Gemeinsam mit anderen Organisationen unterstützt das philippinenbüro e.V. die Petition gegen die Erneuerung des Abkommens zwischen der philippinischen Regierung und des kanadischen Bergbauunternehmens OceanaGold. Die Petition wurde von Indigenen und Gemeindevorsteher:innen gemeinsam mit dem kath. Bischof Elmer Mangalinao aus der philippinischen Gemeinde Bayombong initiiert, nachdem die Regierung mit der Verlängerung des Abkommens im Jahr 2021 gegen das konstitutionelle Recht verstoßen hatte, öffentliche Partizipation im Entscheidungsprozess zu gewährleisten. Unter dem Hashtag #CancelOceanaGold kritisiert die Petition die Regierung und das Bergbauunternehmen für Verstöße gegen Umweltschutz- und Menschenrechte und fordert eine neutrale Untersuchung der Verstöße. Das philippinenbüro e.V. schließt sich diesen Vorderungen an.
Support the Petition to #CancelOceanaGold in the Philippines
We, the undersigned organizations, express our solidarity with and support for the affected communities and the petitioners against Canadian mining firm OceanaGold Philippines, Inc. Several petitioners, representing different sectors and affected groups, have filed a case to cancel the renewal of OceanaGold’s mining agreement (Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement/FTAA) with the Philippine government. They contend that OceanaGold’s large-scale mining operations in the province of Nueva Vizcaya have violated Philippine laws (case name: ‘Mangalinao et al. v. Executive Secretary Bersamin et al.’).
OceanaGold’s mining operations in the town of Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya have been implicated in environmental, socio-economic, and civil-political rights violations, which have been assailed by institutions such as the Philippine Commission on Human Rights and various Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
In 2021, OceanaGold’s FTAA was renewed by the Office of the President for another 25 years, amid the lack of prior and proper public consultation and consent, and in clear violation of the provincial environmental code, which bans open-pit mining. Environmentally critical projects such as mining are required to secure prior consultation and consent before the President can approve the FTAA renewal, which was not the case.
This gross violation of the constitutional rights to local autonomy, to public participation, and to a balanced and healthful ecology—ultimately, the people’s right to say “no” to OceanaGold—is the subject of the petition filed by indigenous and community leaders, together with Bishop Elmer Mangalinao of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayombong, on Earth Day on April 22, 2024.
Crucially, OceanaGold’s operations continue to threaten Nueva Vizcaya’s watershed—and its protectors--that provides water for 3.9 million Filipinos, irrigation for 90,000 hectares of agricultural land, and life for 480 different floral and faunal species.
We believe that international environmental and human rights laws, norms, and standards were disregarded by OceanaGold’s FTAA renewal, including the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the UN Resolution Recognizing the Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, among others.
We thus urge our respective domestic governments, as well as the relevant diplomatic missions and UN bodies based in our respective countries, to conduct parallel investigations and inquiries into the violations perpetrated by OceanaGold’s FTAA renewal.
We invite shareholders and other relevant parties across OceanaGold’s global value chain to undertake environmental and human rights due diligence, and hold OceanaGold accountable.
Lastly, we enjoin the international community to support the campaign to #CancelOceanaGold, by organizing sustained protests, lobbying against OceanaGold and its allies in government, amplifying the affected people’s aspirations for justice, and raising financial and material support for the long legal battle ahead.
No Consultation, No Consent, No Renewal! Save our Watersheds and Defend our Water Defenders! Cancel OceanaGold’s Mining FTAA Now!
