[Pil-pc-oceania] NEWS (philippines): Vizcaya folk lose rice lands to Aussie mining operations

[Linda Shewan (Yahoo)]

We should know what is being done by our great companies. Linda

 

From: foodsov_advocates-bounces at foodsov.org
[mailto:foodsov_advocates-bounces at foodsov.org] On Behalf Of Norly Grace
Mercado
Sent: Sunday, 6 April 2008 12:13 PM
To: Foodsov Advocates
Subject: [Foodsov_advocates] NEWS (philippines): Vizcaya folk lose rice
lands to Aussie mining operations

 

Dear foodsov advocates,

Here is another example of a community being affected by extractive
industries, and how their food sovereignty is being taken for granted.

This is in the Philippines.


=======================


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Inquirer Headlines / Regions 


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http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20080329-127080/
Vizcaya-folk-lose-rice-lands-to-Aussie-mining-operations--



Vizcaya folk lose rice lands to Aussie mining operations 


By Melvin Gascon
Philippine Daily Inquirer 


Posted date: March 29, 2008



KASIBU, NUEVA VIZCAYA - Tribal residents of this upland town have expressed
disgust over the rapid loss of their rice lands amid the ongoing
land-clearing operations by Australian mining firm OceanaGold Philippines
Inc.

Officials of Didipio village here fear a possible shortage of locally
produced rice and other farm products as OceanaGold continues to bulldoze
lands despite controversies hounding its planned operations.

Didipio is the site of OceanaGold's proposed $117-million gold-copper
project that is being opposed by the residents as well as the Catholic
Church due to what they said were human rights violations allegedly
committed by the company.

Rice lands within the planned 425-hectare primary impact area, which the
company bought access to, have now become barren tracts of land to make way
for the mining project.

"The company does not yet have any assurance if it will definitely start
operations as scheduled because of the numerous problems it is encountering
now. Yet, it is destroying farm lands everywhere," said village council
member Carmen Ananayo.

Residents here echoed concerns that the current rice shortage is partly
because of the loss of rice lands.

"What if later on, the company is ordered to stop this project, can it bring
back the lands it has destroyed to their original fertile state?" she asked.

Lorenzo Pulido, also a village council member, said he fears the day when
villagers of Didipio will have to go to the lowland areas to buy their
staple because their rice lands have been converted into a mining site.

Since December, OceanaGold has been clearing lands in Didipio in an attempt
to meet its February 2009 target as start of production.

But residents continue to resist the company's attempts to eject them from
their lands.

Officials have also denounced the haphazard destruction of the village's
water sources, which drain into the Didipio River here.

The river is among the headwaters of Cagayan River, which provides
irrigation not only to farm lands in the area, but also to vast tracts of
rice lands in Quirino, Isabela and Cagayan.

On Monday, Bishop Ramon Villena asked President Macapagal-Arroyo to suspend
the operations of OceanaGold, amid the latest incidents of violence in the
area in connection with the company's ongoing demolition activities.

Villena, who is also chair of the Regional Development Council for Cagayan
Valley, has opposed the Didipio project, saying it does not follow the
Arroyo administration's goal of developing Northern Luzon as an agribusiness
hub.


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