Resistance to mining continues to grow
By atm.admin - Posted on September 9th, 2010
BY DAN MARIANO, The Manila Times, September 8, 2010
Ten billion pesos seems like an impressive figure. That is the annual total revenue the government generates from large-scale commercial mining in this country.
Environmental advocates, however, see P10 billion as a puny price to pay for all the ecological damage and sociopolitical grief, which commercial mining operations have wrought in the Philippines.
Very little of the gold, iron ore and other minerals that mining companies extract from our soil ends up benefiting our economy. For the most part, they are shipped directly and practically unprocessed to China, Taiwan, Singapore and other neighboring countries which have developed an insatiable appetite these and other raw materials.
In exchange, Filipinos are left with mountains leveled, land scarred, waterways poisoned and entire communities displaced by mine operators—many of them foreign companies whose stake in this country is at best short-term.
The island-province of Marin-duque is a case in point. In 1996 some three million tons of mine waste, from a pit tunnel built by Marcopper, leaked into the 26-km long Boac River. The result: disaster.
According to published reports, flashfloods isolated villages and one was buried under six feet of floodwater. Waterways and the valley floor were buried under mine tailings. Farms were inundated, and villagers lost their source of drinking water.
Fish, shrimp and other food sources, which are the main livelihood for those who do not work for Marcopper, were destroyed. Government and other experts declared the Boac River ecologically dead. Residents of 20 out the 60 villages near the Marcopper mines were forced to abandon their homes.
A report released on April 17, 1996 by the Department of Health found nine residents in the area to have zinc levels in their blood more than 200 percent above safe limits. Water samples found levels of contamination 1,300 percent above the human tolerable level of .5 microgram per 1/1000 liters of water.
Despite these findings, Mar-copper insisted that its tailings were non-toxic despite complaints from villages afflicted with skin irritations and respiratory problems, likely caused by the poisonous vapors emitted from tailings.
Owned by the Canadian company Placer Dome, Marcopper has earned the distinction of causing the worst industrial accident in the country’s history.
As a result of the Marinduque incident and others like it, resistance to mining has grown in the Philippines. Nowadays, it is no longer to limited to displaced villagers—many of them members of cultural minorities—or environmental advocates or activist clergy.
Several provincial governments have declared a mining moratorium in their respective jurisdictions. Since July, local government authorities have ordered a halt to commercial mining in South Cotabato, Bulacan, Quezon, Surigao del Norte, Zam-bales, Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Davao Oriental, Capiz, Iloilo as well as Northern, Eastern and Western Samar—not to mention, Marinduque and Al-bay where mining has been banned for years.
Even smaller jurisdictions—such as three municipalities on Sibuyan Island in the province of Romblon—have exercised their powers under the Local Government Code to halt commercial mining.
The loudest objection to commercial mining comes from cultural minorities whose ancestral domains are the frequent target of commercial mining companies.
For instance, tribal protests against mining operations in Zambales are a factor in the decision of provincial governor Hermogenes Ebdane, a former PNP director general and member of the Arroyo cabinet, to declare a mining moratorium.
Tribal leaders, however, report that despite Ebdane’s order, quarrying persists in parts of the province.
Speaking at the Kapihan sa Sulo last Saturday, Salvador Dimain of the Aeta and Cabatuan tribes, said that quarry operators are still able to “haul away boulders as big as houses making our communities even more vulnerable to landslides and flashfloods.”
Although the results of the provincial moratoriums appear mixed, groups like the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) said they are encouraged by the initiative of local government authorities.
In the face of mounting resistance to their operations, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines is set to hold the so-called 2010 International Mining Convention and Exhibit on September 14 to 15 in Manila.
Conference organizers aim to bring together mining companies, geologists, service providers, financial advisers and government officials. The gathering seeks to secure support from the new administration of
President Benigno S. Aquino 3rd even as mining companies reel from the effects of the global financial crisis as well as the mining moratorium declared by local authorities in many parts of the country.
“Responsible mining is a myth,” said Jaybee Garganera, ATM national coordinator.
“If the Chamber of Mines is serious in peddling this myth to investors for them to come to the Philippines, we are sure there are interesting items we can discuss with them.”
ATM and other groups are asking to be given “just 30 minutes” to bring up their concerns at the mining conference.
Another Kapihan sa Sulo guest Fr. Archie Casey, said the mining industry should agree to the proposed dialogue “so that they can prove that their mining operations are not unsustainable mining, not irresponsible mining and not dirty mining.”
A Roman Catholic priest originally from Ireland, Casey co-chairs the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines.
As of this writing, however, conference organizers have sent no response to the offer of a dialogue with ATM and other groups—which a shame.
By closing its eyes and ears to the mounting objections to their operations, the industry is denying itself the opportunity to appreciate the scope and breadth of resistance to large-scale commercial mining.
Groups like ATM are calling on Congress to scrap Republic Act 7942, also known as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, and to enact in its stead a new mineral management law.
One of the authors RA 7942, former Sen. Francisco “Kit” Tatad, said at the same media forum that he too agrees that there is a need to revisit the law.
“When we sponsored this law in 1994 what we had in mind was to give support to the then-ailing mining industry,” Tatad explained. “Unfortunately, the implementing rules and regulations subsequently issued for RA 7942 violated the spirit of the original law.”
The former lawmaker said he would be willing to join ATM and other groups in their protest actions.
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Mining
I want to express my solidarity with all all those that are feeling the grief of losing a good person like Dr. Ortega. A life taken away from the world but has created a spark that will be seen in more places than Dr. Ortega would have been able to physically reach himself alive.
God works in mysterious ways, and in His way he used Dr. Ortega to sacrifice his life for a cause worth fighting for, the preservation of the precious commodity that God has given us - our land and its natural resources. Where he is right now, I can almost imagine a smiling Dr. Ortega. I did not know him before his death, now I do. His death has given me inspiration to be involved more than I used to in this crusade to fight for our environment. Dr. Ortega's death is not in vain.
In my small ways, I am going to contribute to this cause, in anyway possible.
Thank you Dr. Ortega for a life well lived, because your death has inspired many, including myself.
Charito Escudero
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