The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has issued a cease-and-desist order (CDO) against a mining firm in Palawan for violating Indigenous Peoples' (IP) rights.
A CDO has been issued against the Ipilan Nickel Corporation (INC) for operating at its nickel site in Palawan without the Certificate of Precondition (CP) and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).
The NCIP-MIMAROPA, in a statement issued Aug. 11, said that the backdrop of this CDO is the “outcry” of indigenous peoples of Brooke’s Point in Palawan against Celestial Nickel Mining Corp (CNMEC) and its operator INC, particularly when they alleged failed to fulfill the required documentation, including the royalty payment.
As mandated by the Mineral Product Sharing Agreement (MPSA) in 2000, which is under the purview of Republic Act No. 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act and Republic Act No. 8371 recognized as the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, NCIP asserted that “Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) have the right to stop or suspend any project that has not satisfied the requirement of this consultation process.”
Moreover, the CDO further extends due to the “bribery” accusations that indigenous leaders and members were offered to garner support for the corporation's activities.
The company was given five days after the receipt of the CDO order “to wind up operation, install safety protocols so as not to endanger the community and completely cease operation.”
The NCIP stressed that the CDO was ordered by NCIP MIMAROPA Regional Director Marie Grace Pascua and was fortified by extensive consultations with Palawan’s IP.
“As part of the process, the complaints of the ICCs/IPs were validated by a validation team on June 10, 2023. The result of the validation activities clearly shows the true sentiments of the ICCs/IPs against the operation of CNMEC/INC within their ancestral domain and their dissent to the earlier MOAs that were executed,” it said.
“Last June 15, the commission received a resolution of non-consent from Pala’wan indigenous peoples, citing as grounds the alleged lack of respect of INC to the ICCs/IPs, material misrepresentation during FPIC process, and bribery of community leaders and members,” NCIP added.
This decision was overseen by the NCIP Commission En Banc, presided by NCIP Chairperson Allen Capuyan, and transpired during a special en banc session on Aug. 8. (Rhowen Del Rosario)