DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 7, 2013) – Environmentalists in the Philippines have called anew on President Benigno Aquino not to issue an Environmental Compliance Certificate for the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project.
The Alyansa Tigil Mina said the Tampakan mining project is situated in water catchments on Mt. Matutum Range which supplies water for the vast agricultural lands of three provinces. It said the project could destroy the local economy and affect some 150,000 farmers in rural communities that depend on their daily water needs from the aquifers.
It said the mining project will allow for the cutting of forests beyond 1000 meters which is not allowed by Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The development of the project will also result in extensive physical disturbance of the land, which for most part is permanent.
The Tampakan mine has a high potential for loss of life and high environmental damage if a failure of dams or rock storage facilities occurs, the group said, citing a report on the project.
“We restate the critique of from the London Working Group on Mining in the Philippines, environmental experts Clive Wicks and Dr. Robert Goodland, who reviewed both the Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for the SMI-Xstrata Tampakan Copper-Gold Mining Project.”
“Moreover, we strongly believe that no ECC should be issued and no mining should be allowed if there is no acceptance and consent from mining-affected communities. The present violence and escalating tensions in the areas is proof enough that this project is not recognized and consented to by the communities. Additionally, SMI-Xstrata has failed to secure the free prior and informed consent of indigenous cultural communities whose ancestral domains will be invaded by the mining project. Hence, the project should not proceed,” the Alyansa Tigil Muna said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
It said the Environmental Code of South Cotabato’s provision on banning open-pit mining is still in effect and can only be overturned by a Supreme Court decision.
“Thus, the mining project proposal of SMI-Xstrata legally cannot be allowed. The proposal can only be considered if the law is reversed or if the company will deploy other mining processes,” it said.
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