Movement against mining launched in Central Negros
BACOLOD CITY -- Around 115 representatives coming from various organizations, the academe, churches and local government units of Kabankalan, Himamaylan, Binalbagan, Isabela, Moises Padilla and La Castellana, Negros Occidental gathered in Himamaylan City to consolidate their ranks against mining activities and mining application in Central Negros.
The gathering was the First General Assembly of PEMEP-CN (People's Movement for Environmental Protection in Central Negros) recently held at Cong. Agustin Gatuslao Memorial Gymnasium in Himamaylan City.
Themed, "Paghimakas sa pagtipig sang dunang manggad, kabuhi, palangabuhian kag kinamatarung (Struggle to defend the environment, life, livelihood and human rights), the delegates learned about the present mining situation in the country particularly in the island of Negros.
"Mining has never been environment friendly, it caused tragedies and enhance the community's vulnerability to any catastrophic events, making the lives of the people more miserable and worse, it already killed many people," said Rev. Fr. Benjamin Duran, District Chairperson of the newly founded PEMEP-CN. Duran further stressed during the assembly that the existing mining laws neglect people, political, civil, cultural and economic rights while the government is strengthening its plunderous extraction of our mineral resources and scratching our natural patrimony.
The assembly's petition letter was a clear standpoint of the alliance, opposing existing commercial mining operation and exploration activities and also demanding the non-approval of pending mining applications in Negros. The group also demand for the scrapping of Republic Act 7942 or the Mining Act of 1995 and Executive Order no. 270. They strongly pushed for the approval of House Bill 3059 or the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill and uphold the proposed "People's Mining Policy", as for them those are the necessary and equally important things for our leap to National Industrialization and for the greater glory of the Filipino People.
During their assembly, they come out with a "manifesto" declaring that all commercial mining operations are major threats to environment in general to the livelihood of the people and also to the sustainable agriculture initiatives of church groups, NGOs and POs. As members of the PEMEP-CN, they strongly united and demand to stop the existing mining operations of Philmet Corporation in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental and other existing mining operations in the island of Negros. They also urged government agencies concerned to further stop the processing and approval of all Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSAs), Financial or Technical Assistance Agreements (FTAAs), Exploration Permit Agreements (EPAs) and other mining agreements.