“That is simply ridiculous that Intex would even claim the support of the people of Mindoro when we know that it was the people themselves who fought the struggle and opposed their mining project. We believe that the years of investigation have allowed the Norwegian NCP to validate their findings,” said Jaybee Garganera, national coordinator of Ayansa Tigil Mina in a press statement.

Fr. Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Action said that the church and people of Mindoro remained strong on its call to impede the project, “Obviously, Intex have closed ears on the result of NCP investigation and will continue to deceive even their own selves that the Mangyan communities in Mindoro will succumb to all their plans. We will keep on raising our voices that we do not want them to commence with this project, in fact they should have stopped already even before the revocation of their ECC.”

“If Intex will not recognize NCP’s investigation, P-Noy however should listen to the voice of its people and uphold their rights to protect their environment and respect their decision to forbid mining in their own land,” Fr. Edu added.

After the release of the Final Statement, Intex Resources entered into a memorandum of agreement with Chinese state-owned firm MCC8 but communities vow to fight against mining, whether they be Norwegian or Chinese, the people will never concede to development aggressions that will put their island and lives at risk.

“Intex should listen to what people want, they are the rightful owner of the land!” said Jon Sarmiento of Alyansa Laban sa Mina (ALAMIN).

“Intex has not received social acceptability from the people of Mindoro including the majority of the Indigenous Peoples community in the island. This is more than just a political reason as they say Intex should respect the regulations governing the utilization of its Ancestral Domains,” added Sarmiento

At the international level, campaigners issued a statement reiterating, “The national investigation revealed additional irregularities in Intex's operations to those already identified by the NCP and recommended cancellation of its Environmental Clearance Certification on a series of technical grounds. It also raises issues with the lack of consent of the indigenous peoples and the fact that an Island wide moratorium on mining is in place rendering Intex’s project illegal unless declared otherwise by the Philippine judiciary.”

In January 23, ATM, CBCP-NASSA and ALAMIN launched a compendium of studies on the Mindoro struggle entitled “Mindoro Campaign: Protecting Island Ecology, Defending Peoples Rights”.

Alyansa Laban sa Mina (ALAMIN) is a network of civil society organizations, Church and local government units in Oriental Mindoro established in 1999 to consolidate peoples opposition to the Mindoro Nickel Project.

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) is an alliance of mining-affected communities and their support groups of NGOs/POs and other civil society organizations who are opposing the aggressive promotion of large-scale mining in the Philippines. The organization is currently pushing for a moratorium on mining, revocation of Executive Order 270-A, repeal of the Mining Act of 1995 and the passage of the Philippine Mineral Resources Act a.k.a. Alternative Minerals Management Bill.

Source: Alyansa Tigil Mina