Oppose APSA 103! Defend Indigenous Peoples’ Rights!

Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas stands in firm solidarity with the Indigenous Peoples of Itogon, Benguet, Cordillera in their resolute opposition to the Sangilo Mining Expansion Project or the Application for Production Sharing Agreement (APSA 103) of Apex Mining’s Itogon-Suyoc Resources, Inc. (ISRI).

Itogon Interbarangay Alliance: Residents of Sitio Dalicno, Brgy. Ampucao and Brgy. Poblacion protested in Itogon during the DENR-EMB Public Scoping, in opposition to the Sangilo Mining Expansion (APSA 103) Project of Itogon-Suyoc Resources Inc.

The people of Itogon have long suffered and been victimized by corporate mining. Their ancestral lands have been seized, their communities displaced, and their water resources diverted away from their own households and farms to serve mining operations. After decades of extraction, mining has brought no genuine development—only environmental destruction, poverty, and heightened vulnerability. APSA 103 now threatens even the remaining lands where communities continue to live and survive.

This mining expansion gravely endangers the environment, ancestral domain, and survival of Itogon communities, particularly the Dalicno community, which hosts the proposed APSA 103 area. Dalicno is home to a critical watershed that supplies domestic water to residents and nearby barangays. Allowing mining operations in this area will irreversibly destroy the watershed, depriving communities of water, undermining livelihoods, and deepening the long history of resource plunder in Itogon.

Central to this opposition is the blatant violation of the Indigenous Peoples’ right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). No genuine consultation was conducted with the affected communities of Itogon. ISRI, in connivance with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), forced the FPIC process through the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement with an Indigenous Peoples Organization composed of so-called “appointed representatives.” A Certificate Precondition was issued despite strong community opposition. These acts constitute a direct assault on the Itogon Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination and collective decision-making over their ancestral land and resources.

The struggle of the Itogon Indigenous Peoples is not isolated. Indigenous Peoples and farmers in Sitio Keon, Barangay Bitnong, Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya, likewise face threats from the entry of the British-owned Woggle Corporation. Many of these residents were forcibly displaced or compelled to leave Benguet and Ifugao in search of better conditions and sustainable livelihoods. They rebuilt their lives in Dupax del Norte by cultivating and developing the land as their primary source of survival—only to confront renewed dispossession under the false promise of mining “development.”

Katribu reiterates that development that violates people’s rights and destroys the environment is not development. Responsibility lies with the Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. administration, which continues to prioritize mining interests over Indigenous Peoples’ rights and welfare.

State laws and institutions meant to protect Indigenous Peoples have instead become active enablers of corporate plunder. These actions trample on Indigenous Peoples’ inherent rights to ancestral land, self-determination, water and natural resources, a safe and healthy environment, and genuine participation in decisions affecting their communities. These rights are guaranteed under Philippine law and firmly established under international human rights standards. By siding with mining corporations, state agencies have legitimized the dispossession, silencing, and continued victimization of Indigenous Peoples in the name of so-called development.

We stand with the Indigenous Peoples of Itogon, Dupax del Norte, and all communities across the Philippines resisting land dispossession and rights violations. The NCIP, DENR, and the Marcos Jr. administration should be held accountable.

Stop the APSA 103 expansion! Uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights!

Reference:

Beverly Longid

National Convener

Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas