"Indigenous rights under pressure as Philippine minerals boom", 23 October 2024

The Philippines has emerged as a major supplier for the global energy transition, thanks to its reserves of minerals like class 1 nickel.... However, this boom is fomenting violence against Indigenous people in the country, whose ancestral homes are increasingly threatened by the mining.

According to the 2023 “State of Indigenous Peoples Address” report, published by the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC), land and environmental conflicts in ancestral domains increased by 6% year-on-year, with more than 70,000 additional hectares affected.

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The report finds mining expansion to be the main driver of these conflicts. It says another 223,000 hectares of land were signed off for mining projects between 2022 and 2023, while 45,070 Indigenous people were affected by a human rights abuse – a 62% increase from the 2022 report.

Behind these numbers are stories of killings, arrests and harassment. Indigenous people are being red-tagged (falsely labelled as terrorists or supporters of communist insurgency). ...

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When it comes to Indigenous peoples of the Philippines, the LRC claims FPIC is often reduced to a single meeting that withholds critical economic and environmental information. The LRC report also describes instances of coercion and bribery....

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The LRC recommends integrating the means to achieve a just energy transition into existing minerals policy blueprints. Among the recommended measures (also backed by environmental groups and civil society organisations) is an alternative minerals management bill. ...

The bill also proposes a longer list of areas that should be closed to mining, by adding in critical habitats and watersheds, key areas for biodiversity, and more. It also outlines requirements for environmental and social impact assessments, and the need for plans to mitigate those impacts and to rehabilitate used land.

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