Erwin M. Mascariñas, News5-InterAksyon
Butuan City – Hundreds of people representing a number of socio-civic and environmental groups from different parts of the country took to the streets here and culminated their protest with a program against mining to commemorate Earth Day.
“We are taking this stand in solidarity with other environmental groups in the Philippines and all over the world with the message that protecting our environment is a must. We see mining as posing the biggest threat to our environment in the Philippines, especially here in the Caraga Region, which is considered the mining capital of the Philippines,” said Jaybee Garganera, national coordinator for Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM).
Garganera explained that the protest is part of a three-day general assembly being held in Father Saturnino Urios University (FSUU) in Butuan City.
“The assembly’s purpose is to discuss and generate effective plans of action toward the next five years of our environmental campaign. It is significant that we have this assembly here, since this is the capital of mining in the country, and to talk with the affected communities and other like-minded organizations in Mindanao, so that the plans for our advocacy would be clear and strengthened,” said Garganera.
Garganera further explained that their our official position “is that we acknowledge that mining minerals has a role to play in our industrialization, but we should make it clear what our national industrialization plan is all about, which we still don’t have any.
“We should make sure that those mining the land are strictly following the laws, and respecting the rights of the local government and the people, together with the proper benefits and revenue that are supposed to be enjoyed by the communities, people and the nation. Right now, unfortunately, it is sad to say that wether we conduct an economic study, a social impact study or an environmental audit, the existing mining projects will not be able to pass.”
Those participating in the assembly said their presence is to express solidarity with the affected communities of Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte and the rest of Caraga Region “to let them know and feel that they are not alone in their struggle.”
“We would also like to learn from them and their experience. We have a new reality; we have climate change and the worsening weather situation, the way we see it is that the protection and conservation effort on our forest should be strengthened in order to adapt to climate change, and for us to be prepared for disasters. But we won’t succeed if we will lose our forests and, based on our study, large-scale mining is the biggest threat to our remaining forest cover,” Garganera concluded.
Rev. Fr. Edu Gariguez of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA), who is in the forefront of the environmental fight in Mindoro Island, pointed out the need for action.
“Pope Francis has reiterated that if our natural environment will be damaged, the people will suffer. That is why our first call is to save and protect the beautiful environment of our country. It is our right to enjoy a good life, to enjoy good water, to benefit from the wealth of the nation, the avoidance of diseases and our right to social and environmental justice.
“It is not right that while a few are enjoying the wealth of the land, most of the people are suffering in poverty. To quote DENR Secretary Regina Lopez, we cannot allow an economy that is making a few richer while perpetuating poverty of the many,” said Gariguez.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BY ERWIN MASCARIÑAS, NEWS5-INTERAKSYON