Case Study

“Mining or Food?”

Midsalip, Zamboanga del Sur

Companies: Canadian based TVI Pacific and six other local companies; history of Rio Tinto applications in the areas

Background: In 1996 the municipality of Midsalip was covered by a number of Rio Tinto Applications, including applications for a Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) and a number of Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSAs). Rio Tinto, operating under the name Tropical Exploration Philippines Incorporated, withdrew from the area in 1999 following strong local and international opposition to the project. In June 2001, US mining company Phelps Dodge together with a Philippine partner also applied for an exploration permit in Midsalip. However, in October 2001, they too withdraw their application because of community opposition. Despite their withdrawing from the area, the status of these Rio Tinto claims remains unclear.

Conclusion and recommendations: The authors recommend that no mining or exploration proceed in Midsalip. The authors believe mining and irrigated rice and fish farming are conflicting activities and are incompatible in an area that produces valuable agricultural and marine food supplies, not only to the Zamboanga peninsula but also to major Philippine cities. Their ocular survey of the picturesque landscape and visiting the sites of the proposed exploration and mining tenements lead the authors to conclude that extraction or exploitation of iron ore and other minerals will severely damage the water catchment services of Midsalip, undermine the human rights of the Indigenous Subanen people, reduce agricultural production in the three provinces and diminish the ability of future generations to survive in the area.

Mining will also affect the significant investment of the international community in reforestation. It will pollute and cause erosion and siltation of the rivers, and exacerbate geo-hazard and landslide problems. There will be a risk of flooding and...