Catholic Bishops push for alternative mining

Carlos Santamaria

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72 of 98 members of Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines call on legislators to pass alternative mining bill

From left to right: CBCP Vice President Socrates Villegas, CBCP President Jose Palma, NASSA Chairman Broderick Pabillo. Photo by Carlos Santamaria

MANILA, Philippines – A majority of the members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) supported a petition for legislators to pass an alternative mining bill, even after the government put a hold on all new contracts on Monday, July 9.

After their biannual three-day plenary session, 72 of the 98 bishops decided to sign the text presented by the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA), NASSA executive director Fr. Edu Gariguez told Rappler.

The petition claims that mining is “destructive” for communities and the environment and says that “the promised economic benefits of mining” by foreign companies are “outweighed by the dislocation of communities especially among our indigenous brothers and sisters, the risks to health and livelihood and massive environmental damage.”

“The government mining policy is offering our land to foreigners with liberal conditions while our people continue to grow in poverty,” the text argues.

The petition calls for the government to repeal the 1995 Mining Act and legislators to pass the Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB), “which offers a far more sustainable approach to utilization and protection of our country’s natural resources.”

Petition

Mining Act must be changed

In a press conference after the plenary meeting, CBCP President Jose Palma said that the 1995 Mining Act “has to be changed” but the Church has no position yet on Executive Order (E.O.) 79 since it was signed before the conclusion of the plenary.

“We can’t speak about the new EO, we still don’t know it yet. We know that it has been signed, that it has been released to the public, but we were in a meeting the whole morning, so we still don’t have any idea about the content of the EO,” said the Archbishop of Cebu in a press conference on Monday morning, July 9.

Palma insisted that “our position on our minerals should not be just monetary or for investment.”

CBCP President Jose Palma. Photo by Carlos Santamaria

“We should just mine what we need. Now, we mine what the other countries need, and the prices increase.”

The CBCP President added that there should be places where mining won’t be allowed, like delicate island groupings or watershed areas, as part of a general ban on this activity where there are crops.

“There should also be courtesy to the people who will be affected by the mining operations, and the affected people are those who are living in the area. Courtesy, too, to the cultural rights of the people, especially the natives whom are not protected by the 1995 Act.”

Not opposed to mining in general

NASSA Chairman Pabillo said that 72 bishops represent a “huge number” to stress support for the petition. “Maybe the reason is that many of us have seen the experiences in the dioceses.”

“We have made this very clear: we are not opposed to mining per se, mining in itself. But the practice in many areas, which are not responsible, have influenced their decisions,” Pabillo noted.

He refused to speculate if Congress will in fact pass the AMMB.

“The consideration is: is this right or wrong? Is this moral or immoral?…Whether this gets accepted or rejected, it does not matter for us…because we always stand by what is right and what is moral, regardless of political acceptability.”

Legislators should visit the mines

The bishops challenged the political leaders of the country to visit the mines and see the problem with their own eyes like they have done in their dioceses.

“If only they could see it, perhaps their perspectives would change,” said CBCP Vice President Socrates Villegas.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop and CBCP Vice President Socrates Villegas. Photo by Carlos Santamaria

The Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan mentioned how his colleagues’ “hearts bled” when they found out that even rice fields in Leyte are being mined to extract magnetized sand, a practice that makes the soil less fertile and thus unsuitable for crops.

Villegas noted that in Rapu-Rapu in Albay, “the people there can’t eat their fish because of mercury poisoning. In their very own place! So the locals don’t really benefit” at all from mining.

Palma concluded: “We are not, I repeat, we are not against mining per se. But if they (the legislators) would just take a look at the areas, I think it would influence their decision.” – Rappler.com

For the existing mining contracts in the Philippines, view this #WhyMining map.

How does mining affect you? Are you pro or against mining? Engage, discuss & take a stand! Visit Rappler’s #WhyMining microsite for the latest stories on issues affecting the mining sector. Join the conversation by emailing whymining@rappler.com your views on the issue.

For other views on mining, read:

Yes to Mining No to Mining

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