|
Friday, April 28, 2006
Church flexes muscle
TAMPAKAN, South Cotabato -- Three influential Catholic bishops based in Mindanao vowed to launch a "bigger and wider" campaign to stop Sagittarius Mines Inc. from continuing its copper and gold exploration in the provinces of South Cotabato, Davao del Sur, and Sultan Kudarat.
Bishops Dinualdo Gutierrez of the Diocese of Marbel, Jimmy Afable of Digos, and Romulo Valles of Kidapawan said they have formed a joint secretariat to coordinate moves to pressure the mining firm into leaving the area before the opening of its planned large-scale mining operations in 2009.
The three bishops made this announcement last week in Tampakan where an estimated 8,000 residents coming from at least six provinces and five cities joined a protest caravan and a rally organized by the Church.
The placard-bearing protesters marched around the town proper and passed by the main office of Sagittarius where at least more than a thousand people were likewise gathered for the launching of the company's community service program.
Sagittarius project coordinator Dr. Rolando Doria refused to comment regarding the protest actions against their company, which he admitted was "one of the biggest so far."
But Tampakan Mayor Claudius Barroso played down the impact of the protest action, saying the participants were not from his town and other areas that are covered by the mining firm operations.
"I respect their right to lead such kind of peaceful protest because I am also a Catholic. I think they should accept the fact that the people here really favor proposed mining operations of Sagittarius," he said.
Barroso pointed out that his town has been receiving some P9.5 million worth of development aid annually from Sagittarius aside from the company's various community development projects and extension programs.
But Gutierrez warned the company and its supporters that they would "suffer the wrath of God" if they continue with their plans to mine the copper and gold deposits in the mountains of this town and nearby Kiblawan in Davao del Sur and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat.
"We have shown to them (Sagittarius) that we don't want them here and we would do every possible means to stop them from destroying our area in the future. They should heed the clamor of the people (for them to leave) because that is the will of God," Gutierrez declared in his speech at the protest rally held at the town plaza.
He pointed out that proposed mining area of Sagittarius is part of the Marbel watershed that serves as the headwater of at least five major river systems in southern and central Mindanao.
Gutierrez also scored earlier assurances made by Sagittarius and officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Soccsksargen region that the feared negative environmental impact of the proposed mining activities would never happen as the company is "committed to pursue sustainable and responsible mineral development" in the area.
"But what happened to Lafayette in Rapu-Rapu and other mining areas in Cebu and Marinduque? These were supposed to be responsible mining activities and yet the people and the environment there still suffer from the irreversible destruction brought by mining," Gutierrez said.
Rapu-Rapu mines is one of the 23 "model mining operations" in the country that the government has been aggressively pursuing. The list includes the Sagittarius mining project here.
Sagittarius, which is financed by the Australian Indophil Resources NL, is currently conducting exploratory drilling activities in the tri-boundaries of the Tampakan, Columbio and Kiblawan towns to confirm the viability of the copper and gold deposits in the area.
The copper and gold deposits in the said mining development area are reportedly one of the largest in Asia.
In a press conference shortly after the protest rally, Valles said, they agreed to coordinate their actions against Sagittarius and later make a big push for its ouster from the area.
"This will be a church-based movement. We realized that it would be easier for us to pursue a more focused campaign because we have no other agenda and that we can easily level off among ourselves," he said.
But Afable clarified that they would still coordinate their campaign other groups who are opposed to Sagittarius' operations and all large-scale mining activities in the country.
He cited that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) had been regularly coordinating with the Legal Resources Center and the Alyansa Tigil Mina for the ongoing nationwide consultations for the formulation of an alternative people's mining act.
Afable said the CBCP would lobby Congress for the enactment of the proposed alternative people's mining act to replace the controversial mining act of 1995. (Allen V. Estabillo)
For Bisaya stories from General Santos.Click here. (This section is updated every Monday)
(April 24, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
|
