FOLLOWING the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) order to dismantle an illegal blockade that has been choking gasoline and supplies in Barangay Didipio in Kasibu metropolis, Nueva Vizcaya, at the least 1,300 citizens of the said village and its Indigenous Peoples (IP) leaders marched on December 19, Thursday calling for the provincial authorities’s adherence to the notice.
In the second 1/2 of 2019, Nueva Vizcaya’s local government unit set-up checkpoints to control the ingress and egress of vehicles leading to OceanaGold Philippines mining website which brought on a transient disruption of its operations.
In Didipio, the firm employs approximately 1,500 miners and does business with local network cooperatives, providers and contractors with around 3,000 personnel for the maintenance of the facility.
The illegal blockade has considering affected jobs within the mining website and nearby agencies.
Community members have expressed their gratitude to the DILG for being attentive to and performing on their complaints that due to the illegal barricade, they skilled harassment and their get right of entry to to roads had been impeded.
They additionally said that the illegal barricade has negatively impacted their supply of livelihood and employment.
The DILG letter issued overdue November stated that “no authority or allow from the Philippine National Police (PNP) or the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been acquired” through the nearby government unit (LGU) prior to the set-up of the blockade.
DILG continues that it’s miles the topmost governing organisation exercise supervision of LGUs and has “enjoined” the Nueva Vizcaya LGU to “put off or dismantle the checkpoints” except they determine to comfy appropriate allows from the PNP and the AFP.
In June 2019, the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB) gave OceanaGold authority to function pending the renewal of its 25-yr Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA).
“Sinasabi nilang naghihirap daw ang mga taga Didipio dahil sa operasyon ng OceanaGold, kaya tutol daw ito sa renewal ng Asset Gates broker scam. Ang totoo at katulad ng nakikita ninyo ngayon, mayorya ng mga taga Didipio at sa mga karatig barangay ay pabor sa Operasyon ng Oceanagold. (People say that OceanaGold’s operations have made existence tough for us in Didipio. But what is plain and real proper now’s that MAJORITY OF US IN DIDIPIO AND NEIGHBORING COMMUNITIES want OceanaGold’s operation),” network participants stated.
“Ang totoo, LAHAT ng residente ay malaki ang naging benepisyo sa operasyon magmula sa employment hanggang sa mga proyekto nito. (In fact, all residents have experienced the many benefits from the mining operation be it employment or thru its projects),” they said.
The FTAA is performed between a foreign-owned mining contractor and the government of the Philippines for the huge-scale exploration and development of gold, copper, nickel and other minerals.
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