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Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Speak out: CBCP pastoral letter
By Winifredo P. Eribal
This has reference to the recent pastoral letter of the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) strongly opposing the Mining Act of 1995.
It took seven years for the Supreme Court to finally settle the legality of the Mining Act, which is expected to help attract about $4 billion to $6 billion in foreign investments.
But the momentum in opening up the mining industry faces another stumbling block after the CBCP scared mining players with its pastoral letter urging the repeal of the Mining Act.
The bishops said mining failed to lift the conditions of host communities and destroyed the environment.
But Section 2 (Declaration of Policy) of the Act states:
“All minerals resources in public and private lands within the territory and exclusive economic zone of the Republic of the Philippines are owned by the State. It shall be the responsibility of the State to promote their rational exploration, development, utilization and conservation through the combined efforts of the government and the private sector in order to enhance national growth in a way that effectively safeguards the environment and protect the rights of affected communities.”
Here, the separation between the power of the Church and the State is explicit.
CBCP should not interfere in the economic policy of the state and the bishops should be more open-minded in this matter.
Article 11, Section 6 of the Constitution states: “The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.”
Meaning, the exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the State.
The President may enter into agreement with foreign-owned corporations involving either technical or financial assistance for large-scale exploration, development, and utilization of mineral, petroleum, and other mineral oils according to the general terms and conditions provided by law, based on real contributions to the economic growth and general welfare of the country.
Again, the mining industry, if properly managed and regulated, will bring economic benefits to the Filipino people and to our country.
Mining is something that I strongly support because government shares in the revenues. There are three things here: increased government revenue, rise in our credit rating, job generation.
Mining will bring hundreds of thousands of Filipinos out of poverty. So the CBCP has no reason to criticize the mining industry.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 15, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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