Back off or you'll be arrested.

This is the warning issued by the Philippines Environment Secretary Michael Defensor to Canadian anti-mining activists who are helping some members of an ancient tribe save their ancestral land.

Unidentified NPA rebel

"They have no right to meddle in the affairs of the country. They should respect the policies of the Philippines, especially the economic policy to do mining," Defensor said after a recent meeting with pro-mining tribal elders from Mindanao who claimed that they were being used by foreign groups.

Defensor noted that international non-government organizations were becoming invasive in their efforts to rally support against mining activities not only in the Philippines but worldwide.

"I don't mind that they have an advocacy, but for them to agitate, finance people (to go against mining), that's a different thing...

"I can go to the point of having them arrested if we have proof that they are directly agitating communities," Defensor said.

Defensor's remarks were directly aimed at MiningWatch Canada, which is playing a key role in helping segments of a Filipino tribe, the Subanon, oppose Calgary-based TVI Pacific.

TVI Pacific is looking to extricate 182,951 ounces of gold, 6.99 million ounces of silver, 93.8 million pounds of copper and 68.4 million pounds of zinc near Mount Canatuan which is located on the island of Mindanao, approximately 800 kilometres south of Manila.

The Asian Pacific Post: November 4, 2004 issue

The peak of the mountain is the sacred altar to the Subanon tribe whose ancestors settled in the area in the 17th century. The mining company has pumped in close to C$20 million dollars in exploratory work, including organizing its own paramilitary unit. Last year members of the Subanon tribe visited Ottawa to plead with the company and politicians to stay away from their sacred land. Defensor aired his recent warning after pro-mining leaders of the Siocon Subano Association Inc. complained that foreign NGOs were claiming before the international community that the tribe opposed the gold mining operation.

Association president Juanito Tumangkis said the "biggest problem" of the indigenous community in Siocon was the persistent attempt of the NGOs to convince them to oppose TVI operations in their ancestral land.

"But we are not opposed to TVI. We have a MOA (memorandum of agreement) with them, and they have agreed to give us royalties. The NGOs are quoting people who are against mining, but there are less than 10 of them," Tumangkis said, according to local media reports. He said TVI has already remitted around one million pesos (C$23,000) to the association since August last year, he said. The Canadian firm has also spent some 30 million pesos (about C$700,000) for social development projects in the community such as a school and a medical center.

Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada has written to the authorities in Manila stating: "It is clear to us that the presence of TVI has been a source of tragedy, tension and conflict since their first arrival in the area in 1994."

"Since 1999 the people of Canatuan have reported to us that they have been suffering violence and intimidation at the hands of TVI personnel," said Coumans who was in the Philippines last year.

Cash-strapped Philippines, estimated to have a C$1.2 trillion unexploited treasure trove of minerals is promoting the rejuvenation of the mining sector.

Filipino rebels groups have warned Canadian mining firms they will attack their operations in the Philippines should their hunt for minerals damage the environment of the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

The Communist Party of the Philippines--whose military wing has waged a violent insurgency for 35 years with support from overseas Filipino workers, including many in Vancouver--issued the warning as the government tried to woo investors at an international mining conference in Manila earlier this year.

As the rhetoric and threats of attacks intensify environmental activists, students and priests from the Philippines powerful Catholic Church have also joined forces to launch a campaign to gather one million signatures nationwide to oppose the operation of transnational mining companies in the country.