In Cordillera, a "mabtad" is declared in times of emergency, such as when a tribe member disappears, to prompt community mobilization. The family of missing Igorot activist James Balao, on November 17, echoed the indigenous call in the House of Representatives as militant lawmakers filed a resolution seeking a congressional probe into the disappearance.

New York - In response to allegations from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) last month that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo would file claims against the New Peoples Army (NPA) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for purportedly recruiting child soldiers into their combat ranks while in the United States, a local rights group met with Human Rights Watch (HRW) October 8 to refute the charges, and condemn the scheme as “a tactic of the Arroyo government to sanitize its image to the international human rights community instead.”

Contrary to Pres. Arroyo’s statement that the ratification of Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) will protect the country from the global financial crisis, research group IBON Foundation says it will make the country more vulnerable to economic shocks.

Different green groups headed by Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) with the mining-affected residents of Rapu-rapu, Albay staged a protest action October 10 in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). This is to mark the third year anniversary of the massive mine spill caused by Australian-owned Lafayette Mining Limited.

For the past months, Gov. Grace Padaca has been actively campaigning against illegal logging in Isabela, and has in fact successfully confiscated logs worth millions of pesos. But for Kalikasan-PNE, a militant environment group, efforts to curb forest denudation must be focused on big-time loggers and the politicians behind them.

"We challenge the governor to expose and persecute big-time loggers and corrupt politicians instead of going after poor communities doing small-scale logging in her province. She has the authority and responsibility to do this. In addition, statistics and studies have shown that the major denuders of forest are the big-time legal commercial loggers who are also the main financiers and buyers of illegal logging in the country," Kalikasan-PNE National Coordinator Clemente Bautista Jr.

According to a study made by Center for Environmental Concerns, an environmental education and research NGO, legal or government-sanctioned logging accounts for 68% of the total forest cover loss from 1981 to 2002, while illegal logging accounts only for 2%.

"Facts show that the big-time commercial loggers in Isabela are the ones who cleared vast tracts of forest and even up to now are the main culprits of forest destruction in the province. In 2006, one logging company in Isabela was allowed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to log 25,887 hectares of forest; this is already way more than the declared forest reserve in the province. Also, in 2006, there were 7 logging companies which have Industrial Tree Plantation Agreement (ITPLA) which allow them to exploit a total of 62,266 hectares of forest areas. This reflects how the policy of Arroyo government and the DENR favors commercial logging over forest conservation and rehabilitation," explains Mr. Bautista.

October 2008

Environmental activists, mining-affected communities, indigenous peoples, and Church representatives staged a demonstration October 14 in front of the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in protest of the ongoing 8th Asia Pacific Mining Conference. The conference is organized by the ASEAN Federation of Mining Associations (AFMA), Philippines Chambers of Mines, and the Minerals Development Council of the Department of Natural Resources.