President Duterte on Wednesday vented his anti-mining sentiment yet again, this time, warning mine owners he will cut their heads off and plant it on the soil as “payment” for all their alleged devastation to the environment.
In his speech at Camp Aguinaldo, Duterte said he is just awaiting for the dust to settle in strife-torn Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, before he carries out his implementing executive agenda, one of which is cracking down on irresponsible mining.
“I will institute the reforms after all my troubles in Marawi City [are finished]. I have to solve the mining impasse,” he said.
Duterte has publicly expressed his disapproval over mining, handing over the environment portfolio to fellow antimining advocate Regina Paz L. Lopez. The feisty Lopez, however, was forced to relinquish her post after the Commission on Appointments rejected her appointment as environment chief.
“[On the] mining impasse, I’m warning the rich. I have watched the documentary of [Ted] Failon and that of Gina [Lopez]. I really saw that mining is destructive,” the Chief Executive said.
Duterte took a swipe at mining firms who “do not even plant a single tree” to at least compensate for the damages left behind by their operations. “I saw the fields near the mining sites. It’s ravaged. And I do not even see a single tree planted. The devastation in the farms, it’s so extreme farmers cannot make use of it anymore. And their fish pond, it’s all poisoned,” he said.
To resolve this, Duterte said he will soon call for a meeting between the miners and the affected residents. Taking a cue from his populist tendencies, the Chief Executive said he will reprimand the miners for allegedly destroying the livelihood of the marginalized.
“You ruined their fields, how will they [farmers] survive? You keep on digging their lands for how much? 25 percent of taxes? [The government] gets about P70 billion a year [from the mining industry] and that’s it,” Duterte said.
Duterte added “this cannot go on” and miners should begin paying the affected residents by the income they lost due to the mining operations. He said they must also rejuvenate the areas their operations disturbed through tree-planting activities.
Should the miners opt not to follow his order, Duterte had one warning: “If you don’t, I will cut your heads and plant it there. There are so many injustices here that we have to correct.”
Duterte has previously mulled over implementing a total mining ban. However, the most extreme his government can roll out was to shut down a number of mining operations and suspend a number of mining permits during Lopez’s stint in the environment department.