Caravan pushes alternative minerals bill
BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—An antimining group has urged President Benigno Aquino III to give attention to the repeal of the Mining Act of 1995 the same way the government did with the Bangsamoro peace agreement.
“While we welcome this positive development, we also seek the openness and resolve of [President Aquino] to engage mining-affected communities—specifically indigenous peoples and farmers—to hear our stories and act on our calls,” the SOS-Yamang Bayan Network said in a statement.
On Sunday, about 150 tribal members and farmers from upland communities in Nueva Vizcaya joined an antimining caravan and assailed the Aquino administration for its indifference to calls for the revocation of licenses granted to mining projects here.
Nongovernment and people’s organizations supporting the caravan said they were not losing hope that the government would finally heed calls to stop supporting what they described as “development aggression” by foreign mining companies.
“We have left our farms, our houses to join this caravan as our way of telling President Aquino and our [lawmakers] that it is never too late. They can still do something,” said Lorenzo Pulido, vice president of Didipio Earthsavers Multipurpose Association (Desama).
Desama, a people’s organization, is leading calls for the revocation of a 25-year financial and technical assistance agreement given to OceanaGold Philippines Inc., an Australian firm, for a gold-copper project in Barangay Didipio in Kasibu town.
Pulido made the statements on the sidelines of the opening program of the four-day caravan, which calls for the repeal of the country’s mining law and the passage of the alternative minerals management bill.
“We call on [the government] to go beyond [Executive Order No.] 79 and the Mining Act of 1995. What our country needs is a new law that will address the issues and concerns that mining-affected communities have long been raising, and [stop] the devastation of our rich but fragile ecosystems,” the SOS-Yamang Bayan Network said.
