Sa gitna ng problema sa mudslide na nagbaon sa maraming tahanan sa Siana, Mainit, Surigao del Norte dahil sa pagbagsak ng ilang bahagi ng tailings storage facility ng Greenstone Resources Corp. (GRC), kinwestyon ng Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) ang kapasidad ng gobyerno na i-regulate ang mining industry at siguruhin ang kaligtasan ng mga komunidad.
Ayon Kay ATM National Coordinator Jaybee Garganera, dapat alamin ng gobyerno kung nakikinabang nga ba ang mga tao sa mining concessions sa kanilang paligid, o nalalagay lamang sa panganib Ang kanilang buhay.
Nito lamang February 2024, nagkaroon ng matinding landslide sa isang mining village sa Maco, Davao de Oro na ikinamatay ng 35 katao, ikinasufat ng 32, at nawawala pa ang 77. Pinaniniwalaang may kinalaman dito Ang mining operations ng Apex Mining Company Inc.
Ani Garganera, wake up call na dapat ito sa Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) para tutukan Ang pagpapalawak ng kanilang kapasidad na i-monitor, i-assess at parusahan ang mga nagkakasalang mining companies sa kanilang mga paglabag o non-compliance.
“Moreover, we demand that government seriously reconsider its policy of pushing for more mining just so it could meet the transition minerals requirement of China, US and EU. These are misplaced policies that may lead to more “sacrifice zones”. We don’t need more communities suffering from human rights violations, environmental damage, and mining disasters for the sake of extracting transition minerals for other countries,” aniya.
“What is needed is a rationalized approach to mining. The current Mining Act of the Philippines has to be repealed and replaced with a new law that puts premium on the decisions of communities and the impact of mining to the environment at the same time that is serves the nation’s needs for minerals,” dagdag pa ni Garganera.
