ITOGON, Benguet—Indigenous residents are resisting plans by Itogon-Suyoc Resources Inc. (ISRI), a big gold mining company, to expand its operations to more than six times its concession area in their town, warning of possible harmful effects on the environment.
On Tuesday, Jan. 27, more than a hundred protesters and their supporters gathered outside the Itogon Training Center in Barangay Bua while government officials were conducting a “public scoping,” or an environmental review of the project on matters of water sources, safety, community consultation, and consent.
The officials, led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), conducted the procedure necessary for the approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of ISRI. The company is applying for a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (APSA 103) in three barangays and for an increase in its milling capacity.
ISRI is seeking to expand its project area from 63.498 hectares to 469.26 hectares, covering parts of Barangays Ampucao, Poblacion, and Virac. The company also plans to increase its mill capacity from 500 to 515 tons per day.
Protesters chanted and antimining messages spread inside the training center during the scoping, raising fears that the proposed mining expansion could endanger water sources and further degrade the environment.
Sister Jane Gasilang, a barangay resident, said the affected communities, mainly from the Ibaloi and Kankana-ey tribes, were given a limited time of only 13 days to review the project documents.
“I have graduated from college, but I could not understand the nearly 200 pages of a highly technical document,” Gasilang said.
She raised concerns over the stability of the proposed mine’s tailings facility. “How safe is the structure? For how long will it be able to stand?” she asked.
Rima Mangili of the Itogon Inter-Barangay Alliance said the tailings facility was wrongly located from the outset. As it sits above Barangay Poblacion, it poses a continuing risk to residents and the surrounding areas, she said.
A genuinely inclusive scoping process should be conducted in the affected barangays to allow wider participation and more concrete discussion of the project’s implications to the lives of the residents, Mangili said.
Gerry Cornel, Itogon municipal environment and natural resources officer who also lives in Barangay Poblacion, emphasized the need for a detailed hydrology study.
“We do not want toxic materials or siltation to reach our rivers, especially the Ambalanga River flowing from Ampucao and exits near the Binga dam,” Cornel said.
He said the underground water management should be addressed to ensure that swimming pools in Barangay Poblacion, a primary source of livelihood for residents, would not be affected.
Cornel also said the Environmental Impact Study should identify alternative locations for a tailings facility once the existing site reaches its capacity, given the projected increase in ore tonnage.
Mylene Sabiano, a council member of Barangay Ampucao, said her community was against ISRI’s expansion plan and that the company should be satisfied with its current operations.
Concerns were also aired over the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process. Gasilang contended that the residents were not meaningfully consulted before the signing of the FPIC Memorandum of Agreement and the issuance of the Certification Precondition (CP-CAR-2024-512).
In a position paper, protesters claimed that the FPIC-MOA signed on Sept. 20, 2023, by ISRI, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and the Itogon Indigenous Peoples Organization (IIPO) did not comply with the NCIP’s revised FPIC guidelines, the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act, and the Philippine Mining Act.
They also said the certification was issued despite opposition and without a proper consensus-building process.
Itogon Vice Mayor Dante Alain Xavier Godio said the EIA should clearly reflect that the IIPO’s consent was conditional, particularly on the protection of water sources and the recognition of no-mining zones. These terms, he said, should be “explicitly detailed” in the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).
At the start of the scoping, Marie Pina Rodas, chief of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Clearance and Permitting Division, said the process was meant to identify key issues and define the focus of the assessment.
The EIA examines environmental impacts and proposes mitigation measures, she added. The document will serve as the basis for the issuance of an ECC, a key requirement for the approval of ISRI’s APSA 103.
Rodas, however, said the public scoping was not the proper venue to resolve all issues raised and clarified that concerns related to the FPIC process fall outside the EMB’s mandate.
The EMB official declined a media interview, saying she was not authorized to speak. Mines and Geosciences Bureau official Vergina Briones also refused to comment, citing the need for clearance from higher officials.
ISRI was originally the Itogon-Suyoc Mines Inc. (ISMI), which was set up in 1925, whose operation was suspended in 1996. ISMI was reorganized and became ISRI in 2002. The company was acquired as a subsidiary of Apex Mining Co. Inc. in 2015.
Apex became the assignee-company of all mining assets of ISRI—the Sangilo Mine in Itogon and the Suyoc Mine in Mankayan, both in Benguet Province, and the Benit Claim in Labo, Camarines Norte.
According to its website, ISRI is “committed to sustainable mining through forest enrichment and maintenance activities, underground rehabilitation, water resource and management, air quality and work environment monitoring, biodiversity conservation and wildfire protection, heritage and values, and environmental research.” CS
