Human Rights Online Philippines

Alyans Tigil Mina (ATM) condemns the recently uncovered DENR order extending the contract of an open-pit mining in South Cotabato, signed by former Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Leo Jasareno in 2016.

On June 8, 2016, the MGB through former Director Jasareno, signed a 12-year extension of the Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) of Sagittarius Mines, Incorporated (SMI) covering the Tampakan Gold Copper Project.

ATM said the illegal FTAA extension circumvented the autonomy of the local government of South Cotabato. The provincial government of South Cotabato previously passed a local ordinance banning open-pit mining on June 29, 2010, preventing the massive 23,571 hectares Tampakan copper-gold mining project from causing irreparable damage in the province.

SMI, together with the Tampakan Mining Group, is the project holder for the Tampakan copper-gold mining project. It is the largest open-pit gold project in Asia. Its operation will displace an estimated 4,000 the indigenous tribes of B’laans and about 10,000 lowland farmers from neighboring communities that rely on the nearby watershed for agricultural use.

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