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First Posted on Inside Mindanao (www.insidemindanao.com) on April 22, 2010
Protests mark earth day commemoration
By Erwin B. Quinones of LRC⁄KsK–FoE Phils
KORONADAL CITY—Protest activities marked the commemoration of earth day in various parts of the region as groups call for a stop of various extractive projects that threaten people's lives, livelihood and the environment.
Organized by member organizations of SoCSKSARGEN Climate Action Now (CAN), the protesters particularly targeted a mining project and a coal fired power plant and call for climate justice amidst the threat of global warming.
Around 1,700 people led by the Catholic Church marched around the town center of Tampakan, South Cotabato on Tuesday to demand the pull–out of XSTRATA–Sagitarius Mines Incorporated (SMI) in the area.
"We have to protect the lifelines of the communities in Tampakan and other areas otherwise our dignity as human beings will be lost eventually," declares Fr. Gillarme Joy Pelino, Vicar of Tampakan Parish in a protest–rally attended by religious followers, farmers and irrigators associations and indigenous peoples.
Gillarme added that "the people's struggle against XSTRATA–SMI's copper–cold project will continue to groundswell and we see more communities and organizations joining our ranks in the months to come."
"More than 40,000 hectares of rice fields in South Cotabato and Davao del Sur will be affected by the XSTRATA–SMI's mining project. (We) the irrigators have decided to join the campaign because we fear that we will end up with no food to provide for our children," said Ireneo Felizilda, President of Tampakan Irrigators Association.
Protests mark earth day commemoration.
In Maasim, Saranggani province,
at least 300 protesters picketed in front of the
proposed Alcantara owned 200MW coal plant site
in Sitio Tampuan to dramatize their vehement
opposition to the project.
Contributed Photo
The irrigators and other grassroots organizations joined the church initiated Save SOCSARGEN Movement, a local alliance that vowed to oppose the mining project and other extractive industries and to campaign for climate justice. Indigenous Peoples groups also joined the protests and belie company claims that they have been very supportive of the copper–gold project.
Daguil Capion, a B'laan leader residing inside the mine development area laments that "they (XSTRATA–SMI) say we're okey but in truth we're not."
"The mining project has already divided our people. They're not even respecting our right to a genuine consent by withholding important information," Capion said in the local dialect.
The protesters later signed a declaration against the Tampakan Copper Gold Project of XSTRATA–SMI and for a new mining law written in a large tarpaulin.
Fr. Romeo Catedral, Social Action Center director of the diocese of Marbel lauded the local church initiative saying that "the Diocese of Marbel has always been consistent with its stand against XSTRATA–SMI's mining project."
"We say that the government has not been responsive to the issue of global warming and climate change. It continues to allow large–scale mining and other extractives which will only lead to the irreversible loss of biodiversity and worse, destroy the future of the communities," Catedral said adding that they are pushing instead for the passage of the Alternative Mining Bill to replace the present mining law (RA 7942).
Around 500 of the crowd held a caravan towards Koronadal City to stage a protest in front of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Office XII in the afternoon led by the Alliance for Genuine Development (AGENDA).
In Maasim, Saranggani province, at least 300 protesters picketed in front of the proposed Alcantara owned 200MW coal plant site in Sitio Tampuan to dramatize their vehement opposition to the project. A number of youth mimicked Avatar movie characters during the said protest.
Led by Maasim Peoples Coalition on Climate Change (MP3C), the group marched with their placards from a nearby beach resort towards the plant site before holding a program where leaders took turns in lambasting the project.
"The construction of the Coal Fired Power Plant is an act of the demon and never will it follow the will of God to make the people live in the fullness of His creation," said an agitated Pastor Roel Ubatay, a minister of a small B'laan protestant community during the picket.
Maasim fisherfolks also slam the project saying that it threatens the coastal waters of the town that serve as their only source of living.
Fisherfolk leader Mariano Panugas said "it can never be true that we will enjoy the same resources from the seas after the construction of the coal fired power plant. Fish will die or will go farther where our small boats can't go."
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