ALTERED LAND | Mining activities have drastically changed the landscape of the historic Homonhon Island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, as shown in this photo taken early this week. (Photo by FR. JAMES ABELLA / Contributor)
TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Philippines — At least 2,000 people joined a Church-led prayer rally on Monday in Eastern Samar’s capital of Borongan City to oppose mining operations on Samar Island, particularly on the historic Homonhon Island.
The prayer rally, dubbed “Jericho Walk,” was led by Bishop Crispin Varquez at the church grounds of the Cathedral Parish of the Nativity of Our Lady in Borongan.
In a statement, Varquez called on the Eastern Samar provincial government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to disapprove all mining applications and cancel the existing ones in the province, particularly in Homonhon, which is part of Guiuan town.
Varquez urged government officials to take into consideration the “horrific effects” of mining operations in Homonhon, adding: “Destroying the earth is never part of God’s plan. As Pope Francis puts it, the earth is our common home.”
Residents of Homonhon, which has vast deposits of nickel and chromite, have been protesting the open-pit mines that have been operating on the island since the 1990s. Four companies are operating on the island: Cambayas Mining Corp., Techiron Resources Inc., Emir Mineral Resources Corp., and Mt. Sinai Exploration and Development Corp.
The Diocese of Borongan has been leading campaigns to preserve and protect the remaining biodiversity of the island, which plays an important role in Philippine history as it was where Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan first landed on March 16, 1521.
Varquez, in an April 11 statement, had raised concerns over the “escalated” mining operations in Homonhon but his appeal for authorities to stop these activities on the island had fallen on deaf ears.
Fr. James Abella, social action director of the Diocese of Borongan, said the actions against mining not just in Homonhon but in other parts of Samar were supported by Bishops Emmanuel Trance of the Diocese of Catarman (Northern Samar) and Isabelo Abarquez of the Diocese of Calbayog (Samar).
He said that Monday’s prayer rally was a culmination of their seven-day movement against mining.