Showing posts with label EO 79. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

'Aquino's Mining EO contrary to Christian Stewardship of Creation'

“Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell.” (Numbers 35:34)
Aquino’s Mining EO is contrary to Christian Stewardship of Creation
Position Paper of the Sisters’ Association in Mindanao (SAMIN)

We in the Sisters’ Association in Mindanao (SAMIN), join the widespread clamor of the Filipino people--- especially indigenous peoples, small farmers, and small-scale miners--- in opposing the deceptiveness of President Aquino’s Executive Order No. 79.

The Filipino people have made clear the message: WE SAY NO TO LARGESCALE FOREIGN MINING! Proof of this is a growing anti-mining movement that has seen the coming together of the poor, enlightened professionals and media, the Christian churches, and even a few from the rich who are standing up for communities and the environment.

On the other side of the social divide are the titans of the mining industry and President Aquino, who have both closed ranks through this Mining EO.

“People think that they can make arbitrary use of the earth subjecting it without restraint to their will, as though it did not have its own requisites and a prior God-given purpose, which people can indeed develop but must not betray.” (CentesimusAnnus No. 37)

1. This Executive Order and the Mining Act upon which it is based is against the values of Christian stewardship.

The heart of the matter is that the Mining Act of 1995 upon which this EO is based, remains to be the most environmentally destructive law ever passed in the country. This EO, like the Mining Act which it reinforces, runs contrary to the principality of ecological balance, the rights of communities to the integrity of their physical environment and livelihood, the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination in ancestral domains, and most of all the preservation of our national patrimony and the sustainability of generations.

“They will neither harm nor destroy on allmy holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)

2. This Executive Order only seeks to deodorize the stench and destructiveness of largescale foreign mining.

The people can see through the deceptive language of this EO, by showcasing compliance with environmental standards in mining, adherence to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and the so-called Programmatic Environmental Impact Assessment. The Aquino government is using sugarcoated words to sound ‘green’ but in reality these only mask the denudation of remaining forests, the pollution of rivers and waterways, and the deformation of mountains and reefs, among others. Worse, it exploits the issue of climate change adaptation and mitigation and cunningly uses it as a primary consideration in mining policy.

“Care for the earth is a duty of our faith and a sign of our concern for all people. We should strive to live simply to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”– Pope Paul II, SolicitudoReiSocialis

3. This Executive Order is an imposition to favor the plunderers of Creation than to look after the interest of the Common Good.

From the time of the Pharaohs to the rule of Herod, from the colonial rule of Spain to the current hidden reign of the United States, from the time of the Marcos Dictatorship until today’s Aquino government, presidential decrees have been issued to impose the monopolization of resources by the elite. President Aquino has used this discretionary authority to force the liberalization of the mining industry in the face of stiff opposition from communities and the indefensible argument for largescale foreign mining in the national public debate.

This EO is clearly not for the common good as it worsens the ailing domestic economy, promotes conflict and divisiveness in communities, dislocates indigenous peoples and settlers, and disempowers people from making the life-giving choices such as tilling the land to produce a good harvest of food and other basic needs.

“They have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth…” (Isaiah 24:4-6)

4. This Executive Order renders communities and local authorities powerless and asserts the primacy of the Aquino government on determining the direction and framework of mining policy.

This EO has been designed to stifle grassroots opposition to largescale foreign mining. Communities are asserting their right to self-determination even in spite of approved mining exploration permits and mineral agreements. And there has been a bandwagon of local government units walking hand-in-hand with these communities to declare no-mining zones or open-pit mining bans. This is what the mining transnational corporations are seeking to break, and the EO gives back to them the primacy of vicious rights under the Mining Act of 1995 (timber rights, eviction rights, etc) over communities.

The liberalization of the mining industry is now protected more strongly through the alignment of local policy to those of the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC). Apparently, it had not been enough to have the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources--- agencies with tarnished records of corruption--- on the side of largescale foreign mining companies. LGUs that stand in the way are now whipped into line.

“The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.” (Leviticus 25:23-24)

5. This Executive Order leads to the sacrifice of Creation at the altar of large scale foreign mining.

Finally, this EO enforces the total sell-out and plunder of our mineral wealth to big foreign business. It boasts of raising revenues but covers up the fact that these taxes are at run-away discounted rates compared to other parts of the world. More importantly, the meager income is right away cancelled out by the huge environmental and social costs. Consequently, our present and future generations are deprived of the resources to truly advance national industrialization.

The EO falsely claims it is for a National Industrialization Program (NIP). In carefully crafted fashion, this EO restrains the full development of small scale mining as a viable jobs - and income-generating enterprise - if regulated in favor of the people and the environment - and eventually eases them out for the entry of the big scale plunderers.

We rage as women religious against EO 79. We weep yet are moved to action for the women and children who shall further suffer the death of the environment.

Denounce EO 79 and the Mining Act of 1995! Announce an alternative peoples’ mining law that upholds human rights and the integrity of creation. (Sisters’ Association in Mindanao (SAMIN)samin.sisters@yahoo.com )

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Environmental activists being killed in Philippines

Philippine president urged to stop killings

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has taken Philippine President Benigno Aquino to task for failing to stop the killing of environmental advocates while promoting mining in the country.

The HRW said it had documented three cases of critics of mining and energy projects murdered allegedly by paramilitary forces since October 2011. It said the activists had been vocal against projects that threatened to ruin the environment and displace tribal communities.
"President Aquino has enacted decrees to encourage mining investments in the Philippines but has done little to stop attacks on environmental advocates," Elaine Pearson, HRW deputy Asia director, said in a statement. "He should recognise that respecting human rights is crucial for economic development."
The group observed that Executive Order No. 79, issued by Aquino on July 2 to institute reforms in the mining sector, was silent on human rights abuses arising from mining investments and the deployment of paramilitary groups to the mines.

"While mining and other environmentally sensitive projects promise economic benefits for Filipinos, they should not come at the expense of basic rights, particularly the lives of environmental advocates," Pearson said.
The government, she added, "should ensure that those responsible for these attacks are brought to justice."
The unresolved cases
Margarito J. Cabal, 47, an organiser of a group opposing a hydroelectric dam in Bukidnon province (south Philippines), was gunned down on May 9.
He had told relatives he was under military surveillance, and had been called to meet the military about his activities. Police have neither investigated the murder nor made arrests, his relatives said.
Jimmy Liguyon, a village chief at Dao in San Fernando, also in Bukidnon, was allegedly shot dead by a leader of a paramilitary group on March 5. He had refused to sign an agreement needed to secure a mining investment, and had been under military surveillance. The suspect remains at large.
Fr. Fausto Tentorio, a longtime advocate of tribal rights and a critic of mining activities, was shot dead on October 17 in Arakan, North Cotabato province. The local paramilitary group Bagani (tribal warriors) is being blamed for the killing. No one has been arrested, but the National Bureau of Investigation has recommended charges against four suspects.
Tentorio's colleagues allege that some suspects with military ties have been deliberately left out of the case, and two witnesses and their families have gone into hiding while others have been threatened, according to the HRW.
Investigations urged
The group appealed to the government to redouble its investigations of attacks on advocates, particularly when evidence points to the involvement of the military or paramilitary forces; to arrest and prosecute the suspects, and to protect witnesses at risk.
The HRW also lamented that mining investments in areas with large indigenous populations or are controlled by tribal groups often result in conflicts among the people.
In tribal communities, some back investors with the support of the military to acquire the necessary permits, while tribal factions opposed to the investments sometimes get support from the communist New People's Army or other armed groups.
"This has resulted in proxy conflicts pitting tribal groups against each other, resulting in numerous rights abuses," the HRW said.
There are environmental and antimining advocates who fear for their lives, the HRW said.
Sr. Stella Matutina, a Benedictine nun who leads a grassroots campaign to oppose destructive mining in Davao Oriental province, said she feared for her life because she had been tagged by the military a communist. She and her fellow advocates said the tag stemmed from her opposition to mining.
"And even in cases where suspects have been identified and face an arrest warrant, they may go unpunished. For instance, former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes remains at large despite an arrest warrant for his role in the killing of journalist and environmentalist Gerry Ortega on Jan. 24, 2011," the HRW said.
Disband militia groups
The United Nations special envoys on human rights defenders and on extrajudicial executions issued a joint statement on July 9 assailing the Aquino administration for the attacks on human rights and environmental defenders, saying these abuses "have increased significantly over the past few months."
The HRW reiterated its call to Aquino to disband all paramilitary forces because of their long history of human rights violations, and revoke a 2011 directive that permits these forces to provide security for mining companies.
"Aquino should disband paramilitary groups that are being used to divide tribal communities and instill fear among the residents," Pearson said. "The government crucially needs to hold accountable the military officers who are behind these abusive forces."

Saturday, July 14, 2012

PRESIDENT AQUINO’S EO 79 AFTERMATH: Xstrata Philippine mine project ‘may go to court’ - AFP News

The fate of Xstrata’s $5.9 billion copper-gold project in the southern Philippines, which has been delayed by a ban on open-pit mining, may be decided in court, a provincial governor said Saturday.

Arthur Pingoy, governor of South Cotabato province where the project is located, said his government maintained its ban on open-pit mining which effectively bars the Swiss giant’s project.

President Benigno Aquino recently issued a mining order saying the national government overruled local ordinances but Pingoy said his ban remained in effect until a court ruled otherwise.

“Probably, this will be taken to the proper court, so we will see if (the company) or the national government will raise it,” he told AFP.

The Tampakan project of an Xstrata-led joint venture on the troubled southern island of Mindanao has been delayed for months by South Cotabato’s ban on open cast mining.

Pingoy said he was aware of the massive economic benefits of the project but said people in his province were still wary of its environmental impact.

He said both the natural resources and local government ministers were due to meet with him soon and he expected them to bring up the Xstrata project, which was originally due to go into commercial operation in 2016.

Meanwhile, the head of the government Mines and Geosciences Board Leo Jasareno expressed optimism that legal action could be avoided and that South Cotabato officials could be persuaded to lift the ban.

“There are many ways this can be addressed. The national government can talk to the local government, discuss the matter… it can be done through consultation, persuasion,” he told AFP.

He said Aquino’s new order would provide a guide in settling the dispute.

Jasareno said the Aquino government still considered the mining project, one of the biggest foreign investments in the country’s history, to be a “priority”.

In a statement, Sagittarius Mines, Inc., the local subsidiary of the Xstrata-led joint venture, said it would study Aquino’s new mining order to see how it relates to its mining project.

“We are encouraged that the implementation of this policy should assist in the resolution of the South Cotabato Environment Code which bans open-pit mining in the province contrary to national law,” the statement added.

Friday, July 13, 2012

New mining law addresses concerns of industry -- Tanada

MANILA, July 12 (PNA) -- House Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. Lorenzo "Erin" Tanada III said Executive Order No. 79 recently signed by President Benigno S. Aquino III, coupled with a new mining law, will address the concerns of the mining industry.
Tanada, author of House Bill No. 206 or the "Alternative Minerals Management Bill," said that EO 79 on mining has sparked renewed interest in the industry, and coupled with his proposed measure, "the concerns of the mining industry will be fully addressed."
"If we pair EO 79 with the House Bill 206, we have the mining industry striking it's first gold," he stressed.
Tanada said mining has been such a problematic industry for so long as it implicates issues in areas of governance, economic policy and environmental sustainability.
Despite the implementation of the EO, he said it is still important to enact a new mining law "because many of the industry's problems can be traced back to the Mining Act of 1995 -- in the endless tax holidays of mining companies, in the lack of safeguards against irresponsible contractors, and the rent-seeking system of applying for mining permits."
"The real problem of mining is the faulty premise in the Mining Act that the industry creates revenues and jobs -- which it doesn't -- and therefore its needs trump the interests of the community being mined," he noted.
Tanada said mining "implicates issues in areas of governance, economic policy, and environmental sustainability. Naturally, the scope of a law to fix those glitches is broad and requires a lengthy process of consideration and debate."
As such, he said it is still important to enact a new law on mining.
Tanada cited figures from 2000-2009 which stated the industry's job-creation at a negligible 0.376 percent while its revenue effort averaged around half the national figure at 7.8 percent.
Though effective, he averred that the EO is "not a substitute for a new mining law."
"Because of the inherent limitation of an executive order, it can only prescribe rules for the execution of a law, it cannot change the law. What the Executive has given us here is a starting push, but it cannot do our work for us. Legislation is Congress' work and beyond even the President's powers," he noted.

Tanada, however, stressed that the EO, though limited, "was a success of the campaign for mining reforms because it accepted the fundamental position of the advocates that some drastic change has to be made to the industry." (PNA)

BUKIDNON