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THE
Canadian mining firm TVI Resource Development
Philippines Inc. will soon start exploration in Jose
Dalman, Zamboanga del Norte, after the tribal council of
elders of the Subanen in Tamarok finally agreed to allow
mineral exploration in their ancestral land.
TVI said
the tribal council of elders of a Subanen indigenous
community in Zamboanga del Norte “overwhelmingly agreed”
and will soon sign a memorandum of agreement with TVI
and the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP).
The
consent, according to TVI’s website, is contained in the
final draft of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that
spells out the terms and conditions of the company’s
proposed exploration project at Tamarok, in Jose Dalman
town.
Ranking
officials of the NCIP witnessed a meeting where the
final draft of the agreement was approved by the tribal
council of elders.
Timuay
Maximo Tigol, Tamarok Subanen tribal chief, met with
TVIRD representative Feliece Yeban, the company’s
director for Community Relations and Development Office
(CReDO).
The
event was witnessed by NCIP regional director Lista
Cawanan, together with members of the Tamarok council of
elders, and of the CReDO and NCIP staffs in Zamboanga
del Norte.
The
“decision meeting” is part of the free, prior and
informed consent (FPIC) process under Indigenous
People’s Rights Act (IPRA), which resulted in the
drafting of the final MOA, which also contains the
benefits the Subanen people will receive when TVIRD’s
exploration activities commence in their community.
The
document will be signed by the Subanen, TVIRD, and the
NCIP after the agency has received and reviewed the
company’s FPIC Report and the draft MOA.
The
Subanen tribe of Tamarok expressed hope of signing the
MOA as soon as possible believing that the mining
company’s operation will help in the development of the
town.
The MOA
includes provisions requiring TVIRD to come up with an
Environmental Work Program in accordance with the rules
and regulations of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB);
a Social Services, Economic and Community Development
Program; and an Educational Assistance Program.
The
parties also agreed to include, among others, provisions
on employment, on the re-entry of the Subanen to their
original landholdings upon the termination of the
company’s Mineral Production Sharing Agreement with the
Philippine government, as well as the restoration and
compensation of affected or damaged properties.
NCIP
Director for Region IX Lista Cawanan had already briefed
members of the Tamarok council of elders on the details
of the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process.
The
Subanen tribesmen in Tamarok expressed hope that the
exploration will have positive results so that the
company can proceed with a full-fledged mining operation
in the town, similar to the one TVIRD has in Canatuan,
an ancestral domain of another Subanen tribe—the Subanon—in
Siocon, also in this province, who received a huge
amount of money from TVI as part of the agreement.
“The MOA
and our commitment to follow the FPIC process to the
letter manifests our recognition of the Subanen’s
inherent and prior rights to their lands and resources,”
said Yeban.
“We
respect their legitimate authority to require third
parties like us to enter into an equal and respectful
relationship with them, based on the principle of
informed consent,” he said.
In
February, TVI Pacific Inc, TVIRD’s Canadian affiliate,
announced that reconnaissance surveys involving
semi-detailed geological mapping and sampling over
portions of Tamarok and nearby Tapisa tenement
applications support previously reported historical
findings and have identified additional copper and gold
prospective occurrences.
TVI
Management believes that these early-stage results
indicate that both properties have the potential to host
copper-gold porphyry deposits.
“In
light of the positive results we’re seeing from our
preliminary exploration activities, the company plans to
pursue the Tamarok and Tapisa tenement applications on a
priority basis,” said Clifford James, president and
chief executive officer of TVI Pacific.
“While
we are encouraged by these developments, the existing
results from the exploration program are preliminary and
surface results only,” he added.
“Follow-up drilling is required to enable us to assess
the continuity of the mineralization in all
directions—and to enable us to start getting a handle on
the potential of these areas. |
