Mangyans, priests protest mining project

[GLT]

Mangyans, priests protest mining project

By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:04:00 11/13/2009

Filed Under: indigenous people, Protest, Environmental Issues, Mining
and quarrying, Churches (organisations)

MANILA, Philippines—Mangyans and priests, supported by bishops, are
taking their protest to Metro Manila and will go on an indefinite
hunger strike beginning next week to protest mining operations that
they fear will destroy a contiguous watershed area in Oriental
Mindoro.

Twenty-five hunger strikers, including 16 Mangyans and two priests,
will stage their protest on November 17 in front of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources central office on Visayas Avenue in
Quezon City.

Bishop Warlito I. Cajandig of the apostolic vicariate of Calapan has
issued a statement condemning the large-scale mining of Norwegian
company Intex Resources and repeatedly calling it “irresponsible.”

Cajandig has also issued a call, through the Diocesan Commission on
Service, asking for the support of priests, religious, seminarians,
students, lay and all people of goodwill “to pray and join in the
campaign against mining in Mindoro.”

Three bishops will join Cajandig at a Mass at the protest site on
November 18. They are Bishop Antonio Palang of the vicariate of San
Jose, Mindoro, Laoag Bishop Sergio Utleg, head of the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) Commission on
Indigenous Peoples and Manila auxiliary bishop Broderick Pabillo.

The Norwegian mining project, which will cover 11,218 hectares, is
said to be within the ancestral domain claim of the Alangan and
Tadyawan indigenous Mangyan communities.

According to the Ateneo-based Simbayang Lingkod Bayan, “the large
scale mining operations of Intex Resources may bring about the
destruction of a contiguous watershed and that can lead to the
displacement of several indigenous Mangyan communities in Oriental
Mindoro.”

The mining project will span four towns—Victoria, Pola and Socorro in
Oriental Mindoro and Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro. It is expected to
produce 100 million-120 million tons of ore over a period of 15-20
years. Mindoro’s nickel laterite deposit is believed to be one of the
biggest in the world.

SLB said the people of Mindoro are furious with the DENR’s approval of
Environmental Compliance Certificate for the operation of the nickel
project by Intex Resources. The ECC was issued last October 14 by
Environment Secretary Lito Atienza despite strong and valid opposition
from the community, the local government and the church.

The national anti-mining network Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM, Alliance to
Stop Mining) had earlier called for Atienza’s ouster, saying the
former Manila mayor committed “dreadful acts” when he approved the
project. Intex, on the other hand, had said the protesters had failed
to present their arguments during the public hearings.

Oriental Mindoro has ordered a 25-year moratorium against large-scale
mining while the municipal council of Sablayan and the town’s 22
villages separately issued resolutions opposing the “environmentally
destructive mining project.”