While admitting that dialogues seeking community members’ consent had been conducted, GIPCO claimed that the December vote established that the company had failed to get the support of the majority of the local people for the project. GIPCO further alleged that money had been distributed to some residents who attended the meetings.
Barangay Lamag mining vote
In April 2008, the indigenous people of Barangay Lamag, in Quirino town, Ilocos Sur, rejected an application for mining exploration. The Philippines’ Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) requires the free and prior informed consent (FPIC) of indigenous communities to resource development projects. As a result, the Ilocos Sur provincial office of the National Commission on Indigenous Population facilitated the local vote.
The vote asked the indigenous people for their position on proposed mining exploration by the Phelps Dodge company in their ancestral domain. The result of the vote was that that 34 residents voted in favor of the exploration, while 118 voted against.
Turkey
In Turkey, an unofficial local vote was held in 1996 in eight villages located near a potential gold mine proposed by Eurogold. It was reported that 89% of the eligible voters turned out in a “unanimous” verdict against the mine. Because it was not a formal election, it had no legal import.
Local citizens filed suit over the mine, and the Turkish Supreme Court ruled that the mine’s operating permit was not consistent with the public interest and the enjoyment of the right to life and the right to a healthy environment. The European Court of Human Rights subsequently found that the government of Turkey’s efforts to evade the judgment of the Supreme Court of Turkey violated the right to respect for family life, the right to a fair trial, and the right to an effective remedy.
