Ipilan Nickel Corporation claimed that the confrontation between the anti-mining rallyists and their security forces in front of their office in Brgy. Maasin, Brooke’s Point on April 14 was provoked by the protesters.
The mining company pointed out in a statement that the police and their own security personnel behaved “with restraint” as they were clearing the entrance road to their facility.
“Despite a court order to desist from obstructing the haul road and erecting structures on INC’s private property, the trespassers persisted in their brazen acts of defiance, illegally driving a government truck in the middle of the company’s passageway and seriously wounding the company’s security personnel with rocks and improvised pepper sprays,” Ipilan Nickel claimed.
“While some perpetrators may have been restrained, nobody was beaten up. In the face of this lawlessness, the police and the security personnel displayed utmost restraint and avoided violent confrontations,” it added.
Ipilan Nickel said that while it is standing firm with communities in Brooke’s Point as a “beacon of hope” to usher sustainable development while protecting the environment, it continues to face “a relentless campaign of harassment, disinformation, and false accusations from a small but vociferous group of anarchist protesters, backed by politicians and organizations that seek to stymie legitimate economic activities supportive of the Philippine Development Plan.”
It asserted that the demonstrators, which it classified as “extremists”, do not represent the opinions of the company’s majority of progressive-minded townspeople, farmers, and indigenous peoples, whom it serves.
“Instead, they seek to manipulate facts and whip up public sentiment against the truth, peace, and economic recovery,” the mining company said.
According to Ipilan Nickel, cases have already been lodged against those who violated the law by infringing on the rights of those who placed their trust in the government-mandated mineral project.
Anti-mining groups had earlier insisted that their rally was within the areas allowed by the permit accorded to them by the local government.
“May common point yung dating barangay road at yung hauling road nila. Hindi naman ibig sabihin na nagpatayo sila ng kalsada eh sa kanila na ang buong kalsada. Daanan yan,” said one of the rally organizers Job Lagrada.
The local protesters also maintained that the security forces blocked the truck while the rallyists were still unloading.
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