According to the Human Rights Watch website, corporations faced continued scrutiny of their human rights performance throughout the world beginning in the late ‘90s. The two key sectors under fire, the website mentions, were the apparel and footwear industry, for labor rights violations, and the energy industry, for complicity in human rights violations committed through partnerships with repressive governments.

The global mining industry, too, has been under the microscope of human rights advocates in recent years. Concerns raised have to do with compensation to farmers for land appropriated for mining, with alleged violent actions by security forces of mining firms, or with alleged deprivation of cultural rights of indigenous peoples whose ancestral lands cover mining areas. TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD) has not been exempted from similar allegations, but has been able to throw light on criticisms against its operations in many different forums both in the Philippines and in Canada, where its affiliate, TVI Pacific Inc., is based.

Among the TVI Group of Companies’ responses to those allegations is the development of policies and programs to address the potentially negative impact of its operations on human rights. Clifford James, President and Chief Executive Officer of TVI Pacific Inc has reiterated the Group’s commitment to promote and preserve human rights in communities where the Group operates, i.e., rights to health, education, life and security, work, culture, adequate standard of living, self-determination and freedom of association. This commitment is reflected in the many different community relations and development projects that TVIRD has been implementing in its host and impact communities.

To familiarize TVIRD employees with the voluntary standards and tools on human rights that the it has adopted, the Company recently launched a series of Staff Development Seminars on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for all field personnel of the Company’s Community Relations and Development Office (CReDO).      


Rocelle Magpayo, Program Officer for TVIRD’s Human Rights Initiative, facilitated the seminars in Siocon, Jose Dalman, and Dipolog City, all in Zamboanga del Norte province; as well as in Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur. The Company has a Gold-Copper project at Canatuan in Siocon, and exploration activities in Tamarok, Jose Dalman and Balabag, Bayog.

The seminars were initiated by Feliece Yeban, TVIRD Vice President for Social Commitments, who believes the program will equip the Company’s frontline personnel with knowledge and understanding of human rights as they help advance TVIRD’s CSR practices. “Equipping CREDO staff with the fundamentals of CSR is just the first step towards building a culture of human rights within TVIRD,” she said.

The workshop was divided into three sessions: Human Rights Relative to Mining; Canadian CSR Standards in the Extractive Industry; and Introduction to CSR, which focused on the voluntary tools and standards.


“Everybody who attended the seminar was appreciative of the Company’s initiative of educating them about the human rights framework and TVIRD’s commitments under that framework,” Magpayo averred. “This reflects CReDO’s openness and willingness to engage the Company’s various stakeholders as it implements its development programs for the community.”

Plans are underway for the holding of similar Staff Development Seminars for other TVIRD employees to further promote awareness of human rights and CSR among the Company’s workforce.

Yeban concluded: “We are developing a CSR education program for the management, employees, and partner communities in the hope that there will be convergence of efforts by all stakeholders to achieve the second product of the Company, which is sustainable community development.”