By GILBERT L. PACIFICAR
Davao Today
The 18 ethno-linguistic tribes of the island together with other support groups have converged to hold the government of Noynoy Aquino accountable for the destruction of the IPs’ ancestral lands and the many cases of rights abuses against the peasant and lumad communities including extrajudicial killings.
By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today Karapatan-Socsksargends, however, said Bravo was lying. What happened, he said, was an attack by Philippine Army troops against hapless lumads who are opposed to the operation of foreign and large-scale mining SMI-Xstrata, in their ancestral land.
With the number of mining firms under exploration concessions, gold, nickel and copper in the rocky mountains of Davao region continue to be up for grabs. But government earnings from the excise taxes paid by mining firms are small.
By MARILOU AGUIRRE-TUBURAN