MANILA, Philippines - Mining advocates and critics on Friday faced off in a forum in Makati City about the impact of the industry on the economy and the environment.
Gina Lopez, managing director of ABS-CBN Foundation and convenor of the Save Palawan Movement, talked about the damage that mining has done in various biodiverse provinces in the country.
Lopez also dismissed the alleged benefits to surrounding communities where mining companies operate, saying the poorest areas in the country are mining areas. "I'm not against the whole mining industry. My stand is, in an island ecosystem, whether large-scale or small-scale, mining is grossly irresponsible," she told the conference.
She offered eco-tourism as an alternative to mining in the said areas. "We can get our people out of poverty if we invest in our ecosystem. Why don't we rather invest in our islands?"
"The poorest areas in the country are mining areas," she added.
But Chamber of Mines of the Philippines director Gerard Brimo was quick to defend the mining sector, saying large-scale miners exert effort to rehabilitate the areas they mine.
The barren lands cited by Lopez were not caused by mining, he said, arguing they have been that way due to the presence of minerals that prevent the growth of trees. "Gina, I love you, too. But you don't know what you're talking about."
Brimo blamed the destruction shown by Lopez to illegal small-scale mining operations. "Let's look at face of small-scale mining. There was P43 billion worth of gold sold to the central bank. There is child labor, there are no taxes. Why the attack on large-scale? On mining and food security, there's a misconception. Poverty is misconstrued. This includes small-scale areas, these are not the legitimate large-scale mines."
Petter Wallace, president of the Wallace Business Forum, meantime, said mining should not be totally banned because it can help the country's economy. "Mining is unavoidable. The answer I believe is to control mining, banning everything that never works. Do the least possible damage, support local community, rehabilitate land during mining and at the end of it," he said.
Govt evaluating issues
The mining debate comes ahead of the government's release of a comprehensive mining policy. Malacañang was supposed to release an executive order laying down new guidelines for the mining industry in February, but deferred it pending more consultations to ensure acceptability to stakeholders.
In Friday's forum, Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Leo Jasareno said the government is very much aware of the many issues hounding the industry and is doing all it can to address them. "This is the main reason why a mining study group was created and tasked to formulate the mining policy and address the environmental and social issues and come up with a socially acceptable mining in the country.
"It should be mining that significantly contributes to economic growth in a manner that mitigates the impact to the environment and improves the quality of life of the people or no mining at all." The government earlier assured investors that existing mining contracts will be honored and respected.
Below is the transcript of the heated exchange between anti-mining activist and ABS-CBN Foundation's Gina Lopez and Philex Mining Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan.
Gina Lopez: Manny Pangilinan you said that the areas that are gonna be mined are ugly anyway, that is so not true. It's not true the areas that are gonna be mined are ugly I'll tell you about Sibuyan, Sibuyan has the world's densest forests, the country's cleanest inland body of water and yet the mining tenement was approved there on top of agricultural land. I have been to Brooke's Point. I can drink the water in the river and yet the government has approved 1-B worth of mining in that place. I have all these people coming to us. So when you say that all these mining tenement places are in these areas that are ugly anyway I really think you need to go and visit it.
Manny Pangilinan: Regina have you been to Padcal (in Benguet Province)? Have you been to Silangan in Surigao Del Norte? Who would go there and develop a tourism site? There's nothing there. When we, as Gerry pointed out, I wasn't there, I think when his father entered Philex in Padcal it was deforested, denuded, since that time we've planted 7-M trees. We have a self-contained community, we provide free housing, free hospitals, free education up to high school, and we have a post-rehab plan, we set aside each year an amount of money because someday that mine will be closed. There's a post-rehab plan that we have. Whether by law or not. We care about the people at the point when these guys have to fend for themselves.
Gina Lopez: I just want to say that maybe that place may be nice and I submit it may be nice. When you make a statement that all the areas where there's gonna be mining is ugly anyway that's the point.
Manny Pangilinan: I did not say that! Now you're lying.
Source: ABS-CBN News and Rappler
