forces, and in particular, for use against other ICCs/IPs; nor recruit children
of ICCs/IPs into the armed forces under any circumstance.” This includes
recruitment into paramilitary groups that may be constituted to do directly
what the military cannot.
Resource Extraction-Induced Armed Conflict
75. That Lumad territories are targeted for resource extraction is not without
historical precedents. Atty. Jake Dumagan of the NCIP testified that the
exodus of Lumad and their seeking refuge at UCCP Haran in 2015 was
a repeat of what happened in 1994. Then, Lumad opposition to the entry
of Alcantara and Sons, Inc., a logging company, into their ancestral lands,
generated tension. This led Salugpongan members to evacuate and seek
refuge in the UCCP Compound.
76. The military denies being employed by private investors operating in ancestral
domains. It clarifies that it has always maintained an investment defense force,
a unit that secures private investments. Lt. Col. Obligado testified that the
AFP is under orders to protect flagship projects involving energy, roads, and
other infrastructure projects.75
77. In its Philippines 2014 Human Rights Report, the US State Department
lamented that indigenous lands “were often sites of armed encounters often
related to resource extraction and tribal claims.”76 The EU representatives in
an international fact-finding mission to look at the case of IPs in Mindanao
agreed that commercial activities of mining companies and other extractive
industries in IP areas would erupt into armed conflict.77
78. The CPP-NPA is also accused of being involved in mining operations within
the ancestral domains. A briefing paper on Lumad issues published by the
Center for Social Action and Concern of De La Salle University quotes the
Army’s 4th ID based in Cagayan De Oro, thus:
The crux of the problem is the conflicting interests of parties to
control the resources that are found in the IPs ancestral domain,
particularly gold and other minerals. The communist NPA
wants to control our IP communities because to them, they are
a rich source of recruits. To them, the ancestral domain of our
Lumad does not just give them men to fight for them but also the
funds and other logistics to ensure their existence. The Lumad’s
territories are rich in natural resources, especially minerals. This
is the primary reason why their ancestral domains are encroached
75 TSN dated 25 September 2015 – P.M. Session, pp. 101-102; 104.
76 United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Philippines 2014 Human Rights
Report in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014, at 34, accessed from http://www.state.gov/documents/
organization/236682.pdf.
77 International Federation for Human Rights and World Organisation Against Torture, The Philippines Human Rights Defenders
at The Forefront Despite an Ongoing Culture of Violence and Impunity: International Fact-Finding Mission Report, February
2015, at 20.
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