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Monday, April 28, 2008
'Gov't entices mining investments recklessly'
DAVAO CITY -- The Philippines has enough mineral reserves to supply its own industrial requirements and even pay off foreign debt.
Lisa Ito of the Kalikasan-People's Network for Environment, however, said the country limits itself to extracting and exporting raw mineral ores while paying the steep environmental costs.
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All these, she said, are because of flawed mining policies.
During the Southern Mindanao Conference on the Environment last Friday, Ito said that based on conservative estimates, the country holds 4.7 billion metric tons (BMT) of metallic minerals and 15 BMT of non-metallic minerals.
But the policy of maintaining an "extractive, export-oriented, foreign and local elite-dominated industry" is what makes it hard for the people to utilize and benefit from the country's mineral resources, she said.
The Mining Act of The Philippines (RA 7942), propped up by executive and administrative orders including EO 270 or the National Policy Agenda on revitalizing Mining in the Philippines, fast tracks mining permits.
However, Ito lamented: "the fast-tracking of mining permits issued by the government to private firms starkly contrasts with the lax enforcement of laws concerning mining and its impact on community welfare."
Since 1992, Ito claimed that the Philippine government has embarked on a revitalization and liberalization of the industry opening up as much as 30 percent of the country's land area to mining through passage of laws and policies.
But by March 2006, Ito said, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau recorded only 32 mining firms out of the hundreds that have approved social development and management programs.
"We saw environmental disasters related to large-scale mining," Ito said.
It is not only environmentalists who have openly criticized mining laws due to its flaws.
Former Regional Trial Court Judge (RTC), in an earlier interview, also said flawed mining laws contribute to the environmental and economic damage brought about by mining operations in the country.
Quitain said nowhere in the Philippine Mining Act does it stipulate that mining companies should fully rehabilitate the area after its years of operations.
"This is the work of the lobbyists of the mining companies because total rehabilitation means an added cost to them. Especially in strip mining, ubos talaga lahat - puno (trees), water and any other resource, the area is rendered barren," Quitain said.
According to Quitain, the unrealistic lease rates given in favor of mining companies also hurt the economy even with the fact that they pay taxes.
Based on the data gathered by local environmental group Panalipdan, mining companies in Davao Oriental only pay local government units (LGUs) an average of P7.50 per hectare in a year as lease for the land utilized.
The rate, Quitain said, has been set in the 1970's but remains unadjusted until present.
"At that time 50 centavos pa lang ang Coke. Now, how much is it? But the lease rates have not been adjusted. They have strong lobbyists especially because they have the money," he said.
He added, however, that because the country is so short of employment opportunities, the government is "bending backward" to accommodate mining companies that employ at least 2,000 to 5,000 workers, thus becoming an immediate answer to poverty driven by unemployment.
"The government really relies on outside investment because it cannot employ everyone on its own and the mining companies are really offering large economic benefits to the locals," Quitain said.
Quitain also said that different views on mining operations have divided indigenous people.
"Lahi ang pamaagi sa pagsikop aning mining companies. Ilang hatagan ang mga communities ug developments. Karsada, hospital, tanang basic necessities para musugot. So sila nga naa didto, talagsa ra ang mu-oppose. Labi na tong nakadawat. Its short-term benefits are really attractive. Pero kita in the outside who know better labi na sa long term effects on the environment, di gyud ta musugot (These mining companies have a way of enticing support. They give roads, hospitals, and basic necessities. Thus, residents of mining areas rarely oppose, especially those who have benefited from these. But, us, who see the long-term effects will definitely not agree)," Quitain said.
According to the judge, non-government organizations (NGOs), the press and the church should combine efforts to let the people know especially those in the locality how bad the mining effects would be. This as the short-term benefits cannot even start to repay for the damages done.
He added that the government and its line agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) should be pro-people instead of pro-investment.
"If unahon nimo ang tao (If you put people first), surely investment would follow but you cannot favor investment at the expense of the people," Quitain added. (GLP/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Manila. (April 28, 2008 issue)
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