Tuesday, January 23, 2007 Speak Out: Ill effects of mining By Tony Padua Lapu-Lapu City
I’M A newcomer to Cebu. My wife and I retired here from California, moved to Mactan and made a considerable contribution to the local economy, buying a lot, and building a new home.
One of the definite advantages of living in Cebu is the large selection of fresh, uncontaminated fish to eat, which is not available in California waters.
Imagine my surprise upon reading the story on page A15 of the Jan. 17, 2007 issue of Sun.Star Cebu about some Chinese investors who have teamed up with Filipinos to mine copper and gold in Talisay City. Wherever there is mining in the United States, there is contamination of bodies of water, affecting the fish that lives in them (http://www.nrdc.org/cities/recycling/recyc/appendc.asp).
Of particular notice in your story is the complete imbalance of the coverage; it cited mining as a good thing. For whom?
Ambassador Marciano Paynor raised the warning against terrorism during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit. The long-term impact of this mining activity on the lives of Cebuanos and their children is certainly as troubling. And I don’t live that far from Talisay. I want to continue eating the seafood of Cebu.
