
Paul Bolick is a graduate student at San Francisco State University and a member of the band Diskarte Namin. This was his first trip to the Philippines.

Sources:
Interviews of participants in Cordillera Day 2001
Project Underground, Newmont. May 4, 2000
IBON, Mining in the Philippines. #56, October 2000
Antonio A. Tujan JR.- Ros-B Guzman Globalizing Philippine Mining. 1998.