FFM Teams are composed of PhilRights Inc., DIOPIM Committee on Mining Issues (DCMI), Social Action Ministry-Ipil (SAM), Legal Rights and Natural Resource Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan (KsK),Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM),
by
VIOLETA M. GLORIA
September 2010
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Human-right fact-finding investigation is crucial to understand the socio-economic and political discourse of a community that is controversially plagued with conflicting issues and interests on the utilization and maximization of its resources; of flagrant human rights violations; lack or absence of responsible governance; disorientation and non-enforcement of laws exacerbated further by disempowered local organizations that can’t independently intervene or introduce social mechanism for problems resolution.
Fact-finding becomes a strategy and method of human-right based group in gathering information and evidences that are imperative in engendering a broader understanding of an issue based on context and cultural anthropological realities.
Facts gathered will enable the teams to formulate recommendations for decisive action or as evidence to generate intervention from local, national and international development partners; concern officials within governmental structures; community-based stakeholders i.e. indigenous community; and of other affected institutions in this investigation like mining companies operating within the ancestral domain of the lumad.
Hence, the investigation drew varied expert groups or institutions for cooperative sharing of findings and information as well as concrete proposals for technical support.
The fact-finding investigation in this area was conceived following reports of series of killings by indiscriminate firing and hacking of civilians initially recorded to have reached 15 persons, 8 of whom are lumads. Reports mentioned that the killings are politically motivated though a number of harassments, surveillance and threats are related to mining operations within this municipality (CHR-Region 9, 2010).
Moreover, indicators showed that the IP communities are polarized with the vigorous entry of mining companies—both large and small scale, due to conflicting interests, lack of awareness on mining’s impact to environment and social relations, cultural disorientation, absence of opportunities or employment, and lack of transformative collective leadership that can unify the tribal community in Bayog . Some IPs opted to undergo tribal mining apparently suspected as backed with capital from Chinese business sectors while those opposed, confuses further the situation by signing an agreement with another mining company which later became a litigious issue among tribal leaders now, such as the case of Manda, along with three others, who are accused of falsifying documents at the Office of Ombudsman in Mindanao.
It is in this context that the fact-finding mission (FFM) was conducted in identified barangays of Bayog town, Zamboanga del Sur from August 28-31, 2010 by expert groups. The team was composed of representatives from PhilRights Inc., DIOPIM Committee on Mining Issues (DCMI), Social Action Ministry-Ipil (SAM), Legal Rights and Natural Resource Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan (KsK), Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), Meriam College,Alternate Forum for Research in Mindanao (AFRIM), Ecoweb Inc., Medical Action Group (MAG) andPikhumpongan Dlebon Subanen Inc. (PDSI), media workers and other support groups.
The approach and method of the study are fitted to the sensitive construct of human right standards that are upheld in the following instruments with due respect to other existing laws:
a. Bill of Human Rights under the 1987 Philippine Constitution;
b. Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 (Republic Act 8371);
c. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples;
d. Other right-based instruments upheld by the United Nations;
e. Mining Act of 1995;
f. People’s Small Scale Mining Act of 1991.
[IMPT. NOTE: This is a 36-page document and accessible to partners of the Fact Finding
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