Press Release September 3, 2010 PNoy urged to revoke mining policy Groups say mining has no place in tuwid na daan

Press Release
September 3, 2010

PNoy urged to revoke mining policy
Groups say mining has no place in tuwid na daan

Quezon City – A group of more than ninety environmental organizations called on PNoy to revoke the government’s mining policy yesterday, claiming that large-scale mining has no place in the tuwid na daan (righteous road). In a press briefing at Quezon City, Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) claimed that not only do they have evidence that the mining industry has failed to deliver its promises of economic benefits, but that the industry has also introduced conflicts in mining-affected communities and posed serious threats to the country’s fragile ecological balance.

“If PNoy is really serious in leading the way to his ‘tuwid na daan’, then he should immediately revoke Executive Order 270-A and stop the misplaced priority of the previous administration in aggressively promoting large-scale mining”, said Jaybee Garganera, National Coordinator of ATM. EO 270-A was signed by former Pres. Arroyo in April 20, 2004, amidst strong opposition from local communities, NGOs, indigenous peoples and thte Catholic Church. The EO provides support for the mining industry to entice investors and to drumbeat the mineral industry in the Philippines.

The group cited numerous issues that face the Philippine mining industry since the revitalization drive started, including documented cases of human rights abuses, encroachment on ancestral domains of indigenous peoples, destruction of protected areas and critical watersheds, and even direct potential damage to agricultural lands. “At a time where climate change and natural disasters endanger the lives and livelihoods of rural poor, an extractive and destructive industry such as large-scale mining should not be a priority of the PNoy administration”, ATM stated in a letter addressed to the President.

Relatedly, a national federation of indigenous peoples echoed their dismay that their sector remains to be one of the most marginalized and most threatened by large-scale mining. Giovanni Reyes, Secretary General of the Kalipunan ng Katutubong Samahan sa Pilipinas (KASAPI) said that “our biggest sadness is that not only are our ancestral lands being destroyed by mining that we do not accept, we are victims twice over, as the mining companies and some government officials have conspired to hoodwink us, by fabricating our free, prior and informed consent or FPIC”. FPIC is one of the conditions set before mining is allowed to push through in ancestral lands of indigenous peoples.

In addition, ATM claims that mining is clouded with transparency and accountability issues. “A serious tragedy on the claim of ‘responsible mining’ is the cloak of corporate concealment that prevent communities, and even local government units, to make an informed decision whether to allow mining or not”, claimed Garganera. He stated that it is standard procedure for mining companies to invoke trade confidentiality, regarding mining contracts and other related documents, to effectively force their projects despite the lack of acceptance and consent of communities.

Garganera also said that as the half-way mark of the President’s first 100 days is approaching, they will now start making their voices heard to ensure that the mining policy is revoked. “This is the only way we know to make the President listen to his ‘bosses’”, he said.

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) is an alliance of mining-affected communities and their support groups of NGOs/POs and other civil society organizations who are opposing the aggressive promotion of large-scale mining in the Philippines. The group is calling for the scrapping of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and the enactment of a new mineral management law. They are also pushing for the revocation of EO 270-A and a moratorium on all large-scale mining applications and operations. ATM is convened by HARIBON Foundation, Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center – Kasama sa Kalikasan / Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/FOEI) and the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA).

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For more information:

Jaybee Garganera, ATM National Coordinator, (0927) 761.76.02
Giovanni Reyes, KASAPI Secretary General, (0919) 865.70.13
Farah Sevilla, ATM Policy & Advocacy Officer, (0915) 331.33.61