The Presidential Mining EO

The Presidential Executive Order (EO) outlining the administration’s policy on mining is something to be welcomed as it shows a positive concern in protecting sensitive ecological areas that could be adversely affected by mining, especially the horrific open pit-mining that rips out the heart and soul of mountain-sides and forests, and does untold ecological damage. The EO has positive aspects. It reasserts the provisions of existing laws that protect the environment and ancestral lands. The good will of the presidential order may not be strong enough to combat the age-old tyrant of good laws and good will, namely corrupt officials embedded in the political dynastic system that makes its own laws.


While the Presidential Executive Order expanded protection and declared 78 areas “no-go” for mining, it may be unenforceable as some powerful corrupt government officials especially in Mindanao, are ignoring and defying the existing law. They continue to illegally issue exploration and mining permits to mining corporations in the ancestral lands of the indigenous people where cronies of past governments, even those of the Marcos’ era still hold the power.

The EO re-enforces the mining law, RA 7942, known as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995. Under its provisions, the officials of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are strictly forbidden to entertain mining applications for exploration, mapping and any kind of mining in old growth or virgin forest, proclaimed watershed areas, forest reserves, wilderness areas, mangrove forests, mossy forests, national parks, provincial or municipal forests, parks, green belts game refuge and bird sanctuaries, as defined by law and in areas expressly prohibited under the National Integrated Protected Areas System, (NIPAS) under Republic act No. 7586, Department Order No. 25 series of 1992 and other laws.

Ancestral lands of the indigenous people are strictly no-go areas for mining unless there is clear and explicit public approval, social acceptability and informed consent after consultations. It says: "No ancestral land shall be opened for mining without the prior consent of the indigenous cultural community concerned". Despite these strong laws, the DENR and other government officials have become puppets and sided with the rich and powerful. They have wrongly and illegally given permits for them to operate, no doubt for certain unknown considerations.

The Subaanen people, whose lands and those lands of hundreds of thousand Visayan people on the Zamboanga peninsula have been invaded by mining interests; have stoutly and bravely resisted the incursions of mining companies. For fifteen years they have peacefully protested and made it known that they do not approve mining on their lands but have been ignored. Their lands are targeted for open-pit mining and since 1997; one company after another has sought and obtained mining rights in their lands specifically on Mt. Pinukis and its neighboring mountainous Medau area. The final report on Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Priorities published in 2002 states that the status of Mt. Sugarloaf, a Conservation Priority Area covering an area of 87,963.43 hectares is of extremely high criticality. They have filed legal cases against these officials and most recently a shocking court decision allowed the mining companies to join the court case in support of the government officials.

The Supreme Court granted the people a protection order, an order to the companies to cease and desist(Writ of Kalikasan) but there seems to be no power that can implement it.

It is in places and situations like this, one of thousands, where the environmental crises of the planet become practically evident. It is here where the irresponsible corporations will violate people's rights waving an illegally obtained paper, and use that to engage in destructive gauging and environmental plunder.

The American and European laws forbid wrongdoing of this kind. Prosecutors ought to look closely at these operations where their corporate citizens are violating human and ancestral rights. Court cases ought to be taken by NGOs in the countries where the mining corporations are domiciled in order to bring them to justice and save hundreds of thousands of hectares of prime lands and forest.

People around the world ought to take a stand, make their voices heard and write to President Noynoy Aquino, Malacanang Palace, Manila supporting the rights of the poor, the farmers and the indigenous people.

A Victory Just and Right

It was a blistering hot day in November 2009 when I went to the protest picket line outside the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).There were about forty people on hunger strike in tents led by father Edwin Gariguez. He is a servant-leader dedicated to empowering the Mangyan indigenous people of Mindoro, to organize and protect their rights and lands from the onslaught of the massive open-pit mining project of the Intex Resources. 

Intex is a Norwegian based mining corporation that had somehow got a permit from the DENR officials to gouge open a huge open pit nickel mine on the ancestral lands of the Mangyan. Powerful local business men and military officials supported the project giving Intex assurances that they would take care of getting rid of the indigenous people, their leaders and supporters.  The Mangyan are the original inhabitants of the Island. They survived in harmony with nature for thousands of years. Such a mining project would have ripped out their mango trees, polluted their streams and rivers and driven them away from their ancestral lands forever.

The only beneficiaries of this destructive mining operation would be the international share holders and investment banks in nations thousands of miles away. The protest leaders I talked to on that hunger strike were determined that this would never happen. They were called agitators, communists. When they held protests in the capitol of Mindoro Island they were set upon by gun toting goons who did not shrink from beating them up and even shooting dead, one campaigner. Father Edu, as he is popularly called, received death threats.  

The eleven day hunger strike, and the previous international campaigning and lobbying by Father Gariguez around Europe developed strong support and finally the Government officials caved in and cancelled the mining permit of Intex, which they should never have approved. Why government officials are serving the interests of foreign corporations and not their own people is a mystery that might only be solved by looking into their bank accounts and life styles. Goldman Sacs the big investment bank withdrew its support and money from the US$2.4 billion Intex project.

Members of the Intex board resigned and the project closed to the delight of the people and their supporters. Father Edwin Gariguez was honored for his solidarity and courage and awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco last 16 April 2012. He risked his life for the sake of the people, the environment and the nation. It is great people like him and his team that should be the role models and heroes of the Filipinos but sadly instead the media promotes semi-illiterate emotionally dysfunctional celebrity actors and actresses instead.

And even help to have them elected to high office to run the nation and lead it into corrupt chaos. The example of Fr. Edu and the victory won is giving hope and encouragement to all in the Anti-destructive mining movement. If you could see the beautiful and life giving environment of Mindoro Islands and other places in Mindanao and Palawan that are under threat by mining corporations you would want it be saved forever. Then look at a photo of such an excavation as an open pit mine it will truly boggle your mind. We are called to challenge and question the policies of government that allow the destructive mining.  In Palawan and Mindanao in the southern Philippines similar projects are underway amid protests and campaigns to stop them. Open pit mining is perhaps the most destructive of all.

All of us must take a stand and say no to such projects and write to government officials to protest or send them this article.  We can ask them if it is necessary to destroy the beauty and life sustaining environment of this planet and centuries old communities just to get nickel. Imagine these gigantic holes in the earth. Some can be excavated so deep that two Eiffel Towers, one on top of the other would fit into it. 

The utter destruction of the environment by such projects is enormous; mountain-sides, rivers, streams, forests, rice lands are destroyed or damaged and made unusable. But with the servant -leaders like Father Edwin Gariguez and thousands of dedicated human rights and environmentalists active today there is great hope that we can hold back this destructive force and win out with the people through non-violent peaceful protest.  END

Church and People Call For a New Mining Law

Bishops, priests, pastors, people from all walks of life and non-government organizations have taken a stand against the unfair, exploitative and damaging mining operations in this country. It is an important moral issue because for generations 75% of the people have endured a life of poverty and want, exploitation and injustice. Wealth distribution in the Philippines is among the most unequal in the world and 1% of the population unjustly own or control 70% of the national wealth.


The mineral wealth is said to be worth US$680 billion and is the heritage of the Filipino people. If not stolen by the 1% it can be a way out of poverty for millions.

However the small minority of the 1% of the super rich in cahoots with multinational corporations are trying to get all the valuable minerals they can for themselves and share practically nothing with the people. The crooked law of 1995 and the past administration favored the thieves and allowed them to pay less than 2% tax obligation on earnings. In Australia the mining corporations now pay 35% of their profits in tax.

The mining corporations in the Philippines don't even have to pay any tax until they have completely recovered their costs and made a profit. With slick manipulative bookkeeping and smart tax lawyers that could take up to ten years and even then they can show a loss. The Alliance to Stop Mining said in a newspaper advertisement recently, "…..while the mining corporations use the Philippines as a milking cow, the owner of the natural wealth only gets dog food". In other words mining is of no economic advantage to the Filipino people. This is the serious injustice facing the nation that has to be addressed.

The mining companies will claim otherwise. If they will open their books, bank accounts, (especially the dollar accounts) and tax records to the public then we might see the truth. Let's see what they earn considering the astronomical high prices for mineral commodities on the world market today.

The government, elected by the people to address this issue among others, does not treat the people as dogs and to prove it, the President will issue a Executive Order (EO) to bring this tax free exploitation to an end and impose at least a 20 %tax on large scale mining and end the corruption and environmental destruction caused by the irresponsible mining industry. However the passing of the new mining law is the best solution.

In a previous article I pointed to the abandoned open-pit mining operation in San Marcelino where Benguet Corp. operated for years, a huge crater remains, a mountain has been destroyed with it's bio-diversity and an entire valley has been left abandoned and poisoned. The open-pit mining operation in Tampakan, South Cotobato is so huge you could fit two Empire State buildings one on top of the other in it according to the Alliance to Stop Mining.

The Filipino people are demanding a total halt to the rampant and out-of-control massive irresponsible mining operations that are destroying the environment and bring no benefit to the people or the nation.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said the mining law of 1995 should be repealed and the proposed new People's Mining Bill passed by congress. That is the increasingly loud cry of the people from all over the country.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) representing the voice of 125 Bishops has supported this unequivocally. The bishops called for a halt to large scale mining until this new law is passed. In an ecumenical move Catholic and Protestant Bishops made a statement: "We the Ecumenical Bishops Forum, express alarm over the wanton abuse of natural resources by the transnational mining corporations with their local cohorts in South Luzon Region, especially Bicol" They went on to say: "Destructive mining is blatantly unethical, unjust and senseless for it exacerbates poverty, causes dislocation of the livelihood of the people, and threatens the base of life and life itself", the bishops said.

There we have it, the plain bald truth. The way the minerals are extracted is detrimental to the environment; the earnings for the people are zero. The proposed new law must be passed to make mining a responsible industry that protects the environment and gives just and fair benefits to all.

The Example of True Friendship

The life and death of Father Fausto Tentorio (59) is not going to be forgotten. Filipinos and many others will continue to recall and celebrate his steadfast solidarity, commitment and dedication to the downtrodden ingenious people. The Lumad people of Mindanao are victims of exploitation, discrimination and man made poverty for the past fifty years. The onslaught of mining in the area of North Cotobato, Mindanao brought a response from the church, and Father Tentorio took a stand with the indigenous people to help them protect their ancestral domain and human rights from the loggers, land grabbers and mining corporations.

His fellow Italian missionary Tulio Favali was also murdered by assassins in 1985, for his heroic efforts to stand with the people to protect the environment from the insatiable appetites of the rich and wealthy logging corporations and big business interests backed by the dynastic families that still rule the Philippines with private armies from the congress to the countryside. In the case of Fr. Favali the killers were found and arrested and sentenced to twenty years, but the masterminds that steered them to their target and paid them were known but never named.

In the murder of Father "Pops", as he was fondly called, the mining interests in the area that desire the ancestral lands of the tribal Filipinos in order to exploit the mineral wealth will not be blamed. While fingers may be pointed at Philippine military it is more likely that the hired killer that parked his motor bike outside the house of father Pops on the morning of October 17, walked up to him and shot him point blank as he was getting into his car, had the mark of an experienced trained assassin.

These killers are known to be former members of the military or police, fired out for one reason or another, or charged with a crime and then either work for private security companies founded by retired military or police officers, or are killers for hire. The Sagittarius Mining company has a huge controversial project that the people and the diocese of Kidapawan vigorously oppose. The Company stated in a half page newspaper advertisement recently that they respect the rights of the people, the environment and had nothing whatsoever to do with the killing of Father Tentorio. But what about their private security company?

Hundreds of people marched with the funeral cortege carrying flags and banners, one read; "Justice for Fr. Fausto "Pops" Tentorio, PIME. A Missionary Martyr for the Poor and the Landless".

Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez in a radio broadcast advised President Aquino not to allow mining in areas where there is opposition to it. The parish of Fr. Pops in the beautiful scenic Arakan Valley was the target of the mining corporation and he helped organize and empower the people to be unafraid to object to the threatened takeover of their lands. The Bishop of Marabel in Cotobato, said "Maybe because of that he was killed". He had received death threats but did not take them seriously, parish workers said. Despite the danger and the threats he stood his ground with the people and lived on with them working for justice.

So too have many others of different faiths taken their stand in the streets against tyrants and tyranny and have risked their lives and lost them in protesting against evil regimes and injustice and working for a just society.

Thousands of committed Christians, missionaries - lay and ordained, men and women around the world have taken on the true mission of the gospel of Jesus of Nazareth and they stand up for the poor and serve them as "washers of feet", as good shepherds who lay down their lives for their people. They call them friends as did Jesus giving us an example as to what love and friendship really is; asking no reward and working for justice to the end even if it comes by an assassin's bullet or crucifixion.

When Jesus had that last meal of friendship with his disciples he knew what would happen to him and so he left that simple meal as a reminder of his friendship and his mission, "Do this in memory of me". So too we remember Fr. Tentorio. He has joined that band of brothers and sisters who gave their lives, bravely and courageously, as an example for the rest of us.

The Earth, Where the Brave Are Buried

It was his idealism, his commitment to saving the earth and his love of nature that brought Gensun Agustin, 30, of Buguey, Cagayan, Northern Luzon, the Philippines, to an early and unnatural death at 4 PM last 1 March 2010. He was laid in his beloved earth, the earth that had given him life and for which he had fought and died as a campaigner for the protection of the environment. Earth Day ought to be a remembrance day for all those who have given their lives to save and protect the land and the people whose lives depend on it.

Gensun loved the sea, the sand and the mountains and when he saw the sand and the beaches of Buguey being seriously damaged by the extraction of huge volumes of black sand and the precious black magnetite, he acted to save them. The sands are being excavated and shipped in barges to waiting Korean ships off the Cagayan shore with the connivance of a powerful political clan in the province. We dare not speak or write the name lest another hail of bullets will end this writer’s life too as it did that of Gensun as he rode his motor bike home that fatal day. Two men riding another motorbike overtook him and opened fire. A beautiful mind, heart and spirit were wiped out, ended by the evil-doers in greedy pursuit of perversity and power.

Magnetite mining consists of scooping the black sand with bulldozers, payloads and trucks, or sometimes dug up by paid workers or villagers with spades and wheel barrows. Environmentalists fear that the extraction of magnetite, which binds the sand together, will undermine the entire beach structure and raising sea levels and raging typhoons that will cause massive erosion. They can see that with the beaches lowered the sea will rise inland flooding the rice fields with salt water and covering roads and destroying bridges, schools and houses.

There is something perverse happening when a very physical part of the Philippines itself, its beauty, its environment, its heritage is dug-up by a powerful family and shipped out to a foreign land to enrich a single family and the business people of Korea and when the protectors of the earth are shot and killed. The brave Mayor of Buguey, Ignacio Taruc, for whom Gensun worked, leads an anti-mining organization and has been threatened and harassed himself when he protested the destruction of the beaches and their fragile ecosystems.

Another brave anti-mining environmentalist Ricardo Ganad was brutally murdered in Oriental Mindoro last 10 February and many others throughout the Philippines. Since 2001, over 800 murders of human rights and environmental advocates have taken place. Many of them were connected to anti-mining campaigns.

Those most affected are the indigenous people who have retreated to their ancestral mountain domains as land grabbers encroached on their lowlands. These ingenious people struggle to survive and preserve their traditional way of life and customs. They are under increasing pressure by mining companies owned in many cases by wealthy colonial era families backed by foreign mining interests. The rich families control the Congress and make laws for their self-interest and their foreign cronies. The 1995 Mining Law is an example and they have military forces to impose their will. Unjust as the 1995 Mining Act is, condemned by the Philippine Bishops, and many international development organizations, mining is spreading into the ancestral lands and bulldozing over the rights of the Filipino people who suffer the landslides, pollution of rivers and coastal areas, the destructive logging, the loss of habitat and rain forest.

Well that's what we are up against on Earth day in the Philippines - the willful destruction of our beautiful coasts, fish stocks, hills, mountains and rivers with nothing but loss and dire poverty for most of the affected Filipinos. But take heart, there is a strong resistance but it is met with deadly forces. But please join and support the thousands of brave environmentalists in the Philippines and around the globe working, living, and dying for their just cause - saving and preserving the Earth. It’s the only one we've got.