change occurring in levels greater than decades ago, these threats against ecosystems which are sources of food, livelihood, and medicine as well as human communities are aggravated as they become more exposed to intensified weather events such as typhoons and droughts, without healthy ecosystems as shields. Brgy Didipio in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya and Tampakan, South Cotabato face human health and security risks as mining operations destroy natural resources and pay no mind to the aftermath. Dust has filled the surroundings of Brgy. Didipio as a result of the destruction of homes, forests, and mountains for mining operations25. Furthermore, the Didipio River has been reported to have increased toxicity levels as a result of heavy metal concentration spewed by the mines26.The mining area in Tampakan sits on fault line, which increases the risk of seismic activity that poses threat to the spilling of the dam for mine tailings and the contamination of flood waters with toxic mine waters. The presence of extractive corporations operating in the Philippines presents risks for the human right to the highest attainable health standards for affected communities. Mining activities have negatively affected the right to health in several accounts. These health-based impacts, which can be associated with the release of dust or chemicals into the air, water or soil, are particularly prevalent in the contexts where heavy metals enter into water sources as a result of mining. Health risks brought about by mining operations are magnified by the lack of adequate State service for medical care in the indigenous communities24. The impacts of climate change include more and frequent rainfall, stronger and more typhoons. In areas where mining operates within watershed areas, these stronger typhoons caused massive devastation in downstream communities. The typhoons Sendong (December 2011) and Pablo (December 2012) had heavy toll in the downstream communities, including the Manobo and Mandaya communities. Mining in the upstream of Compostela Valley has been identified as the main culprit for such devastation. At present, the Philippines is considered as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. According to the 2014 Maplecroft report, Philippines ranks 9th in the most vulnerable countries. Meanwhile, as of 2015, there are overlaps of areas covered by mining tenements and areas considered high risk and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change – flooding and landslides.27 This poses real danger in the lives of the communities, particularly the most vulnerable sectors within these – the women and children. Violence against Women Human Rights Defenders As they experience increasingly hunger, poverty and are more exposed to different forms of vulnerabilities because of the mining presence in their communities, more rural and indigenous women are in the frontlines of campaigns and community struggles against large scale mining operations, and in asserting their rights. This, in turn, has made them targets of threats, harassment and violence. To date, there are at least 153 women activists who have risked their lives defending human rights since 2001, 18 of whom were killed during the Aquino administration28. The killings of the male leaders have also grave impacts on the lives of the women in the families, and communities. It is the wives and the mothers of the slain husbands and sons who, despite their own grief, have to remain steadfast and find ways to sustain their families on their own. This increases the burden on their shoulders, taking on any kind of jobs, rendering themselves vulnerable to different forms of abuses. 24 INEF, Misereor, Fastenopfer, Brot fuer Alle, Human Rights Impact Assessment of the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project, 2013, p. 47 Farah Sevilla, “Tracing the impacts of mining among women in Philippine rural communities: the case of Ifugao women in Didipio, Kasibu” (25 November 2014) 26 Ibid 27 De Vera, Dave. PAFID Maps 2015. 28 According to Tanggol Bayi, an indigenous women’s rights group in the Philippines (cited in Judith A. Pasimio, “Policy Study on Women Human Rights and the Mining Industry in the Philippines,” (LILAK Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights) 25 7