Higaonons mourn loss of Datu Sandigan

In his speech in the recently concluded Mining Conference 2014 organized by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), Vice President Jejomar Binay said, “We must take an accurate inventory of our nation’s natural resources and if possible plot a schedule for harnessing these resources with long-term goals firmly in mind.”

Fausto Orasan, known as Datu Sandigan, to the Higaonons in his community, believed otherwise. Abundant with minerals such as gold, the ancestral domain of the Higaonons in Cagayan de Oro City have been subjected to several mining explorations and under Datu Sandigan’s leadership, the community consistently refused and condemned mining operations.