Haribon Foundation features women in the book “Stories from the Mines… of struggle, sisterhood and solidarity” released by Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM); these are the women “who continue to campaign for human dignity, biodiversity conservation and sustainable communities”.

“We learned many lessons in our struggle. It takes courage, sacrifice and patience amidst fear to do the right thing for the people.”—Rupina “Tina” Batiel Moyaen


Rupina Batiel Moyaen, fondly called Manang Tina, is from Conner, one of the municipalities of the province of Apayao, in the Cordillera Region of Northern Philippines. It is a land of promise as described by Manang Tina.

The town is the home of indigenous peoples of Isnegs and Kalingas. Other indigenous peoples from Mountain Province, Benguet, Abra, Cagayan and lowland provinces migrated to this place. Manang Tina’s family is from the Kankanaey-Igorots of Mountain Province.

“The migrants intermingled harmoniously with the Isnegs and Kalingas until large-scale logging and mining activities came in,” Manang Tina further described.

Entry of commercial logging industry

Manang Tina witnessed how the natural resources of Conner were of enormous interest to corporations. Her story began when three Chinese-Filipino logging concessionaires entered their town from 1975 to 1985. In the process of building roads for the logging trucks, productive agricultural lands planted to fruit trees and food crops were bulldozed. Residents were displaced by the logging operations.

“I was in high school and then college around this time,” Manang Tina narrated. In college, she became an active leader of the Cordillera youth and student organization where the experience of Conner was among those discussed as a manifestation of national oppression on indigenous peoples.

Upon graduating from college, she became a staff of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance chapter in Kalinga-Apayao based in Tabuk, then the provincial capital.

Then militarization
“As a community organizer then and leading an organization that was under attack by the state forces being labeled as a support organization for the New Peoples Army or a communist front, life for us was extremely risky,” Manang Tina related.

She went on to narrate how the government troops were sent to Conner in 1985, thus worsening the human rights situation in the town. Militarization continued until 1995 where local leaders were killed by soldiers and para-military troops. Leaders and members of people’s organizations also experienced intense harassment and various forms of threats.

“I was one of the apple-of-the eye of the military stationed in Conner and nearby Cagayan being one of the noted leaders listed in their ‘order of battle,’” she refreshed her memory.

In a dreadful situation where security and life were always at risk, Manang Tina and members of peoples’ organizations in Conner did not succumb to fear. Instead, they asserted their human rights, and proceeded to do what they believe is right.

Mining also enters
“In the course of rebuilding our lives after the havoc wrought by the logging companies and by militarization, the people of Conner faced another nightmare,” Manang Tina recollected.

The passage of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 provided the legal justification for the entry of mining corporations to the municipality. The applications for mining of various corporations covered almost 81 percent of Conner’s land area, leaving only 19 percent for agriculture.

The Cordillera Exploration Inc. a subsidiary of British-owned Anglo American Co. and the Australian-owned Climax-Oceana Gold, applied for gold and copper exploration.

The applications were supported by government agencies such as the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, an agency established to supposedly protect the rights and interest of indigenous peoples. “Government agencies became the mouthpiece of mining corporations,” Manang Tina, noted sadly.

The people of the community, particularly its women, acted to oppose this threat to their land and livelihood. A community forum on mining was conducted on July 2005, which led to the formation of the Save Apayao People’s Organization or SAPO.

The organization campaigned against the proposed mining exploration and operation. Women called for community dialogues with local officials, developed educational materials on mining that were given out in the communities, and conducted a signature campaign against mining where 20 out of 21 communities in the municipality overwhelmingly voted against mining.

The local officials of Conner warned the people to stop opposing the mining projects or else, they would turn out to be the next victims of political killing. Manang Tina underwent surveillance.

She vividly recalled, “I was unable to leave my house for a month in August 2006 because of threats.
Unidentified motorcycle-riding men were seen at night near my house and my parents’ house. My
child attending nursery school stopped because I could not accompany him anymore to school. I could not even step out of my own doorstep; communication with other officers and members of SAPO was very difficult.”

They brought their issue to the attention of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance , Innabuyog, a regional alliance of indigenous women’s organizations in the Cordillera and the Cordillera Women’s Education Action Research Center .

Besides the local actions and regional support, the mining struggle in Conner was also brought to other fora and events at the national and international level.

Resolved to resist and exist
In the process of resisting the entry of corporate mining into their communities, SAPO has expanded its analysis to link itself with those who are opposing broader national policies and programmes which bring destruction to the land and communities of indigenous peoples.

In September of 2008, several women leaders and members of SAPO set up the women’s committee of the organization. Manang Tina believes that this is one effort to strengthen women’s participation in the people’s struggle against the mining giants while equally responding to specific needs and problems of women to be more effective in participating to community development and empowerment. Another women’s organization is born from a struggle of defending land, life and resources.

The brave women of SAPO say, “We succeeded in stopping the large logging operations, we survived the dark years of militarization. We stopped two giant mine firms in their exploration withstanding pressures from the companies and government officials who colluded with the companies. So what will stop us from completely preventing large corporate mines to operate in our land? There is no better place than Conner, unless we cease living.”

Vernie Yocogan-Diano is the executive director of Cordillera Women’s Education Action Research Center.