DAVAO CITY—A regional alliance of tribal groups in Mindanao on Tuesday served a notice of closure to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) saying that the agency has abdicated its public duty to protect the environment and facilitated the entry of foreign companies into ancestral domains.
The Panalipdan-Southern Mindanao, accompanied by residents of communities affected by mining disasters, said the MGB was “inutile and not worth the Filipino taxpayers’ money.”
“By allowing the operation of large foreign corporations, the MGB has facilitated the destruction of the Philippine environment and the continuing suffering for thousands of peasants and indigenous peoples in the countryside,” the alliance said in a statement.
University professor Kim Gargar, Panalipdan spokesman, said at least 30 leaders and members of Panalipdan served the “notice of closure,” which was read publicly outside the office of the MGB. The leaders then posted the notice at the front door of the office.
A male employee shortly came out and took the paper containing the notice of closure. He said that the notice of closure would remain in effect “until the enactment of the people’s mining bill” in Congress.
Panalipdan said that MGB merely “interpreted only the letter of the law and not balancing whether these laws would benefit the country or not.”
“In the 20 years of implementation of the Mining Act of 1995, poverty in the country has only worsened,” the group said in its statement.
“Contrary to claims that foreign investments will provide revenue to help the country, 100-percent foreign-owned mining transnational corporations are allowed, in violation of the Philippine Constitution, full rights in exploiting up to 81,000 hectares onshore or 124,000 hectares offshore, aside from other rights and fringe benefits through the FTAA [Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement] decreed in the Mining Act,” Panalipdan said.