MANILA, Philippines—One more Mangyan hunger striker was rushed to the hospital Sunday morning after complaining of dizziness, chillness, and stomach pains, bringing to two the number of protesters who have been hospitalized, an anti-mining alliance said.

Jose Cruzado was brought to East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City after five days of fasting with 24 other Mindoreños demanding the immediate revocation of an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) issued by Environment Secretary Lito Atienza to the Mindoro Nickel Project of Norway-based Intex Resources, said Jeff Rafa of the Alyansa Laban sa Mina (Alamin, Alliance Against Mining).

Cruzado, a Mangyan from Socorro, Oriental Mindoro, was suffering from hypoglycemia, a condition produced by a lower than normal level of blood glucose, Dr. Jerica Torrado told INQURER.net.

On Saturday night, another Mangyan, Gardo Cruzado, was brought to the same hospital, Rafa said.

“The hunger strikers are trying to hold their ground, although five days of no food intake is taking its toll on many of us,” Alamin spokesman Fr. Edwin Gariguez said.

“But we intend to stay and to go on indefinitely pushing for the same demand: Cancel the illegal and questionable ECC issued to Intex Resources, a Norwegian Mining company,” said Gariguez, who along with another Catholic priest, joined the Mangyans and environmental activists in their protest fast.

The hunger strikers have been camped outside the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) since Tuesday condemning Atienza’s “railroaded” issuance on October 14 of the clearance to mine 11,216.6 hectares of land on Mindoro island.

The DENR’s technical review committee has recommended the non-issuance of an ECC to the $2.4-billion nickel project, which straddles the municipalities of Victoria, Pola, and Socorro, in Oriental Mindoro, and Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro.

In a brief report, Rene Rollon, chairman of the Environmental Impact Assessment Review Committee, said the recommendation of the group is the ECC denial to the nickel mine, citing a lack of baseline information on the terrestrial flora and fauna in the project site.

“Considering the uniqueness of Mindoro island in its biographic status, the review committee believes that approving the mining project with such inadequacies would be highly irresponsible,” said Rollon, who is also the director of the University of the Philippines-Diliman Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology.

The review committee also found that the delineation of impact areas, more so of the indirect impact areas, has been poor and that the only public hearing held was done in Mamburao town, which is not within the “direct and indirect impact area.”

Librada Isidro, one of the hunger strikers and leader of the Alangan tribe, said the mineral exploration is within the ancestral domain claims of the Alangan and Tadyawan tribes.

“Our tribe has an existing certificate of ancestral domain claim (CADC) to our land and we are in the process of securing our certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT). If the MNP pushes through, all our hard efforts in asserting the indigenous peoples’ empowerment will simply be gone to waste,” said Isidro.

“We ask President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, if she truly stands for the interest of the Filipinos especially the marginalized sector, to protect our rights as IPs by revoking the Intex ECC,” she said.

Atienza on November 18 ordered a 90-day suspension of the ECC he issued to Intex, asking the Oslo-based firm to submit a documentation of the public consultation held in Mindoro and to ascertain that the project does not cover a watershed area.

Saying that the order was just meant to ensure the continued operations of Intex, the hunger strikers decided against ending their protest.

“We are not satisfied with our dialogues with the DENR. Our call for the revocation on the Intex ECC should not be watered down to a suspension of the ECC,” said Oriental Mindoro Vice Governor Estela Aceron.

“We will further exhaust all legal and all extra-legal means to fight for our local autonomy to protect the long-term interests of our people,” Aceron said.

Oriental Mindoro Governor Arnan Panaligan recalled that in 2001, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo revoked the mining firm’s permit to extract nickel on Mindoro island following then Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez’s order cancelling its ECC.

“In 2001, the Philippine government scrapped the Mindoro Nickel Project based on environmental and social impacts. We still carry the same issues why we strongly oppose the MNP,” said Panaligan.

At the same time, Panaligan found Atienza’s attempts to railroad the process as an affront to the authority of the local governments of Mindoro.

“We find the DENR disrespectful of our local autonomy for not recognizing our province’s existing 25-year mining moratorium issued in 2002,” he said.

“The campaign of the Mindoreños against large-scale mining has already reached international attention and has already impacted the mineral trade. The government should stop undermining or insulting the protest of the Mindoreños with a mere suspension order on Intex ECC instead of an ECC revocation,” said Jaybee Garganera, national coordinator of the anti-mining network Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM, Alliance to Stop Mining).

“In fact, it was reported that the share trading of Intex Resources is halted by the Oslo Stock Exchange after a 8.2-percent fall to a 10-week low for the stock following the suspension of a mining permit issued due to the pressure of the Mindoreños,” Garganera said.

“We, in ATM, commend the strength, high spirits and bravery of the Mindoreños and we vow to continue our utmost support on their fight for a sustainable future,” he said.