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24 November 2011

Green groups join protest against PH oil cartel for driving climate change and climate vulnerability

Environmental activists under the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment joined protests today opposing the continuing unregulated hikes in oil prices with the latest rise in diesel prices increasing by P0.20 - P0.45 per liter yesterday. This despite a 70,000 barrels/day decrease in global oil demand reported by the International Energy Agency was seen as a manifestation of an oil cartel ensuring 'business-as-usual' oil production amidst calls for drastic cuts in fossil fuel consumption.

"We see the oil cartel's never-ending oil price hikes not only as a driver of the Philippines' poverty incidence that amplifies people's climate vulnerability, but of dirty fossil fuel consumption as well. The unregulated nature of the oil industry results in its status as biggest contributor to GHG emissions in the Philippines," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan.

The big three oil companies are subsidiaries of global oil monopolists Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and the FTSE 100 index-member Ashmore group. The first two of which are among the biggest oil transnational corporations (TNCs) that contributed to 36% of world fossil fuel-contributed GHG emissions. Kalikasan decried the industry's privatization and the deregulation of the oil industry through RA 8479 or the Oil Deregulation Law as to have pushed a profit-based use of fuel resources.

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24 November 2011

Climate action plan still lacks backbone

May we react to news of the recently approved National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) where Pres. Noynoy Aquino named the greenest president in the Philippines. It is a farce to merit Aquino such a title for his passage of the NCCAP, as it remains merely cosmetic sans resolution of policy issues in RA 9729 or the Climate Change Act of 2009.

By virtue of RA 9729, for instance, the NCCAP still works on a 'business-as-usual' neo-liberal framework that has put into place market-based mechanisms that aggravate the destruction and depletion of our natural resources. It is also silent on the accountability of top historical GHG emissions contributors such as the United States, the biggest stumbling block towards a binding global emissions cut. Aquino's NCCAP also calls for climate financing but refuses to demand US unconditional payment for its historical GHG contributions, as the US logging and mining companies were historically responsible for the massive destruction of our forests.

We would also like to point out that there are anti-people, anti-environment policies such as the Mining Act of 1995, the Fisheries Code of 1998 and the Forestry Code of 1975 that run diametrically opposed to NCCAP's priorities of environmental stability and human security. When you factor in recent trends in Aquino's environmental policy that includes the exclusion of mining corporations from EO 23's total log ban, we are in fact regressing in terms of addressing our nation's vulnerability to climate change.

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11 November 2011

PNoy exemption of corporate mining from log ban is a  grave environmental crime says Kalikasan

Pres. Noynoy Aquino's move to exempt mining operations from the total logging ban was slammed today by environmental activists under the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment as a serious offense to the critical state of the Philippines' forest cover and to the Filipino people. With over 1 million hectares of land including watersheds and protected forest areas already covered by mining permits and applications, mining's exclusion from the log ban is feared to contribute to the worsening of various environmental and social crises faced by Filipino communities.

"The move of President Aquino to exempt foreign and private mining corporations from logging ban will surely lead to fast deforestation and degradation of our remaining forests. The President is committing a grave environmental crime. PNoy deliberately forgets that most of the mining concessions are located in ecologically critical forest areas. This logging ban exemption will surely result to loss of biodiversity and also to community displacement as we have seen in the provinces of Surigao del Norte and Palawan," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan.

Aquino expressed his refusal to ban large-scale mining practices despite the country's bad experiences in mining disasters and ecological destruction. In spite of clear evidences of massive environmental destruction brought about by  Taganito Mining and other corporations in Claver, Surigao del Norte which shows widespread forest denudation and polluted marine ecosystem and other protected areas, the government failed to conduct an investigation and penalize the mining companies in the area.

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10 November 2011

Environmental activists call for more ‘green votes' for Puerto Princesa Underground River

Environmental advocates under the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment today called for more ‘green votes' in support of the Puerto Princesa Underground River's (PPUR) bid for inclusion in the New Seven Wonders of Nature. International recognition of PPUR's natural wonders is perceived to be a boon for Palawan's protection of critical ecosystems against destructive foreign mining.

"The overwhelming support that the famed underground river receives not only from Filipinos but worldwide is proof of the people's awareness and value for the benefits of well-preserved and appropriately utilized environment," said Leon Dulce, campaign coordinator of the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment.

Despite various protected areas and national parks accorded to Palawan's biodiversity hotspots, there are three (3) large-scale nickel mines in operation that have harmfully affected surrounding peasant and indigenous people's communities and its nearby ecosystems.

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9 November 2011

People first before profit: green groups oppose corporate pressure on open-pit mining ban of LGUs

The joint statement of pro-mining business groups calling for an end on mining ban ordinances implemented by various local governments in the Philippines was vehemently opposed by groups under the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment. Citing the industry's history of ecological destruction and economic plunder, the Aquino regime was assailed for its lack of political will against the ‘profit over people' agenda of mining corporations.

"Aquino should respond to calls for ‘decisive action' on the mining ban ordinances by defending our environment and finite mineral resources from the profiteering of foreign miners. Our mining policy must not toe the line of mining plunderers with minimal economic contributions on one hand, and massive crimes against land and lives on the other," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan.

Local governments in Zamboanga del Norte and South Cotobato have both passed local environmental codes banning open-pit mining operations in their provinces. Open-pit mining operations have resulted in massive soil erosion, community displacement and the degradation of forest, agricultural, aquatic and marine ecosystems in at least ten (10) provinces that include biodiversity-rich Palawan.

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7 November 2011

Mining disaster anniversary reminds world of the hazards of mining plunder

The 28th anniversary of the first recorded mining disaster in the Philippines was revisited today with protests by environmental advocates across the Philippines to highlight the destructive "mining crimes" against land and lives caused by foreign mining plunder. Coinciding with the celebration of the 58th Mine Safety Week, the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment decried the continuing environmentally destructive impacts to communities and key ecosystems attributed to foreign mining operations.

"Mining-affected peoples and communities remind us of the real hazards still posed today by foreign mining plunder as we commemorate the 1983 Maricalum mining disaster. Coinciding with the opening of Mine Safety Week, it highlights the unabated proliferation of destructive foreign large-scale mining operations under the Aquino regime," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan.

Kalikasan activists criticized Pres. Noynoy Aquino for accelerating mining liberalization policies that have historically caused major mining disasters in the Philippines. According to DENR, 530 mining applications or projects were either approved or endorsed by the Aquino administration. Cited as an example is the potential acid mine drainage threatened by open-pit mining operations that will most likely follow the exploration activities of Canadian-owned Mindoro Resources Limited Gold Philippines (MRL Gold) in the municipal of Lobo, Batangas.

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25 October 2011

Environmental activists pledge to carry on the struggle against mining plunder and militarization on Fr. Pops' burial

The burial of murdered Italian missionary Fr. Fausto 'Pops' Tentorio today was marked with pledges by environmental defenders to carry on the struggle against mining plunder and militarization. Remembering his fearless stand for the right to land and life of peasants and indigenous peoples, the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment vowed to continue its advocacy against foreign large-scale mining and militarization in the country.

"Fr. Pops' example will always be emulated by environmental activists for his principled stand against destructive large-scale mining, even as it threatened his life. We will continue his struggle against destructive large-scale mining operations threatening the people of Arakan Valley and various other mining-affected areas," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE.

Tentorio is the seventh anti-mining activist killed in 2011, which is also the 43rd case of an environmental defender killing recorded by Kalikasan PNE since 2001. Previously threatened by elements from the Bagani paramilitary group, a Special Civilian Active Auxiliary (SCAA) force under the 73rd Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Tentorio's killing is widely believed to be motivated by corporate-sponsored SCAAs.

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24 October 2011

PNoy sought to be educated on proper regulation of mining operations

President Benigno Aquino III's apparent miseducation on the regulation of mining operations today were sought to be corrected by environmental advocates from the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment. Lack of regulatory measures in existing mining laws and government coddling of pseudo-small scale foreign mining operations were pointed out as the root of negative perceptions toward small-scale mining.

"There is a strong need to reeducate PNoy on mining when he claims that unregulated small-scale mining operations can be solved by large-scale mining, which is historically the most destructive mining practice in the Philippines. It seems there is a deliberate effort from the government and big mining corporations to misinform the public about the impacts of large scale mining and blame these on small scale miners," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE.

The first recorded mining disaster in the Philippines was caused by a large-scale mining operation of the Maricalum Mining Corp. at Sipalay, Negros in 1982, where a tailings pond spill inundated agricultural lands and caused the siltation of the Tao-angan River. The latest recorded mining disaster was by TVI-Pacific's Zamboanga del Norte large-scale copper and zinc mine in 2007, and the worst case recorded was the Marcopper large-scale mining tragedy in 1993.

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PANALIPDAN! MINDANAO
Defenders and Advocates of Environment, Creation and Patrimony in Mindanao

PRESS STATEMENT
October 23, 2011

Fr. Pops' life and mission as sturdy as his Mahogany trees
Group slams mining and Oplan Bayanihan as "lethal combination" that led to priest's murder

‎"Dili importante ang papeles nga atong magunitan. Ang importante ato kini (yutang kabilin). Mapaningkamutan nato, mapabarog nato, mapalambo nato, tungod ug alang sa atong kasaysayan, sa atong kultura, sa atong panginabuhi, ug para sa atong mga kabataan..." (It's not important that we have titles for this land. What's important is that this land is ours. We struggle for it, we defend it, we cultivate it, because it is for our history, for our culture, for our life, and for our youth.) -- Fr. Fausto "Pops" Tentorio's words to a gathering of Manobo indigenous peoples in Arakan valley some years ago.

PANALIPDAN! MINDANAO, a network of advocates for the environment and patrimony, strongly assails theOctober 17 killing of Fr. Pops as the latest assault and brazen killing of yet another defender of the environment, indigenous peoples, and human rights. Fr. Tentorio is the 54th victim of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and the first victim of EJK from the Roman Catholic Church under President Benigno Aquino III.

Having spent more than three decades of his missionary work to uplift and develop Lumad, peasant communities in Mindanao especially in Arakan municipality of North Cotabato, Fr. Pops had grown to be deeply rooted in the life and struggles of communities versus corporate business incursions that threaten people's resources and ancestral lands-the core fiber of their lives.

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19 October 2011

Environmental activists cite similarity of Italian missionary's killing to previous Xstrata ‘murder by mining'

The probability of a murder motivated by a mining corporation with a track record of human rights violations was considered highly likely today by green groups under the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment in the case of Fr. Fausto ‘Pops' Tentorio, an Italian missionary who was killed inside his convent last October 17, 2011.

"Fr. Tentorio was a staunch oppositionist to the entry of Xstrata's open-pit mining in one of their areas of concern. This and the fact that he was already threatened by elements of the Bagani paramilitary group under the 73rd Infantry Brigade indicate the likelihood that mining and military is behind the killings," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE.

The Swiss-owned Xstrata-Sagittarius Mines Inc. (Xstrata-SMI) multinational mining corporation was previously involved in the 2009 killing of Eliezer ‘Boy' Billanes, another environmental activist leader who exposed and opposed the destructive Xstrata-SMI owned Tampakan Copper-Gold Project in South Cotobato. Xstrata-SMI attempted to establish a large-scale mining operation and mines waste facility in Sultan Kudarat, an area of concern for Fr. Tentorio and his organization, the Tribal Filipino Program of the Diocese of Kidapawan.

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17 October 2011

Killing of anti-mining Italian priest condemned by environmental activists

Environmental activists under the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment today condemned the recent killing of an Italian missionary active in opposing large-scale mining plunder and advocating for indigenous people's rights in Mindanao.

"We strongly condemn the killing of Italian priest Fr. Fausto Tentorio. Fr. Pops, as local folks fondly call him, is a man for the masses particularly the indigenous people. Before the time of his death, Fr. Pops and his organization, the Tribal Filipino Program of the Diocese of Kidapawan, are very active in defending the rights of indigenous people and protection of the environment from the entry of large-scale mining in their area," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE.

Fr. Fausto Tentorio and the TFP of the Diocese of Kidapawan are among the most active advocates and staunch oppositionists to the foreign mining project of Xstrata. The project plans to establish an open pit mining and mine waste facility in Sultan Kudarat, one of the areas of concern of the TFP, that will negatively affect the watershed and forests in the said province. Fr. Pops was also very active on the issue of justice and human rights. He was involved in the campaign for justice for killed human rights leader Beng Hernandez, who was killed by the military on April 5, 2002 while she was conducting research on the human rights situation in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato. Arakan Valley during that time was the mission area of Fr. Pops.

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17 October 2011

CHRONIC STATE OF FOOD CRISIS

Hunger, poverty, and violence mark the 2011 World Food Day as civil unrests and social instability occur in developing countries. In 2008, when the global food shortage has intensified, there were food riots in Mexico, Indonesia and Egypt.

This appalling state of hunger is revealed in the October 2010 statistics made by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Out of the 6.8 billion world population, 925 million are found to suffer from hunger and three-fourth of this population comes from Asia and Africa. They are the most vulnerable to various crises because they are economically deprived and ill-equipped to provide the family's basic needs. In developing countries, about 1.3 million people only live on US$1.25 a day or less. US$1.25 is the minimum amount of subsistence set by the Millennium Development Goals Indicators.

In the Philippines, the incidence of hunger is consistently high with 8.9 percent in July of 1998 compared to March of 2011 data on on hunger reaching to 20.5 percent or 4.1 million families.

These are the present scenarios as we commemorate this year's World Food Day with the theme, "Food Crisis-from Crisis to Stability". The FAO and the United Nations (UN) shall be focusing on the factors leading to the constant global increase of food prices and mobilizing stakeholders and players involved in the food production to take initiatives to lessen the impacts of crises to the poor. However, it downplays the conflicting interests of the powerful countries and their transnational corporations, and the poor countries and marginalized sectors that led to the chronic and systemic global hunger and poverty.

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14 October 2011

The people decides what legitimate actions they must use to protect their rights and the environment

The Philippines has historically endured gross environmental destruction caused by mining plunder: from the recorded 1982 Maricalum mining disaster in Negros Occidental, 1996 Marcopper mine-tailings dam collapse in Marinduque, 2005 Lafayette toxic spill in Albay, to the latest 2007 TVI Pacific mine-tailings spill in Zamboanga del Norte. Likewise, the Filipino people have an equally rich history of resistance to violations of their democratic rights to land, life, livelihood, and environment. We in the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment have for over a decade witnessed the contradictions between people's needs and corporate greed.

The mining corporations and the Aquino regime are eager to reach their $17.35 Billion worth of mining investments by 2016 at the expense of community needs and ecological health. Because of this, it is no surprise that the mining projects continue to be met with people's resistance. Several tribal groups are holding a barricade against Australian mining in Pao Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya since 2007. The Subanen people's human barricade in October 2010 protested against the mining exploration of Mt. Pantukis in Zamboanga, an important watershed area.

But time and again, movements pursuing non-violent and legal struggles have been met with a deaf ear and a 'meat head' approach to resolving conflicts. This year only 5 enviornmental activists were killed because of their anti-mining advocacy. President Noynoy Aquino, instead of scrapping the anti-people and anti-environment Mining Act of 1995 continued this policy and even worsened its effects by condoning the practice of deploying the military and private militias to protect foreign large-scale mining. This partnership between the military and the mining corporations who also employ their own paramilitary units is effective under the so-called Investment Defense Force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

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"RESPECT THE SANCTITY OF GOD's CREATION

and LISTEN TO THE CRIES OF THE PEOPLE:

STOP THE CONSTRUCTION OF  ABOITIZ's COAL FIRED POWER PLANT IN DAVAO!"

"Humankind is standing at the edge of a deep chasm due to an increasing global warming and we realize that we are losing our foothold. We cannot allow this to happen.  We have to get our act together to hold our ground and prevent our fall". (AMRSP Statement 2011)

We, the Association of Consecrated Women of the Archdiocese of Davao (ACWAD) are aggrieved by the continuing denudation of our forests, the plunder of our mineral wealth through large scale mining, the destruction of our biodiversity and the increasing depletion of our marine life and fresh water resources.  We are losing our agricultural lands to private corporations for foreign agri-business that use chemical pesticides and fertilizers while some are converted into subdivisions, malls, memorial parks and golf courses.  Our waters are contaminated.  The air we breathe is polluted due primarily to industrial and power plants especially those powered by coal.  All these environmental degradations across the country contribute to global warming which has, in turn, resulted to  "climate change" (AMRSP Statement 2011).  The southern part of Davao City, particularly in the areas of Matina and Bangkal had just experienced flooding that cost the loss of more than 50 lives and displaced hundreds of families. The flooding continues every time heavy rains fall and causes undue stress on people in the area.  Landslides continue to victimize parts of our neighbouring provinces like Compostela Valley, Bukidnon, and Davao del Sur and have killed hundreds of people at the same time destroyed their crops and properties.  More of these will happen and worsen, unless something is done NOW.

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12 October 2011

Mining mercenaries proposal by AFP opposed by environmental activists

The proposal between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the three Surigao del Norte mining firms recently punished by New People's Army guerrillas to train and employ militias was lambasted today by environmental activists under the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment. Citing a long-standing trend of human rights violations occurring alongside increased militarization of mining areas, the bid was decried as a means of skirting the issue of destructive mining practices exemplified by the mines closed by the NPA resistance.

"We see the AFP's collusion with the Surigao mining corporations to heighten militarization in communities severely affected by their mining operations as an open threat to critics of mining plunder. The established link of militarization and human rights violations has been all too apparent in the past decade," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE.

The concept of training SCAAs (Special Cafgu Active Auxiliary) has long been proposed to mining and other extractive industries by the AFP, and has been criticized as ineffective in addressing armed resistance rooted in the destructive operations of mines across the nation. It has been linked to increased incidences of harassment and other human rights violations to communities and environmental advocates. For instance, Kalikasan PNE has recorded since 2001 31 cases of extrajudicial killings involving anti-mining activists, with five (5) out of eight (8) killings under the present Aquino regime also involved in the issue of mining.

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OPPOSE THE CONTINUING ONSLAUGHT ON THE EARTH

"I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce.

But you came and defiled my land and you made my inheritance detestable." (Jeremiah 2:7)

We, the Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF), express alarm over the wanton abuse of natural resources by the Transnational Mining Corporations (TNCs) with their local cohorts in South Luzon Region, especially in Bicol.  The experience of the Bicolano people is no different from the plight of local communities in mining areas throughout the country: massive environmental destruction, shrinking economic base of the people, militarization of mining communities, displacement of communities due to land-grabbing and unjust land-conversion, gross human rights violations, destruction of flora and fauna, and further impoverishment of the country.  The unresolved and ever continuing polymetallic mining operations in Rapu-Rapu Island, Albay,  Labo, Paracale, and Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte, the aggressive mine expansion in Aroroy, Masbate by Filminera Resources Corp., the peculiar magnetite off-shore mining in Camarines Sur by Bogo Mining Resources Corp; the Palanog Cement Plant in Albay, Panganiban and San Andres, Catanduanes, and the deeper quagmire of maldevelopment of mining in Matnog, Sorsogon challenge us to rethink our role as responsible God's stewards of creation ( Genesis 1: 26-31 ).

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5 October 2011

Mining apologists challenged: Rrecognize mining plunder as real cause of mining resistance

Environmental activist group Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment today challenged the Aquino regime and mining industry players to recognize the destructive practices of large-scale mining plunder as root cause of the recent New People's Army (NPA) guerrilla resistance on mining operations in Surigao del Norte.

"The Aquino regime and the pro-mining lobby are trying to play down if not cover up the reality of destructive large-scale mining highlighted by the Surigao del Norte mine raids," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE.

Current government mining policies allow for massive landgrabbing and community displacement, such as the case of Korean Malaysian Philippines Resources covering 93.5 percent of Rapu-rapu Island in Albay under their concession. Countless cases of mining-sponsored environmental destruction such as the 1982 Maricalum mining disaster in Negros Occidental and the latest 2007 TVI Pacific tailing spill in Zamboanga del Norte have negatively affected the natural resource-based livelihood of communities, particularly fisherfolks and peasants.

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04 October 2011

Environment agenda in peace talks urged in light of attacks on Surigao mines

In light of the recent attacks by guerrillas from the New People's Army (NPA) on three mines operating in Claver, Surigao del Norte, the environmental activist group Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment stressed today the need for the immediate resumption of the peace talks between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Philippine government to pursue a peaceful resolution to the environmental degradation and community conflicts brought about by large-scale mining.

"The intensified NPA attacks on mining operations signify the need for the government to immediately address the long-standing negative impacts of large-scale mining in the Philippines. The immediate resumption of the NDFP-GPH peace talks is necessary to push forward the environmental agenda of the people," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE.

Opposing camps on the mining issue have expressed calls for increased liberalization of mineral resources on one hand, and a moratorium on destructive operations, on the other. While investors claim an estimated $20 billion worth of investments over the next five to six years to potentially be lost to permit delays and policy discord, critics stress the minimal actual contributions of mining to the economy, with only 1% GDP contribution and 0.5% employment rate contribution in 2010.

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04 October 2011

Environmental activists express solidarity with persecuted anti-mining advocates

Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment and the Task Force - Justice for Environmental Defenders, express our solidarity with our colleagues, Ma. Geobelyn Lopez of the Madia-as Ecological Movement (MEM), and Hope Hervilla of Bayan-Panay, who were recently harassed with accusations tagging them as communist rebels. We have known Geobelyn and Hope through the years of advocacy work we have engaged with MEM, a member organization of Kalikasan PNE. We are one with their condemnation of this new approach to cracking down on oppositions to mining plunder and other anti-environment activities.

Our network is not new to such strong-arm tactics employed against our advocacies. Vince Cinches, former executive director of Central Visayas Fisherfolk Development Center and current country coordinator of international climate action center 350.org, was similarly harassed by suspected intelligence agents of the AFP last August while preparing for the Moving Planets international action last September 24. Another colleague, Rey Palacio of the Ecowaste Coalition, as well as his wife and 10 year-old daughter, have been receiving death threats since June also this year. This is seemingly related to their opposition to the proposed Obando landfill in Bulacan, owned by EcoShield Corporation and authorized by the Obando local government.

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3 October 2011

Murder of anti-mining advocate  remembered on World Habitat Day

Activists from the environmental-justice group Task Force-Justice for Environmental Defenders today commemorated the 4th anniversary of the killing of Sibuyan anti-mining advocate Arman Marin, which coincided with the international celebration of World Habitat Day.

"The standstill on Arman Marin's murder case and the continuing spate of human rights violations towards Earth's nurturers and defenders mark his 4th death anniversary and the coinciding commemoration of World Habitat Day," said Marjorie Pamintuan, convenor of TF-Justice for Envi Defenders.

Arman Marin was shot during an anti-mining rally by an employee of Sibuyan Nickel Properties Development Corp. (SNPDC), a mining firm engaged in nickel exploration on biodiversity hotspot Sibuyan Island, Romblon. Despite the perpetrator immediately surrendering to authorities, the case remains unresolved.

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