by Jonathan L. Mayuga - October 1, 2015
MINING disasters often leave behind ugly scars, grim reminders of the destruction brought by mining operations that overshadow promised development in host communities, environmental activists said.
Even mined-out areas still bear the ugly face of mineral-extraction activities many years after the operations have ceased, leaders of Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) and Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) added, as they challenged anew the government to review mining’s benefits as against the damage it causes the environment.
According to Jaybee Garganera, national coordinator of ATM, the scars left behind by Marcopper in Marinduque and Philex in Benguet are among the worst in the country’s history.
Kalikasan-PNE and ATM are vocal critics of the mining-liberalization policy of the government and want large-scale mining in the country stopped.
Both are calling for the repeal of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and President Aquino’s Executive Order 79. They also seek the enactment of a mining law that will protect the environment and give more benefits to the people.
The groups said despite the so-called economic benefits and the aggressive promotion of the government, mining sector’s contribution to the national economy remains insignificant.
Mining companies, they say, rake huge profit in exploiting the country’s mineral resources, but pay very little taxes, and some companies even get to enjoy tax holidays under the current mining fiscal regime, they lamented.
They added that the taxes mining companies pay to the government, little as they are, are hardly felt by the residents of the host communities, whose lives and livelihood are first to be affected when a mining disaster struck.
Mining companies, through the various projects, have made their presence felt in many areas, where roads, bridges, schools, health and civic centers were put up in host communities. But these, according to their critics, are nothing compared to what mining companies get from exploiting the country’s rich mineral deposits.
Garganera said mining’s contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) is less than 1 percent. Annual employment generated by the mining sector, he said, ranges from 200,000 to 250,000. This includes quarrying and small-scale mining operations.
Revenues generated by the government from mining, he said, is even lower than the taxes paid by tobacco and liquor companies.
Citing a comparative study on the economic contributions of industries in terms of excise tax by Cielo Magno of Bantay Kita, in 2012, Garganera noted that 45.5 percent of the P22-billion excise tax collected by the government came from tobacco companies, while 33.3 percent came from alcohol companies. Mining only chipped in 3 percent.
“In terms of toxicity, Marcopper is the worst. Philex’s [mining disaster] is worst in terms of volume,” Garganera says.
“The difference is that Marcopper did not pay for its crime, while Philex settled over P1 billion in fines to the government,” he said.
In between Marcopper and Philex mining disasters, the Rapu-Rapu mining disaster in 2005 was also note mentioning, he said.
Even so, he said the over P1 billion in fines the company paid for the accidental tailings pond leak in August 2013 from the company’s Padcal copper and gold mine in Benguet, is not enough to cover for the massive environmental damage.
He added that there is no way to know whether the fines and penalties paid by mining companies have in fact been used for the rehabilitation of affected areas.
The accidental leak at Philex’s Padcal mine dumped over 20 million metric tons of sediments into the Balog Creek in Benguet and Agno River in Pangasinan and reached the San Roque Dam.
The Marcopper Mining Disaster on March 24, 1996, in the island-province of Marinduque, on the other hand, rendered the Boac River “biologically dead.”
A fact-finding report by Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-NASSA, he said, indicate that communities still suffer from the impacts of Philex mining disaster even though the government had already allowed the company to resume its normal operations.
He said the government should first come up with a comprehensive study and determine the economic value of forestry, agriculture and fisheries as against the benefits offered by mining before opening an area to large-scale mining companies.
“This, I believe, is the primary consideration why the provincial government of South Cotabato has decided not to allow the open-pit mining method because of the potential adverse impact to agriculture, watersheds and forest resources of the province,” he said.
Also, he said the government should come up with a methodology where fines and penalties paid by mining companies for environmental violations are exclusively used for the protection and conservation of the country’s natural wealth.
Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan-PNE, said damage to the environment as a result of mining disasters remains a big problem. “There has been no actual rehabilitation,” he said.
He cited that of the P900-million fine paid by Rapu-Rapu for the dumping cyanide in coastal areas of Rapu Rapu Island in Albay, more than half, or P500 million, was used to pay for the consultation on how to rehabilitate affected coastal areas in the Bicol region.
“Whatever happened to the P1-billion fine paid by Philex? Nobody knows. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources should tell the people where it is now,” he said. “Even if these companies have bad records, the government even give them awards and citation. Until now, there are traces of tailings waste along the Balog Creek and Agno River.”
Mining companies like Philex, he said, are “recidivists” and often get away with their crimes.
“Mining disasters happen not once, but twice and even thrice already but the government has done nothing to prevent disasters,” he said.
He said there should be a moratorium on large-scale mining operation, and until such time that a new mining policy has been put in place, mining should not be allowed to take place.
“The government should impose a mining moratorium; first look into the promised benefits of mining and the potential damage to the environment they may eventually cause,” he said. source
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