Thank you for the invitation to present at this committee this afternoon.
The Canadian and Quebec chapters of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines have carried out multiple human rights missions in the north in Luzon and the south in Mindanao among indigenous peoples affected by mining activities.
Canada's share of mining in the world is considerable. According to the Department of Natural Resources, nearly half of the world's mining companies are headquartered in Canada. Canadian companies own 15% of mining in the Philippines. The Philippines attracts foreign mining interests, as it ranks the 50th most mineral-rich country with approximately $1 trillion in untapped minerals.
The Philippine government has also made investing particularly easy. The Mining Law of 1995, aimed at foreign mining investors, was introduced as the country struggled with the national debt accumulated during the Marcos dictatorship and a decline in mining operations in the early 1990s. The law also reflected the pursuit of rapid privatization and free-market economies promoted by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
In the House of Commons during question period on May 3, a Liberal MP asked a question of a Liberal minister and, without paraphrasing them, it is clear that they agreed that the Philippines is an El Dorado for Canadian investors wishing to do business there. However, our experience is that the Philippines is first and foremost an El Dorado of human rights abuses. Therefore, we must invest with caution in this country if we do not want to contribute directly or indirectly to human rights abuses, especially in the mining sector.
We have seen this with our own eyes working with the Igorot and Lumad peoples. Powerful commercial and political actors circumvent the requirement of free, prior and informed consent. This principle is regularly manipulated through corruption and intimidation, as indicated in several independent studies submitted to the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.