MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 17, 2012) – Various groups have called on Philippine lawmakers to pass the Alternative Minerals Management Bill and repeal the Mining Act of 1995.
Lawmakers Teddy Brawner Baguilat, Carlos Padilla, Kaka Bag-ao, Walden Bello, Rufus Rodriguez, and Erin Tañada are also supporting the calls.
“I call on my fellow legislators to urgently pass the alternative minerals management bill that would repeal the Mining Act of 1995,” Baguilat said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
“It is time to correct the historical injustices committed against indigenous peoples and give due justice to their struggles. We should throw away our long standing colonial framework in mineral extraction and institute a rational needs-based mineral governance that would cater to our sustainable development,” he added.
Baguilat’s statement following a caravan participated by some 2,000 AMMB
supporters from communities in Metro Manila who joined the 350-strong leaders of indigenous communities, farmers, fisher folks and church leaders.
The caravan, which started on October 14 from Nueva Vizcaya, culminated at the House of Representatives, to call on legislators to pass the AMMB.
Carmen Ananayo, who belongs to an indigenous tribe from Nueva Vizcaya, said that the passage of AMMB is pro-women because with mining, violence in affected communities escalates and the indigenous women are the first to become victims of this aggression.
Apart from the passage of AMMB, the contingent also urged Congress to revoke the FTAAs of OceanaGold Philippines Inc. for the Didipio Gold and Copper Project, and SMI/Xstrata, for the Tampakan Copper Gold Mining Project, and moratorium on all large-scale mining operations in the country.
FTAA refers to Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement.
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