Padilla seeks legal action vs mining firms in Vizcaya BY MAR CARPIO BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya (September 28) – Rep. Carlos Padilla has sought for immediate government legal action against mining companies in this province which he accused of committing human rights violations with impunity. Padilla said in a privilege speech that villagers in the province have “suffered much for a long time” adding that for more than a decade the residents have been “living along barricades, not reneging on their simple desire to protect their homes and farms from aggression” brought about by these mining operators. The congressman wants mining operators in the towns of Kasibu and Quezon be made accountable citing Commission on Human Rights reports confirming that residents have been abused for opposing FCF Minerals Corporation in Quezon and Royalco Resources Ltd. in Kasibu. Padilla said FCF Minerals has bulldozed the homes and farm lots of indigenous people in Barangay Runruno in Quezon town where a number of residents were hurt in the incident; some of them have been in hiding due to reported threats from the mining company. He also called on the cancellation of Royalco’s exploration permit; the company has been faced by a decade of opposition from Nueva Vizcaya residents. He said Royalco “illustrates a seeming collusion of state agents with private business where the military allows its men to be used by a private company for its own purposes.” “Reports of human rights violations as a result of this collusion have been received by this representation,” Padilla said. He said that a continuing research has “led me to entertain the idea that the state is not only remiss in its duty to protect human rights. Worse, [Royalco] allows its agents to be used by these companies to protect private business interest.” “While mining may now be present in Nueva Vizcaya, the residents won’t allow further desecration of their lands,” Padilla said. Padilla also cited CHR’s investigation, then headed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, which found mining operators guilty of human rights violations against the indigenous people of Kasibu. With this, Padilla has also sought for the deportation of foreign workers in these mining firms in the province. Meanwhile, Padilla also called on the Bureau of Internal Revenue to investigate OceanaGold, a mining firm operating in Didipio, Kasibu, for alleged violation of the Internal Revenue Code. He urged that there should be a “true declaration” of the true value of the company’s exports and not “shortchange” the government in the payment of excise taxes. Padilla has also called on the investigation by appropriate agency of the use of the mining company’s Corporate Social Responsibility funds and other corporate resources for allegedly “indirectly bribing barangay officials, community leaders and politicians.”
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 02:07:05 +0000
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