Bokod, Benguet, -- In a consultation called by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the people of Barangay Bobok, this municipality, made clear that they did not want mining exploration in their ancestral domain when they shouted down a proposal that they reconsider their rejection of the proposition in 2007.

The declaration was done in front of national, regional and provincial officials of the NCIP.

The people’s opposition virtually affirmed the ”Resolution of Rejection” that the villagers arrived at after several consultations to ascertain their Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) before the mining exploration permit be granted to Columbus Metals, Inc. the After several consultations in 2007, where representatives of the mining company, the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) of the DENR, and the NCIP, presented different aspects of the project and their rights as indigenous people, the people got together on December 14 of that year to say no to exploration.

Before the decision was made, there were several reports in local and national papers that officials were “bribed” to agree to exploration.

In the FPIC process of the NCIP, the expression of the people’s denial of consent is a “Resolution of Rejection,” which the people submitted to the NCIP.

However, in a letter dated November 11, 2009, a group calling itself the Bobok Bisal Libokong Otbong Kawal Land Owners Association (BBLOKLOA) (these are the names of the different sitios in the barangay) wrote Atty. Amador Batay-an, Regional Director of NCIP-CAR, requesting for reconsideration. TheChairperson of the NCIP was also furnished a copy of the letter request and the attached resolution.

Acting promptly, Director Batay-an dispatched a team from the NCIP to validate the contents of the letter and resolution, where the team determined that some of those who supposedly signed the resolution deny doing so. Some signatories also signed in behalf of dead descendants, and some signatories were residing outside the domain. In view of this, the NCIP-CAR decided not to act further on the matter.

However, the NCIP Chairman Roque Agton, acting on the copy furnished his office, directed the NCIP-CAR to conduct the July 4 consultation to ascertain as to whether the community was indeed interested on reconsidering their earlier denial of FPIC.

The interest of the NCIP Chairperson on the matter was apparent as he sent his Chief of Staff, Atty. Rivera , to personally witness the consultation in Bokod. This exceptional interest of the Chairman prompted the presence of NCIP-CAR Director Batay-an, NCIP-Benguet provincial officer Nora Ramos and other officials of the NCIP during the consultation. Atty. Batay-an himself was the main speaker in the consultation. This is unusual, as processes pertaining to FPIC and consultations are more commonly assigned to the provincial office and the municipal service centers of the NCIP.

Expressing their position viva voce, the people did not only reject reconsideration. They also shouted opposition to exploration, and to large-scale commercial mining.
Officials of the NCIP would say later on that the people’s position was an affirmation of their resolution of rejection, and that the proponent would do well to believe it.

But before the decision to deny reconsideration, the people were clarified on several issues that affect the exploration proposal, their rights as indigenous peoples, and on what transpired as to why they were again called to the consultation when they have already expressed their position via the Resolution of Rejection in 2007.

It was recalled in the consultation that some of the most vocal oppositors in the Dec. 14, 2007 meeting, refusing to granting consent to exploration were representatives of the Totanes-Lamsis family. However, this group would eventually favor exploration. This is apparent in a meeting called by the group and attended by barangay officials on March 30, 2008. In the meeting, March Fianza, a member of the group, declared that they were willing to reconsider, especially since the company applying for exploration permit transferred their rights to another company. Fianza thought that the original applicant was Magellan Metals, and transferred rights to Columbus Metals.

Sources in the NCIP and the MGB say that this is not the case, as the application of Magellan Metals is a different area of Bokod, and it was the application of Columbus for FPIC that was rejected in 2007.
In the March 2008 meeting, the representatives of the heirs of Adriano Totanes/Nuepe Lamsis said that they have organized “bona fide” land owners in the affected area, and that they are willing to negotiate with liaison officers and consultants of Columbus Metals. The group also said that should “small land owners” in the proposed exploration area oppose exploration, the exploration shall only be done on the 200 hectares that the Totanes-Lamsis heirs claim. The group also resolved to meet with representatives of Columbus at the Camp John Hay Manor on April 2, 2008.

The Manor meeting was supposed to be another consultation where the people would give their FPIC. However, some of those who attended the meeting felt that other members of the community should be involved, and the meeting was reset. In a succeeding meeting where more members of the community attended, the people again voiced their opposition to exploration.

According to the NCIP, the meetings at the Manor are not part of the FPIC process, and without the official stamp of the NCIP. It may however be considered a private meeting between the proponent and the people, but the position of the people was already clear in the Resolution of Rejection.

As this was brought out in the consultation, the villagers asked if indeed it is allowed for private groups negotiate with proponents. Atty. Batay-an however clarified that in the FPIC process, what is being ascertained is the consent of the community. No matter the private commitments of individuals or groups in the community, it is the people as a whole who shall reject or grant FPIC. However, Atty. Batay-an said, when and if FPIC is granted, private landowners may negotiate with the proponent for additional terms.

Not knowing this, it was because of the March 2008 meeting that other landowners in the affected area voiced their concern that they might be left out should the exploration proceed in the 200 hectare Totanes claim, and their interests neglected. This concern prompted the BBLOKLOA to come up with the resolution for reconsideration that they sent to the NCIP.

In the consultation, however, several members of the community disowned BBLOKLOA, saying that the group is misrepresenting them, and that they were not consulted before the resolution was made and sent to the NCIP. Some even stepped forward to say that they have never heard of the association at all.

Nevertheless, the chairperson of the BBLOKLOA, Fely Matias, said that the association is duly registered with the SEC, and that their resolution was made after the Totanes-Lamsis group changed their position after vehemently opposing exploration, and that perhaps there was a change of mind of the people in general.
And the people have spoken. No to reconsideration. No to exploration. No to large-scale commercial mining. Counting the company-inspired meeting at the John Hay Manor, it is the third time for them to do so.

The representative of NCIP Chairman Agton, Atty. Rivera spoke after the decision. He said that the Agton was interested in the case, and that the decision of the people should be followed. Even after the people said they did not want to reconsider, Rivera told them that there are also benefits that the people might enjoy should they allow exploration and mining. Even if he would have said the same things before the decision, it would not have changed the people’s mind.

Johnny Bugnay, one of the villagers sums it up by saying, “We rejected it in 2007, and we reject it now. And we shall continue doing so, otherwise we forfeit the legacy of our forefathers.”

Other personalities who witnessed the consultation include political figure Edna Tabanda, who is writing a thesis on the FPIC process. Also present at the meeting was Atty. Castillo Tidang, Jr., a former commissioner of the NCIP. His interest in the consultation is unclear, except that he said he wants to observe the process because there are FPIC applications in his home province of Nueva Viscaya.—gary pekas