2
years into the Duterte Administration, mining activists are frustrated
We,
the Alyansa Tigil Mina, strongly express our frustration over the announcement
of the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) that it will overturn the
closure orders against 22 mine operations.
Our alliance firmly believes that there is enough sound basis from the
DENR Mining Audit in 2016 that led to the closure and suspension orders of
these 26 mining projects last February 2017.
We
are deeply concerned that DoF Usec. Bayani Agabin told reporters last week that
the initial results of the MICC review will be recommending to President
Duterte the resumption of mine operations.
This, allegedly after the MICC technical review teams reported that the
mine companies have complied with the technical and legal requirements in their
operations. The mining companies and
their areas of operations were not revealed, with Agabin only citing that 3
nickel mines and 1 chromite failed the review.
We
see the results of this MICC review as both questionable and suspicious.
It is
regrettable that at this very early stage of the MICC review which only covered
the legal, technical and environmental compliance aspects of the mine
operations, Usec. Agabin had to make a sweeping statement that was open to
misinterpretation by the general public.
The
social impacts, ecological costs and economic trade-offs of the mining projects
have not been included yet, and so to recommend the reversal of the closure and
suspension orders is premature at best, and a biased position of a government
official at worst. ATM is frankly not
surprised that Usec. Agabin has a very friendly demeanor to the mining
industry, since he came from their ranks as a former mining executive.
It is
important to emphasize that the decision to close or suspend the 26 mines were
based on audit reports done by a multi-sectoral team headed by DENR
officials. The audit reports cited
illegal tree-cutting activities, non-compliance with ECC conditions and even
violations of environmental laws as some of the basis of the closure or
suspension orders.
Mining-affected
communities have provided numerous and verifiable evidences on the negative
impacts these mining operations have brought.
In
Nueva Vizcaya, potable water supply in Didipio, Kasibu town have dried up, even
after the gold-mining operations of OceanaGold Phils., Inc. (OGPI) were ordered
suspended. The provincial government of
Nueva Vizcaya even has digital images proving that OGPI had illegally operated
outside its mining tenement, a violation that is a basis for the cancellation
of a mining contract.
In
the town of Sta. Cruz, Zambales, four nickel mining projects were canceled
after more than 800 hectares of irrigated rice lands were destroyed and about
1,000 fishers and fishpond owners lost their livelihoods due to river and
coastal contamination of nickel laterites.
In
Palawan, Citinickel and Berong Nickel were ordered suspended, after their
operations were reported to have caused siltation in the river and coastal
waters.
In
Homonhon Island, Eastern Samar, 3 mining projects were cancelled after they
caused destruction of a watershed and siltation of coastal areas.
Residents
have also reported unregulated tree-cutting in the area, but unclear if
tree-cutting permits were issued.
In
CARAGA region, where more than half of the cancelled mine projects are located,
mining operations were reported to be mining in watershed areas, siltation of
coastal areas, and negative impacts to the island’s eco-system.
In
the town of Cantilan, Surigao del Sur, Marcventures Minerals Development Corp.
(MMDC) continue to destroy forest and ancestral lands within the Mt. Hilong
Hilong Protected Area and the Carac-an Protected Watershed area. These two landscapes with protected area
status are clearly no-go zones for mining as stipulated in Exec. Order 79. The ecosystem has been crippled to the extent
that flashfloods and landslides occurred in the area early this year after a
typhoon, prompting an investigation by DENR.
ATM
joins mining-affected communities in resisting the continued operations and
planned expansion of these mining projects.
The full enforcement of the mine closures has not been implemented. The environmental destruction and social
sufferings have continued despite the closure and suspension orders.
ATM
together with the rest of environmental rights defenders and land rights
defenders will never hesitate to support communities in blocking the reversal
of these mine closure orders.
It is
important to remind the MICC that its review process is still incomplete,
particularly if the social and health aspects of mine operations have not been
incorporated in the assessment process.
The DOF and the DENR must exercise prudent leadership in the MICC, and
avoid making hasty remarks about its recommendations on the mine closure
orders.
We
demand that the MICC make a public disclosure of their findings and
recommendations as soon as possible.
Equally important is the disclosure of the methodology and tools used by
the technical review team in their assessment. This track is only consistent
with the preferred policy and practice of President Duterte on freedom of
information.
We
also demand that the MICC conduct public consultations and validation exercises
with the mining-affected communities about the results of the MICC review.
These consultations should provide space for meaningful participation of
communities and their support groups of environmental NGOs and human rights
organizations.
Knowing
full well that the MICC is only recommendatory, and that the President will
have the final say on the fate of the cancelled and suspended mining contracts.
We strongly urge President Duterte to give clear instructions to the MICC about
the operations of these open-pit mining projects, and for him to remind the
MICC that open-pit mining has destroyed forests and watersheds.
On
the occasion of the second year of the Duterte administration, we reiterate the
following calls to President Duterte:
1. Given the failure of the MICC to take
into account the social, health and peace costs of mining operations, we urge
the President to uphold the mine closures and suspension orders. A revamp of
the MICC is in order for while it has done everything in favor of mining
operations, it has done little or nothing in alleviating and addressing the
suffering of mining-affected communities.
2. Executive Order 79 (EO 79 or the Responsible Mining policy) must be fully
implemented, and we strongly encourage Pres. Duterte to enforce the “no go
zones”, the performance audit of mine operations and the moratorium on mining
applications.
3. DAO 2017-10 (Ban on open-pit mining) must
be fully implemented, and an Executive Order strengthening its implementation
should be issued by President Duterte as soon as possible.
4. DAO 2017-07 (Mandatory participation in
EITI) must be fully implemented, and Pres. Duterte should instruct DENR Sec.
Cimatu to ensure the compliance of all mining companies to this administrative
order;
5. Given the current serious risks and
threats posed by climate change (e.g., flashfloods, landslides, erosions,
extreme weather events, etc.), we appeal to the
Office of the President to consider establishing a moratorium on mining
operations, especially in areas characterized as highly susceptible to climate
change risks or are highly-vulnerable geo-hazard zones.
6. With the reduced rice production capacity
of the Philippines, and reduced fish-catch brought by coastal contamination and
climate change, a direct threat to food security is now present. We ask Pres. Duterte to instruct Dept. of
Agriculture Sec. Manny Pinol to issue the maps of Special Agricultural and
Fisheries Development Zones (SAFDZs) that are considered as no-go zones for
mining and other destructive practices.
7. Pres. Duterte should issue an order
declaring all functioning watershed areas in the Philippines, as well as
small-island ecosystems, to be no-go zones for mining and other destructive practices.
For
more details, please contact:
Jaybee
Garganera, ATM National Coordinator:
(0917)
549.82.18 / nc@alyansatigilmina.net
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