The residents of Itogon, under the Itogon Inter-Barangay Alliance (IIA), strongly condemned the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) for awarding a Certification of Precondition (CP) for the Application for Production Sharing Agreement 103 (APSA 103) of Itogon-Suyoc Resources Inc. (ISRI).

“The decision represents a grave disregard for the voices and concerns of the communities who have consistently expressed their opposition to the project,” the alliance stated. The project affects the barangays of Virac, Poblacion, and Ampucao, particularly Sitio Dalicno, in Itogon, Benguet. If granted, APSA 103 would allow the mining of 22 million tons of gold-bearing ore over 25 years.

According to the alliance, the decision did not respect the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).

“The consultations conducted were insufficient and failed to address the legitimate fears regarding environmental degradation, loss of livelihood and loss of ancestral lands,” the IIA stated. In fact, the Itogon residents have repeatedly rejected the mine’s entry as its pollution could contaminate their water sources and encroach on their ancestral lands, which are their means of livelihood.

The alliance condemned the NCIP and its partners for their deceptive tactics, claiming to listen to the positions and concerns of the residents, particularly those from Dalicno, while secretly selling their land rights.

SRI is fully owned by Apex Mining, which is controlled by Enrique Razon, one of the country’s biggest bourgeois capitalists. Besides ISRI, Razon also owns the Maco Gold Mine in Davao de Oro, where a landslide killed 68 people last February.