Farmers, fishermen protest coal mines in Semirara, Caluya islands

Business Mirror

22 Oct 2013 

 

Written by Jonathan L. Mayuga

FARMERS and fishermen on Tuesday expressed alarm over the adverse environmental impact of massive extraction of coal in two of the country’s largest coal mines and marked the International Day of Action against Coal with massive street protests in Antique province.

Led by Isalba ang Caluya, some 400 farmers and fishermen called on the local officials of Antique to stop the expansion of the coal mines in the province.

The government is looking to Semirara Mining Corp. to supply coal for the majority of the 35 new coal fired power plants planned to start operations in the coming years.

The group said a landslide in February at Semirara Mining Corp.’s coal mine left 10 people dead but the tragedy was hardly reported in the media.

They said violations of environmental and labor laws have been flagrant over the years—waste are dumped into the ocean and land grabbing and loss of fishing grounds have been happening in the area.

On the other hand, in Caluya, various stakeholders are now up in arms against the open-pit mining for coal.

“Despite more than 30 years of open-pit mining in Caluya, people have been afraid to speak out. Today they are breaking their silence and are participating, along with 14 other sites across the Philippines in this Day of Action,” the group said.  source