Dissent. Residents of New Bataan have had enough and made known that sentiment during a demonstration against militarization on April 18. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
Development Aggression
In resource-rich Mindanao particularly, the phenomenon called “development aggression” — the entry of big investments, mostly foreign-owned, that disrupt communities and threaten the livelihood of ordinary folk — has worsened over the decades, displacing tribes and villages from their lands, and breeding conflicts that, in turn, stoke the long-running communist and Moro insurgencies. The army usually comes in to try to contain the dissent and, in many instances, practically acting as security guards for these companies.
(For more readings on development aggression, click here, here and here.)
In the case of New Bataan, a rubber plantation and a mining project are being eyed in the town, according to the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, a nongovernment group composed of peasants and farmers.
An area of nearly 1,000 hectares are being considered for the rubber plantation, the KMP said. Traditional tree species would be cut to pave the way for rubber trees. According to the KMP, there is already an existing nursery of rubber tree seedlings at the Department of Agriculture compound here. The KMP says the project was approved a long time ago but its implementation only started this year.
The mining project, meanwhile, will be undertaken by Viclode, a sister company of Apex Mining Corp., one of the country’s biggest mining companies with ties to some of the world’s mining giants. The mining area will cover about 700 hectares and will affect, according to the KMP, villages that include Uduan, Tagima, Macopa, Piagabangan, Piyagbasan and Kagan, all in New Bataan.
(For Apex’s company information sheet filed at the Philippine Stock Exchange, click here.)
While these areas are considered mining zones under the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title owned by the Lumads in the area, the impact on the residents would be disastrous, the KMP said.
Moreover, the area includes the Manurigao River, a major tributary and water source that supports communities downstream.
Clearly, however, these are major investments — investments that the government has been crowing about and the army has been tasked to protect but which, according to the KMP, explains the surge of soldiers in the area in the past months.
Checkpoints, House Searches
According to the New Bataan Farmers Association (NEBFA) and the Concerned Citizen for Peoples Rights (CCPR), the military presence has grown here over the months: from a mere platoon, there is now a regular company fixed in the town. Elements from other units in the province and region would often augment the company, particularly during operations.
NEBFA and CCPR have counted more than 30 military operations between Jan. 30 and March 31. These include checkpoints in indefinite places and time, the scrutiny of passengers of motorcycles and tricycles as well as civilians in the streets, and house searches.
The soldiers also go from school to school, conducting forums against leftist groups. They also give cellphone numbers to residents. In one case, a soldier, using a ballpoint pen, wrote a phone number on the arm of Roelle, an 11- year-old pupil in one of the schools in New Bataan.
I was about to go home from school when one of the soldiers called me,” he recalled in Visayan. “He grabbed my left arm and wrote something on it. It was a cellphone number. He told me to text him right away if I saw a rebel.”
