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By Cong B. Corrales,
Associate Editor

What happened before

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On December 20, 1999, Bunawan Mining Corporation (BMC) filed an exploration permit application, EXPA 00037-XIII, for an area located in the municipalities of Rosario and Bunawan in Agusan del Sur.

The areas the BMC applied for an exploration permit, however, encroaches on the ancestral domains of Cammpacamm and BTCBDI.

The Elders of the Indigenous Cultural Community in Sinayugan, Red Mountain, Masabong, Bulawanon, Baleling, et. al. In Rosario town sent a sworn statement to MGB 13 on Feb. 3, 2009, requesting the office to deny and cancel BMC’s mining application within their 9,315-hectare ancestral domain.

The Manobo elders had intended to apply for exploration permits themselves. The group had collectively opted for Datu Bulawanon Mining, Inc and Datu Bulawanon Exploration Corp to apply for exploration permit within their ancestral domain.

Four months later, NCIP 13 issued a certification that they did not grant BMC a Certification Precondition and that this certification would also serve as basis for MGB 13 to deny BMC’s application for an exploration permit on the area. In fact, the very next day, June 9, 2009, MGB denied BMC’s EXPA application.

On Aug. 20, 2009, Cammpacamm entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with DBEC to signify its opposition of BMC’s Feb. 3 EXPA. But on Feb. 13, 2010, NCIP 13 “made it appear that Camm-pacamm entered into another MoA with BMC.

NCIP chairman Atty. Roque Agton, Jr sent a letter to MGB 13 on May 17, 2010 in connection with its issuance of the certificate dated June 8, 2009. The certificate was issued by officer-in-charge Regional Director Jake Dumagan.

A validation team’s report, headed by Atty. John R. Gonzalo and Angelo Salidao, uncovered and recommended the following:

  1. What was certified on June 8, 2009 was the fact that BMC has not yet secured the FPIC of the IP of the impact area within Cammpacamm;
  2. The June 8, 2009 certification should be left undisputed;
  3. Bunawan EXPA should submit to the FPIC process notwithstadning the fact that a declaration of priority of rights was made by the IPs in the impact area of Cammpacamm, and:
  4. The team from the central office be ordered to head all teams in the regions and provinces to conduct the aforesaid FPIC.
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Before joining the Gold Star Daily, Cong worked as the deputy director of the multimedia desk of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), and before that he served as a writing fellow of Vera Files. Under the pen name "Cong," Leonardo Vicente B. Corrales has worked as a journalist since 2008.Corrales has published news, in-depth, investigative and feature articles on agrarian reform, peace and dialogue initiatives, climate justice, and socio-economics in local and international news organizations, which which includes among others: Philippine Daily Inquirer, Business World, MindaNews, Interaksyon.com, Agence France-Presse, Xinhua News Wires, Thomson-Reuters News Wires, UCANews.com, and Pecojon-PH.He is currently the Editor in Chief of this paper.