The Supreme Court has upheld with finality the constitutionality of the Mining Act of 1995 but the struggle against this law that allows transnational corporations to engage in destructive mining activities continues, especially in Mindanao.
By TYRONE VELEZ
Bulatlat.com
DAVAO CITY – With the Supreme Court (SC) deciding with finality on the constitutionality of the Mining Act of 1995, the fight against it is now in the communities of lumad (an indigenous group in Mindanao) and farmers in Mindanao.
Religious groups and non-government organizations (NGOs) thus said last week as they vowed to raise opposition against the entry of foreign mining firms in the country.
The Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao (Inpeace), Sisters Association in Mindanao (Samin), Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) and the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS) condemned the SC ruling of Dec. 1. Last week, the high court quashed the motion for reconsideration lodged by the legal counsel of La Bugal B’laan Tribal Association questioning the former’s earlier ruling on the legality of the law allowing transnational mining in the country.
Sr. Ma. Carmen Diane Cabasagan, Samin chairperson and Inpeace convenor, condemned the decision as it was clearly rushed to please foreign investors attending the international mining conference of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines.
Human rights lawyer Joel Mahinay, another convenor of Inpeace, said the SC did not consider the new information and arguments presented by the lawyers of La Bugal.
Legal, moral
“The Supreme Court ruling reminds us of the long upheld principle ‘what is legal may not necessarily be moral,’” Mahinay said.“It is now up to the people to be affected by large-scale mining to assert their political rights over their land and livelihood.”
Sister Cabasagan said that the Mining Act is more than a legal issue. “It has become a moral issue because it affects the well-being of the majority especially the poor, as the few transnational investors and their Filipino partners stand to gain billions of dollars while wiping out whole communities and destroying the environment,” she said.
She said it is urgent to support mass actions of communities as the only way to reverse the SC’s legalization of the entry of foreign mining firms led by American, Canadian, and Australian corporate giants.
Datu Tomas Ito, chairperson of the Pasaka Confederation of Lumad Organizations, said, Lumad groups “will muster all their powers to resist this renewed assault on the last frontiers of Mindanao which are our ancestral domains.”
Unity statement
The groups earlier led a signing of a unity statement in a forum held last Jan. 29 in Davao City calling for the scrapping of the Mining Act of 1995. One hundred-sixty participants from religious orders, environmental groups, NGOs, local governments and academe signed the statement.
The statement called for a moratorium on large-scale mining in the country and the cancellation of Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) given to foreign mining corporations. The signatories also demanded that foreign corporations own up to rehabilitating areas ravaged by their operations and to respect the indigenous communities.
The Mining Act of 1995 was a “scheme of the national government that spells wholesale surrender of our national patrimony to foreign countries,” they said.
Lawyer Gus Gatmaytan of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center – Kasama sa Kalikasan (LRC–KSK) criticized the government’s economic strategy which is foreign investment-dependent and export-oriented. Such economic policy, he said, may “bring prosperity but not progress.” Profits will only benefit a few, he said.
Five of 23 mining showcases in Mindanao
The LRC revealed that of the 23 mining showcases by the government, five are in Mindanao.
The Australian firm Indophil Resources is tying up with the local Sagittarius Mines Inc. (formerly Tampakan) copper project in South Cotabato which is considered the largest undeveloped copper field in Southeast Asia. Estimates showed the reserve has a potential value to earn $14 billion.
Mining firms are also eyeing the gold-rich Compostela Valley in Southern Mindanao. Already, the Indophil-Sagittarius Mines are applying for exploration permits in Nabunturan. Another Australian firm is eyeing a partnership with North Davao Mining in exploring the mountains of Masara in Maco.
In Davao City, the Solid North Company is set on exploring limestone minerals in Bunawan, covering 5,000 hectares.
A reported 820,494 hectares of land in Southern Mindanao are covered by 13 FTAA applications of 11 mining corporations. Bulatlat
