ABSTRACT
Building on critical perspectives on the state and the informal economy, this article provides an analysis of the “state of the state” on the eastern Mindanao mineral frontier. In the first instance, the author explains that the massive expansion of informal small-scale gold mining, instead of undermining state rule, has given rise to joint institutions of extraction that promote the interests of local politicians and informal miners, amongst others. Relying on the coercive and legitimizing strengths of local state institutions, local politicians have created an environment conducive to the persistence and arguably the further expansion of small-scale gold mining. In the process, they not only beef up their personal authority and the state's fiscal revenues, but also contribute to the consolidation of state rule on the upland frontier. Transcending the local level, this parallel process of small-scale mining expansion and state consolidation, the author argues, can be understood as the result of a long-standing tradition of decentralized state building through local strongmen-politicians. Finally, attention is drawn to the expansion of large-scale mining and how it is highly likely to upset the sociopolitical stability built around joint extraction regimes in the informal small-scale mining economy.
Notes on contributor
Boris Verbrugge is a PhD student and research fellow at Conflict Research Group, Ghent University. For his PhD, he has done extensive field research in small-scale gold mining areas in the southern Philippines. Specific research interests include the relationship between informal mining and the state, historical processes of differentiation in the sector, and the precarious position of its informal workforce.
Notes
1Note that I consistently use the term small-scale mining (SSM), the legal and popular term in the Philippines, rather than the internationally established term artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM).
2All dollars are US dollars unless otherwise noted.
5The empirical material presented in this article was collected during eight months of field research in mining areas throughout the Philippines, with a particular focus on Compostela Valley Province. More than 200 open-ended interviews and many more informal discussions were conducted, with a prime focus on small-scale miners, upland settlers and local politicians.
12This point was thoughtfully raised by one of the anonymous reviewers.
18Collier and Hoeffler Citation2004 famously argued that rebellion in the post–cold war era is motivated by greed rather than grievance. This argument has been hotly debated and refined in the burgeoning literature on the “resource curse.” For an overview of the existing evidence base, see Cuvelier et al. Citation2013.
33Relevant laws and regulations can be consulted on the website of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, see www.mgb.gov.ph.
34In descending order: region, province, municipality and barangay.
37The following historical account is based primarily on interviews with local landowners and other key informants, including two anthropologists–historians. See also Abinales Citation2000 and Tiu Citation2005.
38Davao City is the major urban hub in eastern Mindanao.
43These observations build on a combination of own field research and Abinales Citation2000.
46See, amongst others, Vitug Citation1993 and Abinales Citation2000; but their observations were confirmed by my own field research findings.
47For a more elaborate history of small-scale mining expansion in Compostela Valley, and the “capital interests” involved in it, see Verbrugge Citation2014.
48This argument has been further developed in another article submitted for peer review.
49Interview with barangay officials, Bukal, October 2012.
51For additional evidence concerning the regulatory role of local politicians in informal land markets, see Gulane Citation2013.
53Interview with miner-landowner, Bukal, October 2012.
54Interview with barangay official, Nabunturan, February 2014; but see also Chap. 3 in Hedman and Sidel Citation2000.
55Interview with barangay official, New Bataan, February 2014.
56Interview with barangay captain, Bukal, February 2012.
62High-grade is a term that is very difficult to define. In short, it simply means a lot of gold in a short time span.
63A community tax certificate, or cedula, is the first requirement in order to qualify for any kind of permit or license or to conduct a business transaction in the barangay.
64Interview with barangay council member, Nabunturan, January 2014.
68Interview, Bukal, October 2012.
70Interview Melvin Lamanilao, Revenue Watch Philippines, Davao City, February 2014.
74Interview with mining financier, Bukal, September 2012.
80On the Philippine experience of decentralization, see Eaton Citation2001.
85Interview with anonymous respondent, Quezon City, March 2013.
93For an analysis of executive order 79, see La Viña and De Leon Citation2012.
95APEX mining in Maco municipality is a notable expansion.
96On the recent Chinese incursions in the Philippine mining sector, see Wong et al. Citation2013.
98Of particular relevance here are the Local Government Code of 1991, the Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991 and the Indigenous People's Rights Act of 1997.
99For a journalistic account of the Diwalwal gold rush, see Gonzales and Conde Citation2002.
102Interview with anonymous respondent, Davao City, February 2012.
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