Mt. Diwalwal chiefs sign accord with government

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The tribal leaders in Mt. Diwalwal, Monkayo, Compostela Valley have finally forged with the Philippine Mining Development Corp., the government’s mining marketing arm, a 10-year operating agreement for the exploration, development and operation of a 950-hectare area in the gold-rush area.

The 950 hectare-area granted to the Indigenous Cultural Community belonging to the Manadaya, Manobo, Manguangan and Dibabawon tribes in Monkayo, actually forms part and parcel of the 8,100-hectare Mt. Diwalwal mineral reservation area in whose name the certificate of ancestral domain title was issued by the National Commission on Indigenous People.

The operating agreement between the leaders of the said four tribes and PMDC president Oliver Butalid was reportedly signed on June 17 after it was postponed for several times already. – Edith Regalado