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Mining companies eager to lay their hands on Albay’s rich mineral resources will now face stiff opposition from the provincial government.

Governor Joey Salceda signed on Friday the provincial board resolution strongly opposing any future mining activity in the province.

ROMBLON, Jan. 24, 2011—The indigenous Ati community in Romblon’s Odiongan town has rejected a mining company’s claim that it had consented to a mining exploration in the community’s ancestral domain.

Ati chieftain Pabling Vallejo said his community is against the exploration project during a forum on Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) and mining conducted by Romblon Ecumenical Forum Against Mining (REFAM).

MANILA, Jan. 22, 2011—Local church leaders are calling for mining ban in the province of Romblon claiming that the industry destroys people’s lives and their relationship with one another, the environment and God.

Msgr. Ernie Nonato V. Fetalino, HP, chairman of Romblon Ecumenical Forum Against Mining (REFAM) said that human beings are called to be stewards of the earth, and as such, should not abuse it.

Zubiri, chairman of the SenateCommittee on Environment and Natural Resources, filed Senate Bill 2550 seekingto establish a Magna Carta for Environment and Natural Resources Personnel.

The bill aims to promote andimprove the health, physical safety, social and economic well-being ofenvironment and natural resources personnel, their living and workingconditions, security and terms of employment.

Zubiri cited there had beennumerous cases of unresolved crimes against environmental activists,anti-mining leaders or the so-called “green army” and even journalists involvedin environmental protection campaign.

A group of environmental organizations is urging President Aquino to revoke the government’s mining policy because it weighs down on administration’s efforts to tread on tuwid na daan (right path). 

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) claimed that the mining industry as a whole has failed to deliver on economic benefits it promised. Moreover, it said, mining ventures in the country have not only triggered conflicts among communities but also posed serious threats to the country’s fragile ecological balance.

Antonio Oposa, Jr., pioneer in the study of environmental law in the Philippines and considered one of Asia’s leading voices in international environmental law, said the DENR has to be abolished because it has two conflicting functions that leaves it continually in a dilemma between conservation or mineral exploitation.

“Conservation has no money. Mining has money. So, in a debate, guess who wins?” said Oposa, a 2009 Ramon Magasaysay awardee.