IP groups, local execs plead for coal mine
KORONADAL CITY—Local officials and leaders of indigenous peoples (IPs) in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, have asked South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance Fuentes to reconsider the decision of the provincial board rejecting the Department of Energy’s (DOE) coal mining project in the province.
Lake Sebu Mayor Antonio Fungan, in a letter to Fuentes, said the project was important for his town because it would bring jobs and livelihood to his people.
Tribal chieftain Art Labi sent a separate appeal to Fuentes, saying the board decision would deprive the IPs of income.
‘Last-minute’
Voting 6-4, the provincial board on June 25 rejected a resolution endorsing the project of Daguma Agro Minerals Inc. (Dami) to extract coal deposits in the village of Ned.
Dami, in a statement, said the board’s “unscheduled, last-minute” voting “did not seem to take into account the social and economic significance of the project” for IPs of Ned and Lake Sebu.
“The IPs were very excited to be employed only to be told the provincial board did not allow it for no valid reason,” Fungan told a local radio station here.
“They have no permanent livelihood,” Fungan added. “They pinned their hopes on the mining project,” he added.
Local sources
The project is part of the DOE program to develop and utilize local sources of energy to counter high power costs due to fluctuations in world coal prices and supply.
Fungan described claims made by opponents of the project that IPs were opposed to coal mining as “baseless.”
Fungan said Dami already had Free Prior and Informed Consent of the T’Boli tribe from the communities of Kibang, El Dulog, Pulusubong and Abboy.
Labi, the tribal chief, said his group had already entered into an agreement with Dami as early as Oct. 13, 2011.
Protected areas
Fungan said only Mt. Matutum and Sarangani Bay were considered protected areas.
Dami said the ban did not apply to its project because it was not open pit mining.
“Rather, it is a different, more environmentally sustainable method called contour, or strip mining,” Dami said.
Fungan said Dami had already built classrooms, courts, day care centers, birthing facility, water supply system and farm-to-market roads in the village of Ned.
