Leaders of an ancient tribe from the Philippines are in Canada pleading with politicians to stop a Calgary mining company from destroying their ancestral and holy land.

Mining company soldiers keep watch in the area at several checkpoints

A tribal elder then made a covenant with the Immortal Being in this forest and offered his friendship in exchange for the tribe's safety.

The Immortal Being agreed on condition the Subanon guard the sacred place from harm.

This week, leaders of the Subanon people joined by representatives of local groups opposed to the development are in Ottawa pleading with Canadian politicians to help them keep that ancient promise.

They want the Canadian government to stop Calgary-based TVI Pacific's hunt for a treasure trove of minerals located below their sacred mountain and are calling on investors and the public to stop supporting the company.

They believe that the Canadian government has been seriously misinformed by the company as to the real wishes of the local people.

Our concern is that our voice is being drowned out by company propaganda," Subanon representative Onsino Mato told The Asian Pacific Post after he arrived in Ottawa.

This battle between the ancient tribe and the mining company, which has pumped close to C$20 million dollars in exploratory work, including organizing its own paramilitary unit, has implications beyond the sacred land.

The conflict is a litmus test watched by the global mining community as it prepares to capitalize on the recent invitation by the cash-starved Philippines government to tap mineral resources in the Southeast Asian nation.

Manila believes that a revitalized mining sector will bring in $9 billion in gross value, $6.5 billion in investments and about 200,000 new jobs in the next six years to the Philippines.

One of the many checkpoints at Mt. Canatuan

"Ambassador Sutherland has expressed support for TVI as representing responsible Canadian mining in the Philippines. From what I have seen in visiting the site, TVI will not improve Canadian mining's image in the Philippines, the embassy is betting on the wrong horse, " said Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada.

Mount Canatuan is located east of the town of Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte, on the island of Mindanao, approximately 800 km south of Manila.

The peak of the mountain is the sacred altar to Siocon's 2,000-strong Subanon tribe whose ancestors settled in the area in the 17th century.

It is here that TVI Pacific is looking to extricate 182,951 ounces of gold, 6.99 million ounces of silver, 93.8 million pounds of copper and 68.4 million pounds of zinc.

Before leaving for Canada, members of the Subanon tribe called on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Manila to order TVI Pacific to stop its mining operations.

Timuay Jose Anoy, leader of the Subanon tribe, said his people were a signatory to the Indigenous People's Rights Act (Ipra) and had been awarded a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title covering their settlement on Mt. Canatuan, where TVI operates.

"TVI has desecrated our altar, the tip of Mt. Canatuan, which is our most sacred place," Anoy told a media conference in Quezon City.

Bishop Jose R. Manguiran in calling for the cancelation of TVI's permit said that "one day in 1994, Canadian mining prospectors arrived in Canatuan like an army of occupying forces."

Subanon elders

Among the rituals is an annual thanksgiving rite at an altar in the forest on December 23 and December 24 where food, butchered chickens and panggasi--a fermented rice wine contained in antique jars is offered to the Immortal Being.

The Subanon tribe also performs buklog or a feast where all of them gathered to show the community's gratitude to God.

"All of the mountains surrounding Canatuan are sacred to us and its protection will also spare us from flood since the plain of Siocon town is declared as an environmentally critical area," said Cesar Soriano, mayor of Siocon in a recent interview.

This place is a wonder," said Father Mamert Dolera Jr., one of the town's Catholic priests.

Dolera said it would be a "liturgical crime" to mine Mt. Canatuan because it would mean destroying the Subanon's faith as a people and the culture that defines their tribe's identity and uprooting them from their home.

"We just don't take away this mountain which is the home and temple of our people," he said.

TVI workers in Canatuan

The area is patrolled by the Special Civilian Armed Auxiliary (SCAA), a paramilitary unit organized by TVI Pacific to protect its interests and to keep at bay the Bin Laden linked Abu Sayyaf terrorists and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels who are fighting for an independent Muslim state in Southern Philippines.

The Moro rebels have support in the area because they claim to protect local rights to the lands and waters.

On Dec 27, 2002 a group of heavily armed men ambushed a TVI Pacific bus, killing 13 people and the wounding 12 others. The armed group was believed to comprise members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, according to the Asia Pulse news service.

TVI Pacific's paramilitary unit maintains armed checkpoints to prevent such attacks but the Subanons and non-governmental organizations allege that the hired soldiers have been responsible for a series of harassment and human rights violations against protesting residents.

Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada has written to the authorities in Manila stating: "It is clear to us that the presence of TVI has been a source of tragedy, tension and conflict since their first arrival in the area in 1994."

"Since 1999 the people of Canatuan have reported to us that they have been suffering violence and intimidation at the hands of TVI personnel," said Coumans who just returned from the Philippines.

Parliamentary soldiers watch a protest

In one of the incidents, Mining Watch said that TVI Pacific's paramilitary unit opened fire on a peaceful blockade last March 17. Four people were injured.

They were among a group of Subanon indigenous people, fisher folk, fishpond operators and a church group that had started a barricade three days earlier on the road leading to the mine site.

As the representatives of Subanon prepared for their journey to Canada, the Calgary based TVI Pacific Inc was putting the final touches on a Press release for its investors.

"In short, Canatuan is progressing well," said TVI President and CEO, Clifford M. James in a statement dated October 26 on his website.

The Canatuan Project is TVI Pacific's most advanced project in the Philippines, where TVI has been operating for the past 11 years.

Not all of the Subanon are against TVI Pacific.

The company said more than 600 members of the Subanon Indigenous People (IP) community at Canatuan recently organized a signature campaign and "Manifesto" to show their overwhelming support for TVI.

"The people wanted to offer a tangible demonstration of their gratitude and support," said Attorney Pablo Bernardo, lawyer for the Siocon Subanon Association Inc, which supports TVI. "The community also wanted to show the world that we are solidly in support of this project and of the development opportunities it offers our people," Bernardo said according to the company website.

"Contrary to what is being said by a tiny minority of Subanon--who have been rejected by the community but who have the ears of the international press and Church-based Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO's)--this is the legitimate community of Subanon at Canatuan, and we strongly support the TVI project. In addition to the 600 signatures, we have the support of 23 of the 30 members of the Council of Elders that represented the community for the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) process."

But TVI Pacific's local opposition regards Bernard's association under the leadership of Juanito Tumangkis is illegitimate, saying Tumangkis is not a tribal leader.

The Ottawa-based Mining Watch Canada said Bernardo's Subanon faction is made up mostly of Subanon who work for TVI and who are imported from regions outside Canatuan.

"The group was formed to circumvent the local opposition There are now strong divisions in the community."

TVI Pacific said infrastructure additions and improvements in Canatuan financed by Canadian taxpayers through CIDA are continuing to have a positive effect on living conditions and the future prospects for the local community.

Since the beginning of July, the Company Medical Clinic has treated over 1,380 cases from the community, ranging from infections to illnesses to injuries.

TVI has also contracted the services of a doctor from nearby Ipil to come to the site for several days, twice monthly.

The company also states it has helped curtail illegal small scale mining activities in the area which have contaminated the environment.

The company recently told investors that its security personnel report that there have been no serious security-related incidents during the year.

"Routine checkpoints and vigilance have been maintained, but security personnel have also been active in road maintenance and assistance not only for TVI but for surrounding communities."

The company said an Awareness Rally held last August in the area was attended by more than 2,000 local people, including the local Subanon Indigenous Peoples' community, which provides an indication that the project's success is beginning to make an impact on the surrounding communities.