Piñol urges gov't to go slow on mining

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/gen/2007/08/07/bus/pi.ol.urges.gov.t.to.go.slow.on.mining.html

A PROMINENT government official in Central Mindanao, a region hosting various mining ventures, has called on the National Government to temper its aggressive promotion of the country's mineral resources, especially to foreigners.

Former North Cotabato governor and now the province's Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol chided Malacanang's attitude of pushing for more mining operations in the country, fearing "it will only aggravate the real threat of global warming."

"For the National Government to talk of starting efforts to arrest global warming but at the same time push for massive mining operations in many parts of the country is simply ironic," Piñol said in a recent statement.

Piñol instead suggested that the Philippine government give more focus to a well-planned and environmentally friendly agriculture to ensure the country's sustainable growth and at the same time contribute to the worldwide effort to combat global warming.

He asserted that history has proven that mining operations have greatly damaged the environment and have very little impact on rural development since rich multinational companies are the main beneficiaries.

"To talk of mining as the seeming hope for national economic salvation of the Philippines is to ignore the fact that nowhere is there a mining area in the country where people ended up prosperous after the mining operations," Piñol said.

In his nine-year term as governor of North Cotabato, Piñol has maintained the "No Mining" policy in the province emphasizing that "I am not willing to see my province's mountains ripped apart in search of a few kilos of gold or copper."

Instead, he said these mountains would be more useful for the people if these were planted to crops like rubber, oil palm or coconut.

Central Mindanao plays host to mining ventures, among them the copper and gold project of Sagittarius Mines, Inc. based in Tampakan, South Cotabato.

Piñol, who decided to slide down to vice governor to give way to his former vice governor, Jesus N. Sacdalan, who was elected governor last May, presided over the rapid transformation of North Cotabato from being one of the poorest provinces of the Philippines in 1998 to its current 29th rank among the top 30 provinces, according to the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB).

The economic turn-around of North Cotabato, which was once a battlefield for communist and secessionist groups and government troops, is attributed to what Piñol called "sustainable and market-oriented agriculture."

Under his leadership, areas for rubber, oil palm, coconut and bananas expanded through the province's Plant Now Pay Later program where farmers are given seedling loans payable upon the start of harvest.