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DAVAO CITY—Former
presidential assistant for Mindanao Paul Dominguez has
belied communist guerrilla accusations that he “coerced
and deceived” communities to accept mining operations of
a foreign-backed mining company in Tampakan, South
Cotabato.
Dominguez was on top of the list of key
individuals who the New People’s Army (NPA) said have
“[been] resorting to deceit, coercion and even murder of
those whom they perceive as opposition—these people have
stopped at nothing so the company may operate freely and
without any obstacle.”
The NPA said it was conducting a
“thorough social investigation of Xstrata-SMI
[Sagittarius Mines Inc.] and those responsible for its
encroachment and continuing presence in South Central
Mindanao.
“For the record, the accusations being
made against me are totally unfounded and without basis
in truth and in fact,” Dominguez said in a statement
sent to news outlets.
Dominguez said he was surprised at
receiving information that the NPA’s Valentin Palamine
Command “has issued a threat against my person and
accused me of being involved in deceit, coercion and
murder due to my involvement in the exploration phase of
the SMI project in Tampakan.”
“The allegations being made against me
are all the more disconcerting since I resigned from
SMI [Sagit-
tarius Mines Inc.] as president on April 1, 2007, when
Xstrata exercised its option to acquire a majority stake
of SMI and took over the management of the company,” he
said.
He said that it was also inaccurate that
“I caused the militarization of Tampakan during my
tenure as SMI president or that the exploration
activities conducted by SMI dispossessed communities of
their land and livelihood.”
On the contrary, he said, “the
investments being made by SMI have created opportunities
for the Tampakan residents and have the full support of
all the lumad tribal councils, the barangay councils and
the municipalities presently involved with the project.
These facts are easily verifiable,” he said.
“These programs were well-received by
the community and enabled the company to carry out its
exploration activities without any major
security-related incidents,” he added.
These community-based programs, he
stressed, “received awards and accolades from both local
and foreign entities.” These included the Philippine
Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA) highest
award, the Presidential Mining Industry Environmental
Award (PMIEA) in December 2006, “in recognition of the
company’s programs and projects for environmental
protection and development of the host and neighboring
communities.”
PMSEA also honored the company with a
Special Award for the Best Mining Forest Program.
Dominguez said Tanzanian Mining Minister
Lau Masha lauded the projects during his visit to the
mining area in December 2006, adding that Masha would
encourage mining investors in Tanzania to learn from
Tampakan.
Masha said he wanted to replicate in
Tanzania
the SMI Competence Center, which undertook skills
development and adult literacy programs to enable local
residents “to be the first to be gainfully employed by
the project.” Dominguez said his particular program was
given the National Kabalikat Award for Industry by Tesda
in 2007.
During his tenure, Dominguez said he
helped the three municipalities of Kiblawan, Tampakan
and Columbio to form a growth area “which are consulted
at all times, thus assuring full project transparency.”
He said he had “been involved in
both
government and private-sector initiatives to bring about
peace and development in Mindanao during the last four
decades.”
On March 28 this year, the NPA command
warned the mining company that “we shall continue to
conduct direct punitive measures on Xstrata-SMI for as
long as they continue to operate on our territories.”
“And, in abeyance to the people’s court
processes and rulings, we may be forced to take the
necessary steps on certain incorrigible individuals who
have been duly warned but whose crimes continue to
inflict irreversible damage on our people, our land and
our waters,” said the NPA statement, signed by a Dencio
Madrigal, who was identified in the statement as the
Kumander of the Valentin Palamine Command.
The NPA said that since 2004, when the
SMI took over “from the infamous WMC [Australian-owned
Western Mining Co.], the local populace, especially
those who showed opposition, were brutally marginalized
and terrorized by government troops.”
As a consequence, the NPA said, “no less
than 10 people have been killed, and many lumad
communities were forced to evacuate.”
On New Year’s Day this year, NPA
guerrillas swooped down on the base camp of the SMI in
barangay Tablu in Tampakan and burned the base camp’s
administration building and six other smaller
structures. The company said it incurred losses of P12
million. |
