AMKP: Ancestral Domain Title, Environment, Human Rights and Welfare instead of Exploration and Extraction
The Alyansa ng Mamamayan para sa Karaoatang Pantao (AMKP) stands with
the Teduray, Lambangian and settler communities in South Upi,
Maguindanao del Sur opposing to the proposed 3,566-hectare mineral
reservation area that is located within the Teduray and Lambangian
Ancestral Domain Claim (TLADC). The Teduray and Lambangian tribes
applied for Ancestral Domain Title provided for by the Indigenous
Peoples Rights Act (RA 8371) which has been on-process at the National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) since 2005, completed in 2017,
certified by NCIP on 2018 and pending only is the issuance of CADT for
formal recognition.
The existence of the pending ancestral domain claim obliged the Ministry
on Environment, Natural Resources and Energy-Mines and Geosciences
Services (MENRE-MGS) to seek Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) as
enshrined in the IPRA or Republic Act 8371 from affected Lambangian and
Teduray Indigenous communities in all types of activities to be
conducted inside the ancestral domain claim.
Another nationally mandated law, the Republic Act 11054 or the
Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) under Art IX (Basic Rights), Section 3
cites to safeguard the right to native title or Fusaka Inged of the
Non-Moro Indigenous People and “shall not in any manner diminish the
rights and benefits of the non-Moro indigenous peoples in the Bangsamoro
Autonomous Region.”
International instruments like the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of the Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and International Convention
of Labor resolution 169 (ILO 169) on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples
concerns also have recognized and called upon all nations and
stakeholders to protect, promote and fulfill the rights of the
Indigenous Peoples in the world .
MENRE-MGS produced a geological mapping report supposed to be presented
in a public consultation on December 7, 2023 in South Upi municipal
center that showed findings of gold, copper, zinc and limestones in the
Municipalities of Upi and South Upi which are known to be extracted
through the open-pit mining method. The experiences in other parts of
the country have shown how destructive, divisive, repressive, murderous
and exploitative this industry is.
We call on National and Regional authorities including the provincial
and municipal government units to stand with and for the Indigenous
peoples, settler residences and for the environment. Rights under the
laws of the land protecting and promoting the Indigenous communities,
local residences and the environment must strictly be observed and
implemented over destructive and aggressive projects.
On December 5, 2023 in a consultation the Tri-People network of AMKP
deeply worried on the detrimental effects to the coastal, water and
natural resources and the costs to human and biodiversity referring to
the situations in mining sites all over the country. Mineral Reservation
does not mean not to tap, but after identifying as such will always
mean extraction, and extraction means destruction. The communities
inside the ancestral domain and the downstream communities will
certainly be affected (livelihood, health, quality of air and water, and
so on).
We call on interfaith movements, peace and human rights champions and
all groups in Cotabato City, Maguindanao, BARMM, Mindanao and all over
the country to stand with the Teduray, Lambangian and settler
communities and for the environment.
We urge the Philippine and BARMM governments to pass a democratic
Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples Code now and lift the BARMM BTA Resolution
number 38.
As we observe the 75th year of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, we stand for Ancestral Domain Title instead of Mineral
Reservation and Exploration.
We stand for Tri-Peoples’ sustainable future.
We stand for Human and Nature’s rights!
We say no to Development Aggression!
We say no to Environmental Destruction!
Alyansa ng Mamamayan para sa Karapatang Pantao (AMKP)
Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces
December 10, 2023
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