Farmers in MacArthur Leyte demand stop to mining as main canal is destroyed
Press Statement | Alyansa Tigil Mina | March 11, 2022

Farmers in MacArthur Leyte demanded that mining by MacArthur Iron Projects Corporation (MIPC) be stopped as they lamented how they lost their livelihood for a year now as the mining company destroyed the main canal and caused water to overflow in the farmlands.
The farmers testified before lawyers of the National Irrigation Authority who visited the mining site to inspect the canal, which the mining company earlier denied they destroyed.
“Ang gusto po naming ay kung anong nasira ng mina ay dapat ibalik sa dating itsura. Tapos, dapat bayaran ang mga taong nasiraan ng pamumuhay dahil isang taon na kaming hindi nakakapagtanim. Ayaw naming sa mina, kasi imbes na maganda ang aming ani, ito’y nasisira,” said Patrocenia Rael of Unahin Lagi ang Diyos (UNLAD), an organization of farmers and fisherfok.
The inspection by NIA happened on March 10, which coincided with the enactment of the Mining Act of 1995 twenty-seven years ago. Members of Alyansa Tigil Mina held a protest action at the DENR yesterday demanding a repeal of the Mining Act and holding the Duterte administration accountable for its pro-mining policies. Simultaneous creative actions in Sites of Struggles (Sos) were also undertaken.
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