Clergy press return of mining moratorium

CATHOLIC Church leaders on Saturday appealed to President Duterte to reconsider his move lifting the nine-year ban on new mining projects.

Caritas Philippines, the social action arm of the Catholic Church, spearheaded the call for the return of the moratorium on new mining agreements, saying that mining operations would do more harm than good.

“The decision will only favor business interests more than the people, especially the poor and marginalized communities,” Kidapawan Bishop Jose Collin Bagaforo, who also serves as Caritas national director, said.

The prelate pointed out that mining activities are potentially injurious to public health and safety of the residents and would create irreparable damage to the environment.

“The government has again chosen vested interests and profit over our suffering people and ecology,” said Bagaforo.

Bagaforo asked the government to “reconsider the lifting of the mining moratorium.”

“We are in the countryside, and we are seeing no economic improvement in the lives of the people from mining,” he lamented.

Bagaforo’s position was echoed by Tuguegarao Archbishop Ricardo Baccay, who also leads Caritas’ EcoConvergence Hub in Luzon.

Baccay said that the off-shore mining in Cagayan province, which was devastated by massive flooding in 2020, is likely to bring more harm than good once it will be fully operational.

Earlier, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also sought the repeal of the existing law on mining, which the Church claimed promotes the plunder of the country’s natural resources for the benefit of investors and mining firms.

The CBCP said “allowing the interests of big mining corporations to prevail over people’s right to these resources amount to violating their right to life,” adding that, “mining threatens people’s health and environmental safety through the wanton dumping of waste and tailings in rivers and seas.”

In support of the Church’ position, the President earlier gave a stern warning to big mining companies to stop their destructive mining operations, particularly in Mindanao, where 25 out of 44 large-scale mining operations can be found.

But on April 14, Duterte issued an executive order lifting the nineyear moratorium on new mining deals imposed by President Benigno Aquino 3rd in 2012.

The President Duterte’s move was aimed at boosting state revenue and spurring investment to help the economy recover from the devastating effect of the coronavirus pandemic.