Army ready to secure mine sites from NPA attacks

ILAGAN, Isabela – The Philippine Army is ready to respond to any threats that may possibly be made by the traditionally-Maoist New People’s Army (NPA) on mining firms within the jurisdiction of its units.

“We are ready for whatever plans the rebels may have to disrupt all vital installations, including mining sites,” said Maj. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang, commanding general of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division the other day adding that they would not allow the rebels to derail the plans of the national government for the development of the countryside, one of which include the entry of mining operations with commercial mining potential.

The Army’s pronouncement came in the wake of reports of threats by the communist rebels on mining sites in the country in alleged protest of the government’s wholesale trade and rape of the country’s natural resources, especially to foreign mining firms.

Maclang, however, said that his men have not yet received any reports of direct threats made by the NPA on mining firms in the 5th ID’s area of operations which includes practically the whole of Northern Luzon , where bulk of the mining firms’ commercial operations and exploration activities are located.

Maclang, whose 5th ID headquarters is based here, said that his men are more than ready to battle the rebels if and when they try to make any moves to stage attacks or any form of sabotage on the various mining locations in their area of responsibility.

“In fact, the people from Oceana Gold in Didipio (Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya) were here in our office last week but they didn’t mention any threats made by the NPA against them,” he said.

Oceana Gold Ltd., an Australian-New Zealander mining firm, operates the multibillion peso Didipio Gold-Copper Project, the first ever large-scale mining project in Cagayan Valley , whose operation had been sanctioned by the national government in its  effort to generate millions of pesos in revenue to prop up the country’s economy.

Besides generating at least P15 billion in taxes for the national coffers in its 15 years of operation, the Didipio project, is also expected to generate hundreds of employment for local communities as well as additional millions of pesos of local taxes for the local government units.

Maclang likewise said that the other mining sites in Northern Luzon, like the ongoing nickel  exploration in Dinapigue, Isabela and the existing commercial mining operations in Benguet also did not mention any threats on their operations, nor did they request for any additional security.

“Anyway, they seem to have sufficient security which they get from the locality, especially in Didipio, while the mining firms in Benguet have their own private security,” he said.

“Nevertheless,” he said, “our command is more than ready to confront the rebels and prevent them from staging any terroristic activities on the government project, including mining sites and other vital installations.”

Earlier, Senior Superintendent Segundo Duran, Nueva Vizcaya police director, confirmed that communist armed rebels have been sighted near the Nueva Vizcaya-Nueva Ecija-Aurora tri-boundary and even as far as Kasibu town where, besides the Didipio project, a number of other ongoing foreign-backed national-government-sanctioned exploration activities are located.

“We don’t know what their plans are, whether they plan to sabotage the mining installations and other important sites, or they are just out for recruitment activities since their number is reportedly going down,” Duran said.