In self-defense, Subanon guard shoots attacker

03/11/2011



TVIRD issues statement to clarify erroneous reports

As part of TVI Resource Development (Phils.), Inc.’s commitment to Transparency, we post on our website not only the good news but, occasionally, also the bad.

With heavy heart, we have to report the death of a small-scale miner who was killed while violently attacking a security guard of the Subanon indigenous tribe led by Timuay Jose "Boy" Anoy.

We are providing complete information on the incident to correct erroneous reports published by some mainstream media and activist organizations.

For Timuay Anoy’s Statement, click here: pdfs/Statement_from_Timuay_Jose_Anoy_re_Segovia_Incident.pdf

Acting in self defense, a security guard hired by the Indigenous People’s administration of the Subanon ancestral land in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte shot dead a resident of Canunan, Pagadian City after the latter attacked the guard with a bolo at Sitio Canatuan, Barangay Tabayo, in Siocon.

Police authorities identified the victim as Rodolfo Segovia, 47, single. The guard is a Subanon employee of the Nemeses Security Agency in Ipil, Sibugay Province. He has surrendered to Timuay Jose “Boy” Anoy, chieftain and administrator of the 8,213-hectare Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) area of the Subanons of Siocon.

The Siocon Subanons, by virtue of their partnership with TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD), hosts the company’s 508-hectare Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) area within which TVIRD operates a 31-hectare copper-zinc mine. It was learned that Segovia is part of a group of “holdover” small-scale miners (SSMs) who operated in Canatuan prior to the 2004 start of TVIRD’s operations. Despite lengthy negotiations including generous offers of compensation, safety concerns, and repeated requests for Segovia to vacate an area near the mine pit that he was unlawfully occupying, he had been defying the Subanons even threatening the latter with bodily harm.

In a press statement, Timuay Anoy said that the incident started when Segovia and four other holdover SSMs tried to block the dump trucks of MSKS, a trucking contractor of TVIRD. Six trucks were on their way to the mine pit when they were stopped by Segovia’s group using wooden bench and stool to block the road. Witnesses said that when the guard, Arnie Omongia approached the group to ask them to remove the road blocks, Segovia verbally abused the guard with words like “ Matapang ka? Tao ka ni Timuay? Yawa! (Are you brave? Are you a lackey of Timuay? Devil!” Segovia then drew his bolo and attacked Omongia, who was forced to step back to avoid the attack. But according to witnesses Segovia kept on charging. Omongia drew his gun and aimed at his attacker’s leg but missed. He again fired and hit the assailant.

Timuay Anoy said his tribe would cooperate with the police authorities in the ongoing investigation of the case.

The Subanons and TVIRD have been negotiating with Segovia and three families who all claim to be part of the old SSM community in Canatuan. Even before TVIRD started actual mining operations in mid-2004, the company had begun negotiations with about 380 SSM families to relocate away from the mine area primarily for safety reasons. They have been offered a “disturbance compensation” that is many times higher than those prescribed by the provincial ordinance governing real properties.

TVIRD Canatuan General Manager Ely Valmores explained that the “compensation” package is meant to provide the families a good opportunity to earn a decent and lawful living and have a fresh start outside Canatuan. Of the 380 SSM families, only two — none of whom are Subanons – remain within the CADT and MPSA area. The company had offered the families money equivalent to many times the officially assessed value of the properties they claim to be their own and what they claimed as their plants, based on the fair market value of real property in Zamboanga del Norte. These holdover SSMs are asking for what all observers believe is a deliberately unreasonable figure, and has refused both the Subanons’ and TVIRD’s offers since negotiations with them began more than seven years ago.