Mining firm accused of using ‘lumad’

BAYOG, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines—A tribal chieftain here accused former military officials of using Subanen folk as dummies in operating a mining company.

Engr. Abdul Puengan, of the National Commission on the Indigenous Peoples in Western Mindanao, also issued a similar statement.

Puengan said despite having Subanen leaders on its list of officials, Lupa Pigigetawan Mining Co. Inc. (LPMCI) is not owned by the Subanens.

Lucenio Manda, of the Pigsalabukan Gukom de Bayog and chair of Barangay Conacon, said the ex-military officials also intimidate them by fielding heavily armed personnel under AY76 Security Agency, which they also operate.

“The situation made us sleepless and wary of things to come,” Manda said.

Retired Gen. Alexander Yapching, who runs AY76, denied they were intimidating the Subanens.

He said “all the security personnel assigned at Lupa Pigigetawan are 100-percent Subanens.”

“They were hired to protect their ancestral domain,” he said.

Yapching said the Subanens could not possibly intimidate their own people.

“We have a legitimate operation and licensed personnel and we never harassed anyone,” he said.

Manda said he and his group have been opposing the operation of LPMCI because they knew that it was only being used as a front.

He said Lupa president Absalon Alcorin Jr., a Mandaya from Davao, had initially offered him a share in the mining company, which listed other Subanen leaders as shareholders, but he rejected it.

Manda said when he rejected the offer, Alcorin had told him his bosses were powerful.

“He said that his bosses are with the military and I might regret my decision not to join,” he said. Alcorin could not be reached for comment.

Yapching said he could speak for LPMCI and he could issue assurances that it is owned by the Subanens.

But an LPMCI document, which the Inquirer obtained, showed that one of its owners is Manuel Go, of the Cebu Mining and Management Corp. Cebu Mining has a partnership with the China Metallurgical Group for Mineral Resources and Development.

Manda said Alcorin may have been correct in claiming his bosses were influential.

He said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) earlier shut down LPMCI’s operation because it violated its exploration permit but early this month, the company operated anew.

He said the company also deployed more armed security personnel. Mayor Leonardo Babasa confirmed the renewed operation of LPMCI and assailed its officials for disrespecting the laws.

“They don’t even have clearance,” he said.

Albert Johann Jacildo, MGB director for Western Mindanao, admitted receiving reports of LPMCI’s renewed operation despite the April 15 cease-and-desist order on actual mining activities.

But he said the MGB could only do so much because LPMCI has a valid special permit for exploration, which was issued by then Environment Secretary Lito Atienza.

Atienza issued the special permit based on the Indigenous People’s Rights Act, Jacildo said.

The law says indigenous communities can explore their ancestral domain for mineral resources, he added. Tito Fiel and Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao