CITY OF CALAPAN?A mock funeral procession was held by 2,000 people on Friday here to protest the issuance of an environmental compliance certificate by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to Intex Resources Corp.

Intex is a nickel mining firm whose proposed operation covers areas in the city and in the towns of Naujan, Baco and Victoria in Oriental Mindoro.

Traffic was paralyzed when the protesters gathered in front of the Calapan Cathedral before marching on the streets, said SPO1 Danilo Dizon of the Calapan traffic patrol.

The protesters were composed of government officials and employees, students, professionals and members of the clergy, religious organizations, nongovernment organizations, multisectoral groups and delegations from the towns of Victoria, Socorro, Pinamalayan and Naujan, said Fr. Edwin Gariguez, spokesperson of the Alyansa Laban sa Mina (Alamin) which led the rally.

Coffins marked with the Intex logo and photographs of Environment Secretary Lito Atienza were paraded during the march that with the nation?s commemoration of the dead.

?The mock funeral is symbolic of the people of Mindoro?s contempt for the seemingly comatose process by which the DENR railroaded the issuance of the ECC,? Gariguez said.
He said Atienza railroaded the issuance of the ECC on Oct. 14, when massive flooding struck Marikina City and its low-lying neighbors, Laguna and areas in northern Luzon.

?These calamities should have prompted Secretary Atienza to think twice before granting the ECC to Intex, considering that Mindoro is an island province with very fragile ecosystems,? Gariguez said.

The ECC allows Intex to extract nickel ore in 11,216 hectares of a so-called mining tenement, a big part of which was identified as a critical watershed catchment of the Mag-asawang Tubig and Bucayao River systems, he added.

Gariguez said the mining site would encroach on the largest source of irrigation water for the 40,000 ha of rice lands in Calapan, Naujan, Baco and Victoria.

Mindoro has been supplying other parts of the country with rice and fruits.

Intex spokesperson lawyer Ben delos Reyes said the opposition failed to present its arguments during public hearings held earlier.

?I promise to look into their concerns,? he said. Madonna T. Virola, Inquirer Southern Luzon