PHILIPPINES: STOP THE PLUNDERING OF INDIGENOUS TERRITORIES BY OIL PALM PLANTATIONS

His Excellency Benigno Aquino III

President, Republic of the Philippines

 

C.c.

 

The Governor of Bukidnon

 

The Mayor of Impasug-ong

 

The Governor of Misamis Oriental

 

The Mayor of Opol

Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights (CHR)

 

Chairperson, The National Commission on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)

 

Chairperson, The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA)

 

Secretary, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)

 

Secretary, The Department of Agriculture (DA)

 

 

Your Excellency,

 

I am deeply concerned about the escalation and highly adverse impact of oil palm development nationwide, with particular references to the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon and Palawan.

I have read disconcerting reports and received information from reliable sources about the massive violation of labour standards and incidence of child labour in oil palm plantations.  I understand that, according to the Philippine Oil Palm Development Plan, only  ‘idle’ and ‘underdeveloped’ land should be converted into oil palm plantations.  However, local indigenous people claim that oil palm expansion is bringing havoc to their lives by destroying their farmlands, hunting grounds and non-timber forest products, polluting their water sources and thus impoverishing them to an unprecedented level.

I am also disturbed by the recent escalation of violence towards the opponents of oil palm plantations. This has led, on October 3, 2012, to the extra-judicial killing of Gilbert Paborada, an indigenous Higaonon who had led the local struggle against the A. Brown oil palm company in Misamis Oriental.  Also in Bukidnon, oil palm development is moving closer and closer to the ancestral land of different Higaonon groups who are members of the organization:  “Agtulawon Mintapod Higaonon Cumadon” (AGMIHICU)

In spite of innovative national legislation on environmental protection (NIPAS) and indigenous peoples’ rights (R.A. 8371), oil palm plantations continue to expand due to the collusion and corrupt practices of Government officials, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.  Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECCs) to oil palm firms are given too easily and without the free, prior, and informed consent of the impacted communities.

I then urge your office and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate and bring to an end the ongoing human rights violations, land grabbing and harassment of indigenous Lumads by A. Brown Company, Inc., which operates a palm oil plantation in Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon.  In both Palawan and Mindanao, land from which farmers and indigenous people have been dispossessed should be returned to them.

I also urge the national government to revitalize the proposed ‘National Land Use and Management Act’ in order to foster critical discussions on the implications of existing policies regulating industrial monocultures on biodiversity, rural livelihood and indigenous rights.

I finally urge the government to call for a nation-wide moratorium on oil palm development until the country is assured that it has all the resources and capacities to attain food security and to promote equitable progress and inclusive growth in rural areas.

 

Yours sincerely,

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