Mindanao Action Points Advocacy Coordinating Group

Mindanao Action Points Advocacy Coordinating Group

Mining Research Databanking Template

Title of Research Study: / Technical Report: Regional Consultation on Mining in Bicol
Lead Research Institute : / Institute for Environmental Conservation and Research, Ateneo de Naga University
Principal Investigators: / Mining-affected communities in the 6 provinces of the Bicol Region where 1-2 representatives from each province will share their experiences on mining. Participants include the academe, church, NGOs, LGUs, government agencies (DENR, DA, DOT), interested individuals in the six (6) provinces of the Bicol Region
Source of Funding Support: / Foundation for the Philippine Environment/ Ateneo de Naga University
Period Covered for the Study: / 1.5 days
Over-all Objective/s of the Study: / The goal of the Consultation is to surface the real situation of our ecosystems where mining is conducted. Specifically, the Consultation aims to:
·  Provide a venue where resource speakers and local communities could share experiences of local situations on impacts of mining in the Bicol Region in particular
·  Identify the existing mining operations (both legal and illegal) in the 6 provinces of the Bicol Region
·  Surface environmental problems brought about by these mining activities (past and present)
·  Make decisions among the participants on what to do and how to deal with these problems
·  Further present possible alternatives to mining as source of livelihood that sustains the environment
·  Draft policy reforms which will address to the President of the Philippines
·  After the consultation, conduct a signature campaign if necessary
Research Methodologies Employed: / Survey In-depth Interview Focus Group Discussion Others______
·  Sharing of experiences of communities on mining in their localities
·  Inputs from knowledgeable persons on practices of mining in Bicol, mining impacts to the environment, economics and mining in the Philippines, alternatives (ecotourism) to mining
·  Open forum for clarification and additional inputs
·  Proposals for policy reforms from the participants for consideration in Congress
Unit and Local of the Study: / Bicol Region
Findings and Recommendations
Significant Findings / Recommendations or Implications
The Regional Consultation on Mining in Bicol was conducted in order to surface the real situations of our ecosystems in the Region where mining is conducted. All the 6 provinces of the Bicol Region were presented. Those who gave talks were coming from the mining communities, those who are working near the mining sites, the church groups, and resource speakers from Manila (Darryn Castillo of ABS-CBN who presented the talk of Gina Lopez who could not come due to erratic weather condition and the late Maita Gomez) and local persons (Engr. Perdigon of Aquinas University, and Dr. Emelina G. Regis of INECAR, Ateneo de Naga University. About 151 persons attended/involved in the consultation. The President of the Ateneo de Naga University, Fr. Primitivo E. Viray, Jr., S.J. gave the Opening Remarks and Dr. Alfredo Fabay gave the Closing Remarks. Aside from the talks, a workshop was facilitated in order to provide opportunities for the participants and others involved to voice out the policies they think should be included in the alternative mining bill being discussed in Congress. Based on the sharing of volunteers from the mining-affected areas, the discussion presented by the resource speakers, and the suggested policy reforms for mining activities, the following realizations were brought to light:
·  The plight of the mining-affected communities is still on-going and remained unresolved. Issues on harassment and intimidation of local people and the cover-up of effects on human health and ecosystem destruction are just ignored or perhaps the appropriate agencies have no power to provide solutions.
·  Illegal mining activities are going on, yet the concerned offices have not enforced the applicable laws pertaining to violations.
·  Pollution of croplands, river and sea is still going on and not regulated and/or mitigated, mining should not be allowed in island ecosystems.
·  There is a need for economic valuation of the land and offshore substrate before a permit is issued. In this manner, the local communities will be able to assess the cost and benefits of both mining and local resources providing livelihood sound decision-making.
·  There is a need for rehabilitation fund that considers the number of years it would take for rehabilitating a mined out area including the affected rivers, croplands and marine ecosystems so that these ecosystems can become productive again or changed into alternative usage which is safe from heavy metal pollution and siltation.
·  Some mining companies do not pay the correct taxes by undervaluing the ores they extracted, others do not pay at all and this has been going on without applying the law.
·  The 2% excise tax is very small compared to what the mining companies earn which is in billions. The amount does not cover real rehabilitation funds. The great majority of the benefits still go to the mining companies; only a trickle is received by the local communities.
·  The Philippines does not benefit from investments in millions and billions of dollars, unless the money is used to buy the materials from the Philippines.
·  Some mining companies circumvent the law by applying for small scale project, yet operate as large scale.
·  The role of the regulatory offices was simply to conduct investigation; there is also the so-called legal grace period before they obliged the operator.
·  Insufficient data reported on the actual number of persons killed
·  Need for urgency in actions regarding mining disasters swuch as leak, siltation of rivers and marine ecosystems, destruction of croplands and mining-related violence.
·  There is a need to educate the students in all levels about mining operation by incorporating the topics in science subjects that include exploration, development (removal of trees, building of roads and buildings for administration and operations), extraction (diggings and dynamite blasting, use of chemicals that release and capture the metals), and lastly what happens to people during and after mining in terms of benefits and livelihood opportunities. In this manner, the decision to mine or not to mine is done through genuine informed consent.
From the suggested policy reforms given by the participants, resource speakers and sharers during the consultation, the undersigned consolidated the suggestions and were grouped into 5 major concerns:
·  Regulation and compliance with the law
·  Tax policy
·  Monitoring policy
·  Sustainable development
·  Mining Act of 1995
Majority of the attendees signed the signature campaign forms signifying their agreement to the policy reforms. Then, the paper was sent to several congressmen who are members of the Ecology Committee and Natural Resources Committee, and finally to President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino, III. / There are mining activities going on in the Bicol Region which have been mentioned only in some gatherings but their impacts on the ecosystem and livelihood have not been fully documented. Many of these mines are operating without permits , thus, monitoring by government agencies such as the DENR has not been done. The only scientifically documented areas on Mining in the Bicol Region are the Lafayette polymetalic mine, now KORES and Associates in the island of Rapu-Rapu, Albay, and the partially documented magnetite mining in Matnog, Sorsogon.
Mining destroys the ecosystem because its method necessitates the removal of forests and other vegetation. Their siltation ponds oftentimes overflow during the rainy season, causing toxic wastes water to flow and tailings to slide down towards the croplands and the marine habitats finally burying the fishing grounds especially the nursery grounds known as the coral reefs. The damage to vegetation not only reduce biodiversity and endanger ecosystems stability, but also ultimately contribute to the worsening of climate change due to reduced carbon sink aside from increasing temperature even in the locality. Forest and marine ecosystems, more importantly the phytoplankton, are considered carbon sinks and produces oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. Mining releases toxic heavy metals into the water bodies and dumps silt in these ecosystems causing loss of productivity and death to living organisms therein. Because these metals persists in these places even after mining operations have ceased, the recovery of the forest and coral reefs takes hundreds to thousands of years, and sometimes, is not possible in areas with iron sulfide rocks because of its capability to generate acid by the natural process of acid mine drainage (AMD).
Hence, there is a need to safeguard the environment where people get their food and materials for livelihood that are sustainable. Safeguarding the environment will ensure regulation of temperature, reliable source of fresh water, biodiversity where each living organisms are connected through the food web which maintains the survival of component organisms, and other intrinsic benefits.
Submitted by: / INECAR, Ateneo de Naga University
Date Submitted: / May 11, 2015
Contact Details of the Research Institute: / / (054) 473-8447 loc. 2217