Uphold the rights of small scale miners and advance national patrimony

PANALIPDAN MT. DIWATA ALLIANCE Unity Statement for the protection of Mt. Diwata | The Panalipdan Mt. Diwata Alliance is an aggrupation of environmental rights advocates, church workers, academicians and members of socio-civic groups that have come together to unite in the common aim of defending Mt. Diwata, its rich mineral resources, the rights of small scale miners, the land rights of indigenous peoples and farmers in Diwalwal, and in general, the interest and welfare of the Filipino nation.

With the recent threats hovering Mt. Diwata and its people, we express our contention to the bidding-out of the 729-hectare parcel within the Diwalwal Minahang Bayan to private large scale mining corporations as initiated by the Philippine Mining Development Corporation (PMDC), the corporate arm of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Many geologic findings have established that this portion of the Diwalwal Integrated Development Area (DIDA) comprised immense resources and national value. Data shows that the 8,100-hectare mineral reservation area declared by the previous Arroyo government in 2002 contains $14 billion worth of gold and $4.5 billion worth of silver. Moreover, according to the DENR, Diwalwal produces 25% of the country’s gold and according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), some P 2 billion worth of gold is produced in this hold rush site annually.

Hence, to allow private large scale corporations to mine within the 729 – hectare gold rush area of Mt. Diwalwal poses threat to local and national economic and patrimonial interests. This, indeed on the long term,  will bring a heavy blow upon our national economy.

We cannot allow foreign multinational companies to exploit our natural resources for their own profit while our own country and people are languishing in deep poverty and our local industries such as mining is left undeveloped and deteriorating.

Throughout the country, the experiences of local communities have shown how the globalized mining policy of previous administrations, especially of the Arroyo Administration, have led to the massive deterioration of the environment and the plunder of our mineral resources, and in general, the degradation of the people’s lives and culture.

The experiences of the Igorot people of the Cordillera region, the fisherfolks of Rapu-rapu in Bicol, the Subanen of Mt. Canatuan in Zamboanga, and and other lumads in Surigao and in Tampakan mining site in South Cotabato are living testaments to the destructive impact of large scale and foreign mining.

While large-scale mining investments promise jobs and higher wages, high revenues for the LGUs, developed roads and electricity for the people, there are studies on the costs and benefits of mining by experts which show that greater losses are suffered by host communities and the host country in terms of what would be lost to environmental destruction caused by the open-pit mining method preferred by large scale mining firms.  

On the ground, due to the schemes of the large-scale mining corporations, small scale miners are subjected to harsh and hazardous working conditions and unjust wages.  Also, a common experience by resisting communities is that the residents and civilians are subjected to human rights abuses such as forcible displacement, harassment, red-baiting and appallingly, from merciless and brutal killings.

In this framework, we believe that the Diwalwal Minahang Bayan must be developed for the benefit of the Filipino people, for national progress rather than for foreign exploration of minerals from which only large mining firms and transnational mining companies benefit.

We express support to the voice of thousands of small scale miners. We salute their resilience and their determined assertion of their right to mine the Diwalwal Minahang Bayan. Diwalwal must remain as a a state mineral reservation.

We are one with the environmental rights advocates and nationalists in demanding the genuine nationalization of Diwalwal vis-a-vis the sham state control implemented by the PMDC, NRDC and the DENR.

We challenge the newly-installed Aquino Administration to overhaul and re-align the direction of the Natural Resources Development Corp., the PMDC and the DENR so that these agencies will better serve to protect and develop our resources, rather than serving as brokers of foreign TNCs.

We further urge the DENR and the government to heed the peoples demand that mining operations and development must guarantee environmental protection and safety.

We  enjoin all environmental advocates, small scale miners, and other concerned sectors  to unite with us in demanding and advancing a “Peoples’ Mining Policy” that is based on time-tested principles of social justice, respect for people’s rights and welfare, environmental conservation and the defense of our national sovereignty and patrimony and national industrialization.

Indeed, the issue of the Diwalwal bidding and mining development is an issue that transcends local concerns. The protection of Mt. Diwata is an assertion of our environmental rights. More importantly, it is a concern of defending our national patrimony.

Let us continue to stand united in defending our resources, land, right and life.

Let us be united in opposing large-scale and foreign mining in Diwalwal and throughout the country.

DEFEND MT. DIWATA! DEFEND NATIONAL PATRIMONY!

ADVANCE THE PEOPLE’S MINING POLICY!