Blaans decry German human rights study

SOUTH COTABATO, Philippines – Blaan tribesmen have decried a human rights impact assessment made by a German group as an “insult” to their tribe and their elders.

The study was supposedly made in relation to the Tampakan copper-gold project of Sagittarius Mines Inc., which straddles the boundaries of South Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat, part of the ancestral domain of the Blaans.

In a statement, Blaan leaders said the human rights impact assessment is a “judgment” rather than an assessment, and lacks “quantitative and qualitative bases.”

According to the study, the mining project would allegedly require the destruction of large pristine forests, pose serious risk to the local water supply, and require the resettlement of approximately 5,000 indigenous people.