SSP 22- Philippine Indigenous Communities

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MARIDEL P. LANGBIS
CP Number: 09171262041
Email Address: [email protected]
FB/Messenger: Maridel PL

UNIT VI – INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Sincerest gratitude and acknowledgment go to Ms. Grace Sabado, Ms. Maribelle Apnoyan, Ms. Analyn Lamigo and
Mr. Arnel T. Bassit for their generosity in sharing this prepared learning module except for some minor revisions.
 COURSE STUDY SCHEDULE

Week Topic Activities/Reminders

MWF: October 26, 28 Lesson 1: Read Learning Packets uploaded

and November 4, 2022 DAMMING IP COMMUNITIES in Google Classroom

TTH: October 27 and Lesson 2: Hand in Learning Tasks 1 and 2

November 3, 2022 MINNING IN IP COMMUNITIES on or before their due dates

Expected Outputs: Unit 6- Learning Tasks 1 and 2 are to be submitted on or before

November 3, 2022 (for TTH class) and November 4, 2022 (for MWF class)

Objectives

After completing this module, you will be able to:

a. understand the effects of development activities to the IPs;

b. critically understand the response of Indigenous Peoples to various economic development;
and
c. have astandontheissueofIndigenousPeoplesbeingregressivetodevelopment.
 Lesson 1: Damming IP Communities

According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Indigenous Peoples,
Indigenous peoples suffer from the consequences of historic injustice, including colonization,
dispossession of their lands, territories and resources, oppression and discrimination, as well as lack
of control over their own ways of life. Their right to development has been largely denied by colonial
and modern states in the pursuit of economic growth. As a consequence, indigenous peoples often
lose out to more powerful actors, becoming among the most impoverished groups in their countries.
In the Philippines, Indigenous Communities experienced various consequences of economic
development, as a result, Indigenous Peoples were displaced and some successfully defended their
ancestral lands. Let us read some of these as we go with our lesson.
THE CASE OF CHICO RIVER
The construction of dams has always been opposed because of their destructive effects on whole
communities. Several anti-dam leaders have been killed as a result. The recent devastation by the
dams of Luzon proved that they were right all along (Remolio, 2009).
History is replete with examples of "development" projects imposed upon the Igorots. As early as
1948, the government implemented the Agno River Basin Development Project which provided for
the construction of the Ambuklao and Binga dams. As a result of the construction, an old Ibaloi
settlement of 300 families from Atok, Bokod, Buguias, Itogon, Kabayan and Kibungan were
displaced and some 650 has of prime ricelands were submerged in water. Moreover, "just
compensation" on their land is still to be fully paid (Buendia, 1987).
A more recent example is the Chico River Basin Development Project (CRBDP). The main objective
of the CRBDP was the construction of four hydroelectric plants to be located along Chico and Pasil
Rivers in the Mountain Province and the sub-province of Kalinga. The total catchment area will be
3,419 square kilometers, submerging 27.53 square kilometers of land, in order to generate a total
power potential of 1,010 megawatts per year.
Of the four dams, commonly referred to as Chico I, Chico II, Chico III, and Chico IV, two were to
be located in the Mountain Province (Bontoc and Sadanga) while the two other dams will be
constructed in Kalinga (Basao and Tomiangan) (Buendia, 1987).
The government did not seem to understand that with the construction of Chico II, three barangays
would be directly affected - Anabel, Tococan, and Betwagan, destroying 500 houses and rendering
about 3,000 natives homeless and flooding of fertile lands. Chico IV would directly affect six
barangays, making 672 families homeless and flooding P31,500,000 worth of fertile rice lands and
indirectly affect some barangays, 300 families and flood some P38,250,000 worth of rice fields
(Buendia, 1987).
Chico III on the other hand, would affect the barangays of Tinongdan and Dalupirip. Its construction
would affect the lives of 1,160 inhabitants of Tinongdan and 152 families of Dalupirip. Some 2,200
has fertile lands will be submerged and thousands of houses will be washed out as a result of the
proposed dam (Buendia, 1987).
Macli-ing Dulag is widely remembered by environmental and indigenous activists for his leadership
in the anti-Chico Dam campaign of the late 1970s and early 1980s. He is a prominent name in the
history of environmental and indigenous peoples‘ rights struggles in the Philippines. A leader of the
Kalinga tribe of the Cordilleras, Dulag figured prominently in the anti-Chico Dam campaign forging
bodongs (peace pacts) between warring tribes in order to unify them against the World Bank-
funded―development project. Several times, the Marcos government tried to bribe him in exchange
for giving up the struggle. Dulag would lose his life for this. On April 24, 1980, Army soldiers opened
fire on his hut; he died on the spot from 10 bullet wounds in the chest and pelvis. In killing him the
military hoped to silence opposition to the Chico Dam project.
The international outrage sparked by Dulag‘s murder forced the World Bank and the Marcos regime
to abandon not only the Chico Dam, but other large-dam projects in the Cordilleras and elsewhere
in the Philippines.
However, amid the energy crisis of the early 1990s, then-President Fidel V. Ramos revived the large-
dam projects mothballed during the Marcos presidency. Majority of these large-dam projects are
initiated by foreign corporations and their local partners in cooperation with various government
agencies. Most of these are funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), as well
as the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The social implications of this project are unimaginable. If
economic gains can be easily measured, the unquantifiable aspects of the project would lead us to
ask whether the government has the right to eminent domain over the lives, religion and culture of
all the tribes in the Cordillera (Buendia, 1987).
A GROWING INTERNATIONAL ANTI -DAM MOVEMENT
(CORDILLERA PEOPLE’S ALLIANCE, Public Information Commission, 2011)
The adverse impact of dams – especially large dams – has become a serious concern of the
international public. Still, projects to build large dams continue to proliferate. While widely rejected by
people in the affluent European and North American countries, the dam construction industry is being
aggressively exported to the poorer countries of Asia, Africa, Central and South America. In the late 1980s
and through the 1990s, projects to build gigantic dams were launched by dam builders and funders in
conjunction with the national governments of Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, India, China, Thailand, Malaysia,
and the Philippines. Affected communities responded by launching protests. Along with earlier struggles,
like Chico, these protests inspired the formation of anti-dam activist organizations like the International
Rivers Network and the convening, in 1997, of the first international conference of dam- affected peoples.
The 1996 conference validated a growing perception among the international public that dam
projects usually promised more than they could actually deliver, and at a cost that was too high socially,
environmentally, as well as economically. Conference participants thus challenged governments, dam
builders, and their funders to review dams on the basis of their all rounded cost-effectiveness, and passed
a resolution that called for an independent investigation of ongoing, as well as past, dam projects.
In 1998, the World Commission on Dams was formed to review the development performance of
dams. Commissions were drafted from among governments, the dam construction industry, funding
institutions, dam affected communities, and anti-dam activist organizations. After two years of study, this
multi stake holder Commission validated the conclusions of the 1996 conference, stating that dams were
not as ―development-effective as technocrats thought them to be.
Defining a large dam as any dam which rose to a height of 15 meters or more from its foundation,
or which was between five and 15 meters high but had a reservoir volume of more than three million cubic
meters, the Commission concluded that more than 45,000 large dams had been built internationally. And
it estimated that these large dams had physically dislocated a total of 40 to 80 million people worldwide,
and modified 46% of the world ‘s primary watersheds. Dams had also irredeemably altered riverine
ecosystems that were critical to nutrient recycling, water purification, soil replenishment, and flood control,
and to supplying people with an important protein source – fish. Yet dams – built to store water for
hydropower, irrigation, and general public consumption – could not remain optimally serviceable for very
long: they lost at least 1% of their storage capacities annually to sedimentation. Dams – often equated
with development – did not necessarily lead to the upliftment of economic conditions in poor countries
because the sharing of benefits from dams was not equitable. Yet for the development benefits that could
presumably be derived from dams, the right of host communities was often sacrificed. The Commission,
however, did not recommend against the building of dams. The Commission‘s report, published last year,
 simply provided the tools and suggested guidelines for more rational decision- making on proposals to
build dams – citing the need to evaluate all costs and benefits, social, environmental, as well as economic.
It remains the task of anti-dam activists around the world to bring pressure to bear upon governments,
dam builders, and funders so that they might be forced to give up on dams.

Lesson 2: Mining IP Communities

THE CASE OF BENGUET

Benguet’s fertile land along the rivers and gold ore in the mountains saw the emergence of distinct
villages engaged in various economic activities. Gold mining communities rose in the gold-rich areas
in Itogon, while gold trading villages were established along strategic mountain passes and trails.
Rice- growing villages emerged in the river valleys. Swidden farming combined with gold panning
in the streams and rivers.
Mining has a long history in the Philippines. Small scale mining has been practiced by Philippine
peoples for at least ten centuries, and large-scale mining by foreign as well as Filipino firms for
about a century. Little is known, though, about mining prior to the coming of the Spanish colonialists
in the 16th century.
Corporate mining in Benguet started during the Spanish colonial period when Spanish businessmen
secured a mining concession from the Igorots in Mancayan and launched the operations of the
Sociedad Minero- Metalurgica Cantabro-Filipina de Mancayan in 1856. This mine eventually closed
down. When the Americans arrived in the 1900s, they entered into contracts with local families to
file legal claims to mineral-bearing land. These claims were later used by American prospectors to
create the mining companies that would dominate the mining industry in Benguet. These were
Benguet Corporation, Atok Big Wedge, Itogon-Suyoc Mines and Lepanto Consolidated Mining
Company.
The province of Benguet has hosted 14 mining companies since corporate mining started in 1903.
Some of these mines have closed down while others have continued. Presently operating in Benguet
are two large mines using high technology for large-scale mineral extraction. These are the Lepanto
Consolidated Mining Company (operating for 70 years) and the Philex Mining
Corporation (operating since 1955). Benguet Corporation, the oldest mining company in the
country, abandoned its operations in 1997 after mining for almost a century. The abandoned open
pit mine site, underground tunnels, waste dump sites, mill, diversion tunnels and tailings dams in
Itogon still remain today. The company now has ongoing contract mining arrangements with small
scale miners. Itogon-Suyoc mines closed down in 1997, but is now negotiating with foreign investors
to reopen its mines. In addition, new mining explorations and applications are now coming into
other parts of Benguet with renewed efforts by the government to invite foreign investments. There
are 13 new applications found in all 13 municipalities of the province covering 147,618.9 hectares
or 55.7% of the province’s total land area. This figure is aside from the area already covered by
past and existing mines. Thus, we have a situation where most of the total land area of Benguet is
covered by past, ongoing and future mining operations.

Accompanying mining operations is the construction of tailings dams needed to contain the mine
wastes. These tailings dams were built across the river beds in various parts of Benguet. However,
most tailings dams are not leak proof and have not been strong enough to withstand torrential
currents during the typhoon season, and the major earthquake that rocked Northern Luzon in 1990.
Time and again, these tailings have breached their dams. Benguet Corporation constructed 5 tailings
dams. Lepanto has 5 tailings dams, 2 of which collapsed. Philex has 3 tailings dams, 2 of which
collapsed in 1992 and 1994. In 2001, tailings breached another Philex dam. Itogon-Suyoc has 1
tailings dam that collapsed in 1994. Thus, we have a situation where burst, broken, weak and
leaking tailings dams dot the major river systems of the province – the Abra River, Agno River,
Antamok River and Bued River.
EFFECTS OF MINES
1. Land destruction, subsidence and water loss
Open pit mining is the most destructive as it requires removing whole mountains and excavation
of deep pits. In order to dig these giant holes, huge amounts of earth need to be moved, forests
cleared, drainage systems diverted, and large amounts of dust let loose. According to the Benguet
Corporation, any open-pit mining operation, by the very nature of its method, would necessarily
strip away the top soil and vegetation of the land. Sure enough, open-pit mining in Itogon by
Benguet Corporation has removed whole mountains and entire villages from the land surface. After
exhausting the gold ore, the open pit in Itogon is now abandoned as the company has shifted to
other economic ventures like water privatization. Not known to many, Philex also practices open pit
mining in Camp 3, Tuba, Benguet, presently affecting 98 hectares of land. The water tables have
also subsided as deep mining tunnels and drainage tunnels disrupt groundwater paths. In 1937, a
disaster hit Gumatdang, Itogon‘s oldest rice-producing village. Atok-Big Wedge drove in three
gigantic tunnels on opposite sides of the village, immediately draining the water from its most
abundant irrigation sources. Instead of just draining water from the mines, the tunnel drained the
water from a major irrigation source, drying up rice fields. Mining also deprives farming communities
of much-needed water. Mining companies have privatized numerous natural water sources in Itogon
and Mankayan. Now, the people in many mining-affected communities have to buy water for
drinking and domestic use from outside sources through water delivery trucks, or by lining up for
hours in the few remaining water sources to fill up a gallon of water.

2. Pollution of Water and Soil

Open-pit and underground bulk mining by Philex in Tuba and Lepanto in Mankayan generate ore
and tailings at a rate of up to 2,500 metric tons per mine per day. Toxic mine tailings are usually
impounded in tailings dams. However, when pressure in the tailings dams builds up, especially
during times of heavy rainfall, the mining companies drain their tailings dams of water or face the
risk of having the dams burst or collapse. In either case, the tailings eventually find their way out,
polluting the water and silting up the rivers and adjacent lands.

An Environmental Investigative Mission (EIM) in September 2002 indicated that heavy metal content
(lead, cadmium and copper) was elevated in the soil and waters downstream from the Lepanto
mine. Sulfuric acid is also believed to be the cause of the ―rotten egg smell that residents report
when mine tailings are released into the Mankayan River during heavy rainfall.

Abandoned mine sites like Benguet Corporation and Itogon-Suyoc Mines in Itogon have long-term
damaging impacts on rivers and their surrounding fields because of the build-up of acidic mine
water. Acid mine drainage comes from both surface and underground mine workings, waste rock,
tailings piles and tailings ponds. Pollution of this kind can continue long after a mine is closed or
abandoned, and the water that leaches into the ecosystem is frequently acidic, killing rivers and
posing health risks to local communities.

3. Siltation
Siltation of rivers is a serious problem in Benguet resulting from mining operations and dam
construction. In the case of the Philex, a tailings dam collapsed in 1992, releasing some 80 million
tons of tailings and causing heavy siltation in the irrigation system downstream. The company paid
Php5 million to the affected farmers. Again, during a typhoon in 2001, another tailings dam of Philex
collapsed. Rice fields in San Manuel and Binalonan, Pangasinan, were buried in toxic silt a meter
deep. This time, Philex refused to admit responsibility for the disaster putting the blame on nature.
In the case of Lepanto, the downstream impact of tailings disposal is that along a 25-kilometer
stretch of the Abra River, some 465 hectares of rice land have been washed out. Further, Lepanto’s
claim that Tailings Dam 5A is actually helping to contain siltation is deceiving. The high level of TDS
and TSS from the CIP Mill Outlet up to Tailings Dam 5A indicates that the silt originates from
company operations and is not due to natural siltation.

4. Serious health problems due to water, soil and air pollution

Contamination of water, soil and air contributes to increased toxic build-up in people’s bodies.
Asthma and other respiratory problems often affect local communities as well as mine workers.
When people’s health deteriorates, their ability to work and earn money is reduced even further.
The old and the young are particularly vulnerable.

Women are primarily responsible for maintaining the health of the family and the community. As
such, women have to carry the burden of ill health arising from environmental destruction and
pollution due to mining operations. At the height of the open pit mine and mill in Itogon, some
pregnant women suffered miscarriage, while others experienced diseases of the skin, respiratory
tract and blood when exposed to toxic fumes emanating from the mill. The drying up of natural
water sources in another contributory factor in the poor health and sanitation in the community.

5. Loss of Flora, Fauna, Biodiversity, and Food Insecurity

Benguet has the highest plant species diversity within the river basin area compared to other
provinces. However, aquatic organisms like udang (shrimp) and igat (eel) are reportedly becoming
rare. Residents observed fish disease and deformities, aside from a drop in the fish catch. Fishkill’s
occur every rainy season, attributed to the release of water from the tailings dams by the company.
The loss in aquatic life is a major change in the life support system of the communities who rely on
the river for daily food.

Not only are livelihood sources affected, but so is the general biodiversity damaged, causing
breakdowns in the food web. Once-common birds and tree species have disappeared. Among the
bird species reported now to be rarely seen are: pagaw, tuklaw and kannaway. Trees such as the
kamantires and burbala were also identified to be no longer in significant quantities.

6. Dislocation of Indigenous People from Ancestral Land and Traditional Livelihoods

Large-scale corporate mining and dams have dislocated the indigenous Kankana-ey and Ibaloy
people from their ancestral lands and traditional livelihoods. Mining patents granted by the
government to mining companies have denied indigenous communities of their rights to ownership
and control over their ancestral lands and resources.

In terms of livelihood, mining concessions have taken over lands used by indigenous peoples for
their traditional livelihoods - rice fields, vegetable gardens, swiddens, hunting and grazing livestock.
Rice fields along riverbanks have been damaged by siltation. Garden cultivators have lost their crops
to surface subsidence. Traditional small-scale miners have lost their pocket mines and gold panning
sites to the big mines and dams. Some communities have lost entire mountainsides, burial sites and
hunting grounds to ground collapse and deep open pits. Traditional fishing is no longer possible in
polluted rivers, replaced by commercial fishponds in dam reservoirs.

An additional impact is the violation of the collective rights of the indigenous Kankana-ey and Ibaloy
people of their collective rights to self-determination and cultural integrity as they are displaced
from the land and community that is the basis of their continued existence and identity.
 MINING LAW THAT RESPECTS INDIGENOUS PEOPLES PROPOSED IN HOUSE, SENATE
(Alegre, 2011)

Claiming to respond to lingering issues over the passage of Mining Act of 1995, an Indigenous Peoples-
responsive law is reportedly being pushed in Congress. Citing documented negative effects of mining
operations on indigenous communities, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Brawner Baguilat, chairman of the House
Committee on Cultural Communities, is pushing for a new mining law that ―respects and protects the
rights of indigenous peoples (IP), especially over claims of IPs’ ancestral domains. In IP communities,
mining operations have resulted in loss of livelihood, dislocation of settlements, weakening of social
systems and loss of ownership and control over land, among many other harmful effects, said Baguilat
who has been consulting with IPs in the country.

A report of the House of Representatives’ Committee on National Cultural Communities (NCC) has also
listed various issues about the Phil. Mining Act of 1995. The Constitution recognizes the importance of
indigenous communities. They are not only an indispensable component of the country’s culture, they also
hold a databank of traditional knowledge that can help solve global problems such as climate change. Their
existence, therefore, cannot be sacrificed under the pretext of economic development, Baguilat said.