Alternative mining law

EDITORIAL

The debate on mining the country’s natural resources is still on with cause-oriented groups recently urging President Aquino to certify as urgent enactment of alternative mining law by Congress.

               Since after nearly two decades, Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), coalition of more than one hundred organizations, and part of the “Tao muna hindi mina” campaign, said the Mining Act of 1995 (Republic Act No. 7942) failed to deliver on its promise of economic gains and jobs to communities where large-scale mining firms are operating.

“The Mining Act of 1995 is flawed as it has resulted to disasters that rendered the revenue share it has allocated for government ridiculous,” the ATM said.

 “In our report in 2005, we pointed out significant percentage of the forest loss in the Philippines was attributed to mining, in which detrimental impacts to the environment include the deterioration of water catchments, soil erosion and surface run off, the loss of biodiversity and worsening of rural poverty,"  said Maria Belinda E. de la Paz, chief operating officer, Haribon Foundation.

 The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines National Secretariat for Social Action (CBCP-NASSA) executive secretary Fr. Edu Gariguez also called for a moratorium on issuance of new mining permits, saying passage of Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB) has been made more urgent by one mining disaster after another due to flawed framework of the Mining Act of 1995.

 “There is a need to push for this AMMB because Executive Order No. 79, is not the solution to our problem,” Gariguez said.

EO No. 79 has expanded the “no-go” mining zones in the country to include 78 tourism sites, and farms, marine sanctuaries and island ecosystems in response to the public clamor to protect the environment from mining.

 “We reiterate our call to the government to repeal the Mining Act of 1995 and to pass the AMMB, which offers a far more sustainable approach to utilization and protection of our country's natural resources,” Jaybee Garganera, ATM national coordinator said.

According to ATM, “irreversible damage mining activities have continuously inflicted on communities since the enactment of Mining Act of 1995. ATM led various actions including a caravan to different government agencies and the House of Representatives calling for the repeal of the Mining Act of 1995 and enactment of the AMMB.”

Alyansa Tigil Mina is an alliance of mining-affected communities and their support groups of non-government and people’s organizations among other civil society organizations who oppose aggressive promotion of large-scale mining in the Philippines. The alliance is currently pushing for a moratorium on mining, revocation of EO 270-A, repeal of the Mining Act of 1995, and passage of the AMMB.