A Taste of Power
In South Cotabato, an indigenous community has always lived without electricity—until now. What is it like to finally have a taste of power?
We call on the government to support distributed renewable energy (DRE) systems in ancestral domains as part of its menu of responses to the climatecrisis.
The Wound That Never Heals
Today, on World Environment Day, we affirm our solidarity with communities scarred by mining. In this video, we look at an indigenous people in the Philippines who are nursing a wound, thanks to mining, that never heals.
Sulagad for Land and Nature
On the occasion of LRC's 32nd anniversary, we are proud to share our short documentary on sulagad, the worldview of the Teduray and Lambangian which holds nature as a sacred source of life. It also refers to their practices related to growing and consuming food that respects or is harmonious with agro-ecological principles. Sulagad is thus one of the models for sustainable development.
Massacre of 8 Taboli-Manobo indigenous peoples in a coffee plantation in South Cotabato, Philippines
December 3, 2018 -- One year ago today, 8 Taboli-Manobo community members in Barangay Ned, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato were killed in an alleged military operations against communist rebels. But to tag them as “rebels” is to disregard their rights as defenders of their land and ancestral domain. For more than 28 years, they have struggled, with Datu Victor, to protect their ancestral domain from the encroachment of coffee plantations and coal mining.
Lost Rivers, Lost Lives: 25th Anniversary of the Marinduque Minespill
December 6, 2018 -- 25 years ago today, Marinduque experienced the worst mining disaster in Philippine history. The Marcopper-buillt Mogpog river dam burst, flooding the downstream villages in Mogpog. A toxic deluge swept through the valley, submerging villages, farmland, and the town of Mogpog where two children were swept to their deaths.
The Marcopper mine spill was the worst mining disaster in Philippine history. It rendered Marinduque island's rivers and bay lifeless, leaving fishing and farming families severely affected.
More than two decades on, justice remains elusive for the people of Marinduque. Let's not forget the people and communities of Marinduque.
What happened in Marinduque should remind us how difficult it is to exact accountability from large-scale mining companies. It is high time we scrap the 1995 Mining Act, which just gives large-scale companies who destroy the environment a slap on the wrist. We need to pass the Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB), which will wrest the control of our natural resources from large-scale mining and return it to the government.
Marcopper and Asian Development Bank, which initially funded the project, are still not held liable.
It is time that governments sign the UN Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights to hold Transnational Corporations accountable for projects that cause grave human rights violations and environmental disasters. This liability must also extend to International Financial Institutions that fund those projects.
Evacuees in their own land
The Lumad are in danger of becoming a “minority within a minority.” Watch our video and find out why.
Defending the Last Frontier
In 1991, the DENR issued a licensed agreement, which was a year later converted into the Industrial Forest Management Agreement (IFMA). In this video, we see how this affects the lives of the T'boli living in Sitio Datal Bonlangon and their call for the cancellation of the agreement that threatens the survival of their people, as well as their rights to their ancestral lands.
Marcopper Mining Disaster
Pilipino ang nagdurusa, dayuhan ang nagtatamasa. Ano ang halaga ng kaunlaran kung ang kapalit nito ay kapahamakan sa ating mamamayan?" In this short documentary, we learn why the Marcopper Mining Disaster is not just a mining disaster but also one of the largest environmental disasters to occur in Philippine history. Find out how it continues to affect the lives of the people living in Marinduque and why even two decades later, there is still no end in sight for the victims' quest for justice.
A short video documentary about the struggle of the residents in the small village of Brgy. Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya against OceanaGold, a multi-national gold mining corporation from Australia who was one of the first awarded with the Financial Technical Assitance Agreement (FTAA) under RA no. 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.