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Friday, February 17, 2006
Editorial: We all lose in mining
WITH the Supreme Court having given a "go" to the country's mining law, we could expect a renewed interest of multi-national mining companies, together with their local cohorts, to come and extract whatever they can from out of the lands.
Thousands of hectares in Negros Island were already eyed for full-scale mining by some of these companies.
And with a National Government that is doing all it can to lure these companies into taking what the country has to offer, the affected communities, unless
it can agree as one in opposing, might have no option but to simply allow things. Sure, the Mining law has passed a lot of scrutiny.
But given the record of the Philippine Government in the implementation of its laws, one can easily predict a failure in due time.
No matter how vigilant the Department of Environment and Natural Resources can become and no matter how the mining company will set up money-making endeavors for the affected community, it wouldn't erase the fact that mining, to a great extent, disturbs a healthy environment.
We have seen a lot of examples of the ill-effects of these mining activities. And no matter how a mining company assures the public of enough controls, this seemed to be more of a sweet-talk than real.
Negros Island's forest cover were reduced by more than 50 percent during the last century. Now, the mining companies are training its guns on what is below
ground.
And with the readiness of the national government to say yes for a few million dollars, we may wake up and find that everything is already gone.
It seemed that the income the government is generating from the recently imposed increases in taxation is not enough for whatever thing the government leaders have in mind.
If the leaders, civic societies and indigenous communities of Negros Island will not be careful and vigilant, it will stand to lose more than what it can gain.
There is no reward, material or otherwise, to environmental degradation.
And no matter the reforestation efforts that is often doled by those who mine, the process will take ages to reverse a degraded environment.
(February 17, 2006 issue)
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