NORWAY: Neo-colonialist

Is nothing sacred? Most of us view Norway, which sponsors the Nobel Pace Prize and promotes peace around the globe, as a disinterested force for good. Now Bienvenido Macario sends me this press release about Norwegian efforts to promote peace in the Philippines:

"The exploitation of Oriental Mindoro started as early as 1998 when Norwegian mining company Mindex was allowed to strip mine 9,700 hectares in the central mountains of Mindaro, southwest of Luzon island and the capital of Manila. The $21-million Mindoro Nickel Project planned to build a nickel and cobalt plant that will process 40,000 tons of nickel and 3,000 tons of cobalt each year.

Unfortunately, the areas targeted for mining ran smack dab into communities inhabited by three indigenous peoples, the Mangyan, the Alangan, and the Tadyawan. This ran counter to the Indigenous Peoples Republic Act of 1997, which ascribes ancestral land claims and ancestral domains to each indigenous tribe in the area. The indigenous tribes were also awarded a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claims which grants them "priority rights in the harvesting, extraction, development or exploitation of any natural resources contained within their ancestral domain."

My comment: I know nothing about the subject of this release. Possibly it is true, possibly an accusation by some pro-native group. It falls into the same category as charges that US military action in the Middle East and Colombia are really aimed at protecting American oil interests. They may well be true, but if such action promotes peace and prosperity in the region, everyone benefits.

Ronald Hilton - 12/13/01