Malacañang controls Diwalwal mining operations

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

The government formally took control in August of mining operations within the 8,100-hectare "Diwalwal Gold Rush Area" in Monkayo, Compostela Valley. With Mt. Diwalwal having one of the country's richest gold deposits, local mining companies and bureaucrat capitalists have long been fighting each other tooth and nail to take control of its operations. Currently, there are some 20,000 people living in the estimated 700-hectare mines and resettlement site within the "Diwalwal Gold Rush Area."

The national government's formal orders to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to be in command of mining operations in Diwalwal enables Malacañang and its minions to control all of the area's resources. The AFP has likewise ordered the deployment of more military troops to Mt. Diwalwal. Malacañang's monopoly over resources and millions of pesos in income from Diwalwal is part of Macapagal-Arroyo's preparations for the 2004 presidential elections.

Malacañang issued the order after violence escalated in the area due to bitter conflicts between two bureaucrats who own the biggest local mining companies in Diwalwal-Rey Chiong Uy (who owns Blucor Mineral Corp. and Bullex Mining Corp. and was formerly mayor of Tagum City); and Joel Brillantes (who owns JB Mining Management Corp. and is currently mayor of Monkayo). Besides the two, there are tens of thousands of small-scale miners asserting their right to make a living from Diwalwal and who are being victimized by harassment from big mining companies. An estimated 60 people have already been killed in relation to the conflicts in Diwalwal.

Just last July, two of Brillantes' men were killed by armed men believed to be Uy's goons. This was followed by the vendetta killing of a mining official of the rival Blucor Mineral Corp., this time on orders of Brillantes. Brillantes is also believed to be behind the smoking in July of tunnels dug by small-scale miners. The smoke caused the death of miner Roberto Zamora and the hospitalization of more than 20 others. An armored personnel carrier was used to run over the barricade set up by the small miners along Tagmanok Bridge in Mawab on August 10. The angry miners were demanding an investigation of Zamora's death.

Uy and Brillantes, along with other mining and military officials, were involved in the abduction, torture and massacre of Godofredo Guimbaolibot (a Party cadre from Southern Mindanao) and three others, in Mawab, Compostela Valley in August 1999.

September 2002
English Edition

	Editorial: Resist and frustrate the US-Macapagal-Arroyo regime's all-out war!
	US-Macapagal-Arroyo regime's all-out-war: By orders of US imperialism: Macapagal-Arroyo regime declares all-out war against the revolution
	US-Macapagal-Arroyo regime's all-out-war: CPP, NPA included in US terrorist list
	US-Macapagal-Arroyo regime's all-out-war: US pledges more aid to AFP
	US-Macapagal-Arroyo regime's all-out-war: Defense Policy Board to be set up
	US-Macapagal-Arroyo regime's all-out-war: Sison assails US, Dutch pressure
	US-Macapagal-Arroyo regime's all-out-war: Regime scuttling the peace talks
	US-Macapagal-Arroyo regime's all-out-war: Suppression also targets legal organizations
	Guingona opposes US war doctrine
	Jockeying for 2004: Rift between Macapagal-Arroyo and Roco bared before the public
	Fascist state on a rampage Some statistics
	Fascist state on a rampage: Latest cases of human rights violations (May-August 2002)
	Fascist state on a rampage: In Basilan and Zamboanga...
	Fascist state on a rampage: Destruction wrought by CARAT
	Brutal treatment by Malaysia and the Macapagal-Arroyo regime
	Bush warmongering against Iraq criticized
	US uses Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to justify its renewed war of aggression
	Malacañang controls Diwalwal mining operations
	News