ENVIRONMENTALIST AGAINST THE PHILIPPINE MINING ACT OF 1995 ⛰️

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Environmentalists staged an indignation mobilization at the gates of the Senate of the Philippines to register their calls, once more, for the abolition of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, 31 years after it was enacted into law.

The faces of the culprits behind the devastation caused by the destructive mining were handcuffed and condemned by the leaders who spoke against the injustices that are purveyed by the industry. Alongside them are the anti-mining residents of Brgy. Bitnong, Sitio Keon in Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya whose land was recently subjected to the exploration of Woggle Corporation, Inc.

Kalikasan - People’s Network for the Environment Spokesperson Cathleen de Guzman stated that the aforementioned law served as the entryway for large-scale foreign mining corporations to multiply in our country who are responsible for the extractive mining that has siphoned our resources and utilized it for their own benefit.

They stated that the response of the Marcos Jr. government to the struggling conditions of our country’s most fundamental sectors has remained largely superficial. Resistance to state-induced conditions dates all the way back to the dictatorship of Marcos Sr. whose immense repression necessitated environmentalists to resist state-forces.

The barricades of Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya, and the vocal opposition of the communities in Kalinga Province, they state, is reminiscent of this resistance amidst insurmountable odds backed by the Philippine government. Simultaneously, the anti-mining residents of Dupax del Norte also dedicated themselves to a full-day of community action that included a peaceful protest and a caravan to the Dupax del Norte Municipal Hall.

Juan Dammay of the Cordillera People’s Alliance - Kalinga added that the communities in Cordillera are also defending their ancestral land against the threat of large-scale mining at the hands of foreign corporations. He emphasizes that such operations are only interested in profiteering from the natural resources of their land with a blatant disregard for the rights of the affected communities.

The Cordillera Peoples Alliance - Kalinga calls for the withdrawal of the Makilala Mining Company, stating that the people will continue to assert their rights over their ancestral lands against destructive mining.

The CCNCI maintains that the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 is a state instrument that has allowed for the plunder of our natural resources under the basis of a global order that has subjugated the Philippines under the control of foreign powers that dominate the global market.

It is precisely this order of subservience that the aforementioned law wants to maintain as it does not serve the local development of the nation but rather intensifies the destruction of the environment and the violation of the most basic human rights of the affected communities. Overall, the overarching goal of the aforementioned law is to maintain the indigency of the people and rob them of their capacity for self-determination.

The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 is a law that has manifested the fascist nature of our government in all facets of its implementation. As seen from the case of Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya, this law has allowed the repression of critical voices and is responsible for the overkill response of the PNP and AFP.

CCNCI vehemently condemns the militarized nature of our laws and maintains that such laws are a telling sign that we do not have the agency over our land. Consistent with our right to a balanced and healthy ecosystem, the achievement of climate justice must be supplemented with the recognition of the rights of the indigenous, farmers, and residents of the affected areas.

Self-determination over our ancestral land marks a landmark step in the achievement of climate justice because draconian laws such as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 only debilitate our most fundamental rights at the expense of the private interests of foreign corporations.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟓!