Abstract / Excerpt:

INTRODUCTION

A. Locating the Research
In 2007, the three Ateneo universities in Mindanao -Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro City,
Ateneo de Davao University and Ateneo de Zamboanga University- commissioned a research
team to conduct a collaborative study entitled Mining in Mindanao: Analyzing Stakeholders and
Identifying Strategic Engagements. 2 This inceptive study was a straightforward stakeholders
analysis focusing on five mining areas as case studies. It, covered three different regions of
Mindanao where the universities are located (the north for XU, west for AdZU and the south for
AdDU), the various stages of mining activity (from exploration to decommissioning), and the
different types of mineral agreements issued by the government. Being the only other FTAA in
the Philippines, at that time, and the only one in Mindanao, the Tampakan Copper-Gold Mining
Project was chosen to be one of the case studies. The team from Davao, in south Mindanao,
was assigned to handle it.

Overall, the Mining in Mindanao research showed “how stakeholders grapple with [the] . . .
impact [of] the various facets of mining.” 3 What also kept surfacing in the research were
“conflicts and tensions over issues of political jurisdiction and boundaries, indigenous peoples
self-governance and right to self-determination in their ancestral domain where mining is
located, environmental impacts, human rights and social disruption, economic benefits,
transparency on mining feasibility studies, financial and production reporting.” The research
called for the “conduct of more technical and social researches to improve the understanding of mining,” 4 and hopefully help the public discover “better options over multiple resource regime
conflicts and concerns.” 5

Info

Source Institution	Ateneo de Davao University
Unit	URC
Authors	Maricel P. Hilario-Patiño, Leah H. Vidal PhD
Page Count	29
Place of Publication	Davao city
Original Publication Date	October 17, 2013
Tags	Mining, Mining and Water, Water

Preview