By Sr. Leah Ann Espina RGS (Cagayan de Oro City)
“Hustisya sa Kinaiyahan, Kinabuhi alang sa Tanan” (Ecological Justice, Life for All) is the theme for the mining conference spearheaded by the Religious of the Good Shepherd-Women, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (RGS-WJPIC) Mindanao Network. The activity, which was first planned in October 2011 in Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur, is a concrete response for the call on Ecological Justice, one of the six priority issues being promoted by the Good Shepherd International Justice and Peace Office and the GS Asia-Pacific Justice and Peace Network.
Finally, on January 18-20, 2012, a month after typhoon Sendong devastated Cagayan de Oro (CDO), the WJPIC linkpersons from Davao, Kalilid, Bukidnon and CDO together with other religious, priests and advocates for the environment from Bukidnon, Iligan, CDO, Agusan del Sur, Ozamis, and Davao gathered at MINSAC-CDO for the mining conference. The thirty six (36) participants witnessed the tragic impact of environmental abuse and degradation aggravated by government programs which continue to push for land conversion and sell-out of lands and resources to large-scale logging, agri-business plantations, mining and other extractive industries for foreign investments.
One group went to Balulang, Isla De Oro, Macasandig for an exposure to the different communities affected by the typhoon while another group went to Talakag, a mountainous area where flood waters passed inundating some parts of Cagayan de Oro.
Sr. Stella Matutina, OSB, Secretary General of Panalipdan-Mindanao gave an input on the Mining Situation in Mindanao. Her talk was followed by the spokesperson of Quezon City-based Kalikasan People’s Network, Clemente Bautista, who gave a very informative discussion on the People’s Mining Bill. The “Writ of Kalikasan” input was tackled by Atty. Jarley Trugillo, Executive Director of the Xavier University Center for Legal Assistance.
During the last day, a Biblico-Theological Reflection (BTR) was shared by Fr. Sean Martin, MSSC and Maria Benita Clamonte. Fr. Renerio Sabuga, Indigenous Peoples Apostolate Coordinator of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro proclaimed the CBCP /Catholic Church stand on Mining.
At the end of the conference, a communal statement was formulated. Concrete plans were written and offered during the closing liturgy. The group was invited to gather again in Cagayan de Oro on January 25, 2012 to commemorate the 40th day of the Sendong tragedy and participate in the hearing of the Writ of Kalikasan filed by the provinces of Ozamis, Pagadian and Dipolog.
A fact-finding investigation on the root cause of the Sendong disaster is also set to be organized soon. The Sisters’ Association in Mindanao (SAMIN) Bukidnon-Cagayan Subregion, Panalipdan-Mindanao and the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro Social Action Center also served as sponsors for this mining conference.
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le="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“ECOLOGICAL JUSTICE, LIFE FOR ALL”
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“We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now.” (Rom 8:22) Having witnessed the devastation and tragic impact of flash floods that came with Typhoon Sendong which left thousands dead and missing, and thousands more families displaced in Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and other affected provinces, and having listened to the unfolding stories of people struggling to get on with their lives despite the painful loss of their homes and loved ones, WE, concerned groups and individuals from the religious sector, advocates for the environment, and social action centers coming from Bukidnon, Iligan, CDO, Agusan del Sur, Ozamis, and Davao, were inspired and emboldened to hold a Mining Conference to tackle core issues on mining and environmental destruction, and to firm up responses and relevant action plans. Seeing the massive ruin in the aftermath of Sendong, we stand face to face again with sore realities of government neglect and failure in disaster response, risk reduction and prevention. Glaring is the fact that as food becomes scarce for the poor majority, government programs continue to push for land-use conversion schemes and sell-out of our lands and resources to large-scale logging, agri-business plantations, mining and other extractive industries for foreign investments. Hearing the pervading cries for justice with the brutal killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio (a missionary priest to the Lumad tribes of Arakan, North Cotabato), and as Lumad and peasant communities are persistently driven away from their lands, culture and livelihood, we are called to stand in solidarity with them. We share in their aspirations and struggles as they resist manipulation, military coercion and other forms of human rights abuses encountered in communities – target for so-called “development” projects by way of mining, mega-dams, and other big business ventures. We take inspiration from the words of Bagobo Lumad leader Datu Tomas Ito: “We must protect, without retreating, the land of our forebears, until the very last drop of our blood, if needed.” Moved by the experience of too much suffering of our brothers and sisters, we are all the more stirred with courage to dig deeper into the roots and unearth the real causes of the Sendong tragedy and similar other disasters in Mindanao such as the landslides in Pantukan, Compostela Valley and floods in Iligan, Surigao, Agusan, and Bukidnon. The lessons to be learned are clear and the message is strong – we now face the challenge to share in the responsibility of seeking strategic solutions for social problems perpetuated by corporate greed and plunder. We affirm that the deaths and destructions we experience is the catastrophic effect of decades of wanton exploitation and extraction of our environment and biodiverse resources by foreign and transnational corporations. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a call in 2006 to repeal the Philippine Mining Act reiterating the same appeal made in 1998, and declaring that “allowing the interest of big mining companies to prevail over peoples’ right to these sources (of food and livelihood) amount to violating their right to life.” The tasks at hand may be daunting, but we are compelled to respond and rise to the challenge to become shepherds/shepherdesses of the environment and national patrimony, and to become prophets/prophetesses for justice and integrity of creation. We press for accountability of government and systems responsible for the large-scale destruction of communities and creation. We amplify calls for the scrapping of large-scale mining projects and applications, for the passage of alternative laws that promote equitable sharing of resources and sustainable development such as the People’s Mining Bill, for the strict implementation of the log ban and for ecological and economic justice. With the strength that flows from our active unity and solidarity, there is hope for a just, peaceful and ecologically-stable society that will continue to bear fruit and nurture future generations so that, “all may have life, life in its fullness.” (John 10:10) Participants of the MINING CONFERENCE |