E/CN.4/2003/90/Add.3 page 17 • During a visit to the Victoria mine, the Special Rapporteur was informed by mining executives and given documentation detailing the technical aspects of the operation. He was told that the company abides by strict international standards of environmental management, and he also spoke with family members of the local mine workers who explained that were it not for the mine they would probably be out of work altogether. While no doubt some community members have benefited from the mine’s operation, others who attempt to maintain their traditional ways of life have indeed suffered. They despair of the fact that their needs and interests were not taken into account when mining operations were decided upon, and they fear the company’s intention to expand its activities in the future. Those who have worked in the mine complain of low wages and sub-standard working conditions.20 36. A number of indigenous organizations have also complained about the negative impact brought about by Industrial Forest Management Agreements (IFMA) under the jurisdiction of DENR. The gist of complaints is that these agreements provide concessions to companies interested in establishing and operating large-scale tree plantations. Through these agreements, the IFMA awardees will secure the land and resources within their contract areas. One local datu in San Luis, referring to the negative impact of this process, complained that “logging companies are better than tree plantation operations because the former only steal the trees; the latter steal the trees when they clear the forests, as well as the land, where they plant their seedlings”. The local indigenous organizations perceive IFMA as acquiring legal control over lands and resources that properly belong to the affected indigenous communities. 37. As indigenous peoples are displaced from their traditional territories, they often end up as poor urban migrants, a condition which was brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur during his consultations in Baguio City and Manila. In the urban setting they live in dismal conditions, without adequate shelter, jobs, or basic social services. They cannot afford expensive housing, do not easily find jobs and even low-paying jobs are out of reach because, in most cases, they lack formal education. For instance, more than half of Baguio City’s total population comprise indigenous peoples from the Cordillera villages. The main factors pushing indigenous farmers to the city are a lack of livelihood sources, almost non-existent basic social services, tribal conflicts or war and militarization. About 65 per cent of the indigenous migrants in Baguio City suffer from extreme poverty due to underemployment and joblessness.21 38. The Special Rapporteur was informed that indigenous areas are frequently subject to sweeping military operations to clear the way for future development projects, be they mining, logging, or large-scale plantations on indigenous lands, while government sources claim that these military operations are part of the fight against the insurgents. Thus, tribal areas are combed by the military once or several times in anticipation of the activities of certain economic enterprises, which may be resisted by the local indigenous communities. Such operations may result in land dispossession, forced displacement, physical abuse, torture, arbitrary detention, summary executions, destruction of houses, including the reported bombing of an indigenous village, as well as “hamleting”, (see para. 48 below) and appear to form part of recurring patterns of human rights abuses committed against Philippine indigenous peoples in anticipation of the establishment of major development projects in indigenous areas.22