Junk mining applications near famous Underground River, group urges Palace

BOAC, Marinduque—The Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (Macec), an antimining nongovernment organization based in this province, has asked President Aquino to junk all mining applications within the vicinities of Palawan’s underground river to preserve its title as one of the world’s 7 Wonders of Nature.

In his Facebook account posted on Sunday, Miguel Magalang, Macec’s executive director, asserted it would be useless to have the title of one of the seven wonders of nature for the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) if it would later on be tarnished and plundered by mining companies.

Magalang said there was a cause for concern because Aquino has even allowed logging in mining areas, despite his own log ban proclamation.

Magalang has earlier assailed Aquino’s “very dismal” performance when it comes to environment.

“He is a promining guy, meaning procapitalists who plunder our small islands, the ancestral domain and our forests through mining…

“His propoor stance and anticorruption agenda are mere lip services. He has double talks,” he said of the President.

Macec said Aquino should show his sincerity by supporting the concerns for environmental stewardship of poor communities through the declaration of “NO GO ZONE” on mining in small islands, important biodiversity areas like Palawan, areas of high cultural and historical significance and the islands around Tablas Strait, which has been declared as the “center of the epicenter of the marine biodiversity of the world.”

“He has to know that there is such a thing as environmental governance, if only to make sure that he has to leave a legacy for the future generations,” said Magalang.