Mindoro Province

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza on Friday (November 27) yielded to pressure and ordered a temporary revocation of the mining clearance he issued for the Mindoro nickel project of the Norway-based Intex Resources.

The chief of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) personally handed to the hunger strikers camped outside his office the special order he issued on the 11th day of protest fast staged by Mangyans, priests and environmental activists from Mindoro.

Please support the Mindoro Hunger Strike against Mindoro Nickel Project owned by Norway-based Intex Resources. Download petition letter of support for the Mindoro Hunger Strike address to the Philippine President.

An alliance backed by more than 80 organizations vowed more actions against Atienza today, accusing him of callousness in resolving the demands of hunger strikes camped at the DENR central office. “We will mobilize people here in front of DENR and deliver to Atienza a clear message – he should clean up this mess he created in Mindoro or else face consequences in his candidacy in Manila”, said Jaybee Garganera, National Coordinator of the group Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM).

Secretary Lito Atienza: 

It was with great joy that we ended our meeting last Wednesday, November 18, 2009, when, after finding out that the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the mining company, Intex Resources, in Mindoro was acquired with grave irregularity – that it was given without the required genuine consultations and endorsements of the affected local government units, as attested by the mayors of the two directly affected towns and the governors and congressmen of the two provinces of Mindoro – you promised to suspend the ECC. We admired then your sense of justice and your commitment to stand by the truth. All the hunger strikers and their supporters happily celebrated a thanksgiving mass outside the DENR compound. But alas, the rejoicing was short-lived when your order came out a couple of hours later! It was just a mere 90-day suspension order. Your letter did not reflect accurately the discussions and agreements of the meeting, among which (1) the recognition of the LGU’s moratorium on mining; (2) the failure of the Intex Resources to conduct genuine consultations in the affected communities; (3) the steadfast refusal of LGUs to allow the entry of the Intex Resources in the area, and (4) the sustained rejection and withholding of consent of the legitimate indigenous people to be affected by the mining operation. 

November 22, 2009 - One of the twenty-six Mindorenos who went on a hunger strike last week in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) central office in Quezon City had been rushed to the East Avenue Medical Center, at around 8 p.m. Saturday, after suffering locked jaws and cold sweats.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Mindoro Hunger Strike (MHS), involving twenty-five individuals belonging to the Mangyan indigenous tribe, local government officials, two Catholic priests and some residents, together with more than 80 organizations nationwide as their support group, vows to take more actions to press the revocation of the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) issued to a Norwegian company on the Mindoro Nickel Project (MNP) in the island province.