MANILA, Philippines -- The Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) Sunday denied any role in the October 3 attacks on three mining firms in Surigao del Norte, claiming that the communities around the companies "are the biggest losers."
Earlier, The Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA) said that the stepped-up campaign against mining operations by "special interest groups" like ATM "coincided" with the attack.
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TITLE: Groups denies mining incident's role
SOURCE: Manila Bulletin (online)
By: Marvyn N. Benaning
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Taking exception to allegations that his role played a role in the attack, ATM national coordinator Jaybee Garganera said he is expressing his "deep regrets and anguish to the resulting social disorder brought about by the alleged New People's Army (NPA) attacks on the Taganito Mining Project in Claver, Surigao del Norte."
ATM believes that challenging the Philippine government's policy on revitalizing the mining industry as a misplaced priority is a sound position. Our advocacy is based on analysis that the political, environmental and social costs of large-scale mining far outweigh the economic benefits it claims, Garganera stressed.
We believe that active non-violence is one of the most effective ways of pushing our messages, and we will continue our work using non-violent strategies. The lives and livelihoods of rural poor communities, especially indigenous peoples, remain to be the central element in our advocacy. Mining operations in the area formed the driving force resulting to severe environmental damage. The attack of the rebels was a response, for which they and only they will decide. Indigenous peoples in the surrounding areas were neither participants to the environmental genocide nor active supporters of the punitive NPA attacks. In both cases, the indigenous people bear the brunt of the impacts, the ATM leader added.
For its part, the National Democratic Front in Mindanao (NDF-Mindanao) justified the attack by claiming the government had not responded to the complaints of the people against Taganito and alleging that the petition for the issuance of a writ of Kalikasan before the Supreme Court (SC) had not been acted upon.
In justifying the morning attack on the mining companies, the NPA in Northeastern Mindanao said it recognized the validity of the written complaints submitted before revolutionary authorities and expressed dismay at the alleged failure of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to act on the findings of the University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI) confirming pollution in the waterways and the sea where the firms operated.
Previously, the NPA in Cagayan Valley questioned ATM, Akbayan and other groups for working against large-scale mining, alleging that they were only after cutting deals with mining companies and softening popular opposition to mining for their ends.
This position was aired when thousands of people opposed black sand quarrying in Gonzaga, Cagayan and several other coastal areas in the province and staged mass demonstrations.
NPA units also attacked companies that engaged in quarrying operations, burning trucks and equipment used and warning workers to leave, telling them that what they do ruin the environment and rob the country of mineral resources.
For its part, PMSEA, an organization that espouses occupational safety and environmental protection in mining operations, said: "we condemn in the strongest possible terms these violent actions by insurgent groups that claimed the lives of three security personnel while endangering the lives of countless others in the purest form of harassment on legitimate mining operations."
Complete URL: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/337141/groups-denies-mining-incidents-role
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