Anti-mining barricade continues in Zambales; cops arrest 11 protesters
OLONGAPO CITY—Residents in the towns of Candelaria and Sta. Cruz in Zambales province have been barricading a national road to prevent mining companies from hauling extracted nickel ore to a local port.
Josephine Ignacio, coordinator and convenor of Defender of the Environment for Genuine Development of Zambales, said around 400 protesters blocked a portion of the national highway in Barangay (village) Uacon in Candelaria to stop every passing truck of the mining firms from shipping nickel ore to a port in Sta. Cruz.
The protesters, who carried banners filled with anti-mining messages, also picketed the Candelaria municipal hall at around 2 p.m. on Monday as they urged local officials to put an end to large-scale mining activities in the province, Ignacio said.
She said policemen dispersed the protesters and arrested 11 of them.
Chief Insp. Richard Asis, Candelaria police station commander, declined to comment on the incident.
From last Saturday to Sunday, environmental advocates and church groups held a solidarity mission to support the community barricade against the mining companies.
The protesters were blaming the mining companies for the floods that submerged several villages in their town during the onslaught of Typhoon “Lando” last year and Typhoon “Labuyo” in 2013.
Representatives of the four mining firms—Zambales Diversified Metals Corp., Benguet Corp. Nickel Mines Inc. (BNMI), Eramen Minerals Inc., and LNL Archipelago Minerals Inc.—could not be reached for comment.
In the past interviews, they denied the allegations, stressing that their operations fulfill “proper environmental standards.” In a previous statement, BNMI said it observes the “strict enforcement of mining regulations and the monitoring of compliance with remediation in the past several months by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the Environmental Management Bureau and the local government.”
In November last year, the MGB Central Luzon office said the ponds, silt traps and perimeter canals of the four Zambales mining companies showed “no signs of breach or collapse” after Lando hit the province. The barricades were started last Jan. 4.
Last Feb. 7, the police arrested two women as they tried to disperse the protest line manned by around 500 residents of Sta. Cruz. They also handcuffed four other protesters who blocked the access road to the port in Barangay Bayto in Sta. Cruz, Ignacio said last month.
The Sta. Cruz police said they had to intervene because the picketers created a massive traffic jam in the area. Those arrested may be charged with blocking a legitimate business operation, which, police said, violates a provision of Republic Act No. 7942 (the Philippine Mining Act of 1995). RAM
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