Mining in Mt. Canatuan, Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte: Patterns of Collective Respons.es of the Subanon

Abstract

This study aims to examine and describe the Subanons' social mobilization arising from the mining operations in their ancestral domain/lands. Specifically, it attempts to document and to determine the ethno·history of the Subanon, their worldviews of ancestral land and environmental resources, the entry of mining and its effects (economic, political, socio-cultural and environmental) on their ancestral land, the responses of the Subanon and the relationships between the
church, NGOs, and the POs in the struggle of the Subanon for rights to ancestral domain. The study uses the case study method employing key informant interview, focus-group discussion (FGD), and documentary
analysis. -The site ·of the study covers Mt. Canatuan, Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte because of the on·going controversy regarding the Subanon's ancestral domain. The Subanon of Mt. Canatuan are facing eviction from their own land due to the reactivation of the mining operations of Toronto Ventures Inc. Resource Development Philippines (TVIRD), a Canadian mining company. It is noteworthy that on June 12, 200~, President GMA announced the granting of a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) to the Subanon for land consisting of a massive 8, 213 hectares. Ironically, it is the same land that is being subjected to mining operations.