Dumagat tribe leaders laud MPSA cancellation

A group of Dumagat tribe leaders in Sierra Madre expressed their full gratitude to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources following the agency’s announcement to cancel four Mineral Product Sharing Agreements in the upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape during its budget hearing at the Senate.

In the budget hearing, DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga disclosed that MPSAs are already cancelled while the other two have been given notices for cancellation and are only awaiting a 90-day of effectiveness.

The Dumagat indigenous tribes living in the protected area expressed relief on the announcement.

“Secretary Loyzaga wiped away our fears over the then-impending violation and decimation of our sacred mountain, including the trees, wildlife, river and water supply for our crops and consumption,” said the tribe leaders in a joint statement.

“The MPSAs cause great damage not just to us but also to our fellow countrymen living in the lowlands that experience flooding and landslides every year,” they added.

Prior to Yulo-Loyzaga’s announcement, the recently cancelled MPSAs were only suspended despite the public announcement of cancellation by former DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu in 2020.

In the same hearing, Yulo-Loyzaga said that with these cancellations, there will be no more MPSAs inside the protected area of the upper Marikina River Basin, stressing that quarrying and mining are prohibited within protected areas.