SAN JOSE, Occidental Mindoro, Philippines—More than 5,000 people from different parts of Occidental Mindoro opposing the proposed Mindoro nickel project of Intex Resources Philippines Inc. held a rally during a public hearing on the issue at the municipal hall compound of Mamburao on Wednesday.
Compared to the tension that occurred in Pola town, Oriental Mindoro public hearing last May 14, Intex spokesperson Ben delos Reyes described the one in Mamburao as “peaceful and orderly.”
“The orderly public hearing was largely due to the desire of the people to listen to a civilized discussion of the issue. Governor Sato is not there, so I don’t know her stand,” Delos Reyes said.
But a resolution passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and signed by Governor Josephine Sato-Ramirez “expressing its objection to the public consultation regarding the Mindoro nickel project” was disregarded in the hearing.
Vice Governor Mario Gene Mendiola said they would work on the passage of a 25-year mining moratorium in Occidental Mindoro.
“We will go to villages and will be the one to conduct the public hearing to get the real sentiments of the people,” he said.
In a text message to the INQUIRER, Sato-Ramirez said, “I strongly support the 25-year moratorium on large-scale mining in Occidental Mindoro.”
In 2005, an SP resolution manifested its “vehement objection to any large-scale mining operations that may be proposed within Occidental Mindoro.”
Among others, it cited: “the SP believes that the harmful effects of any large-scale mining activity may cause irreparable damages on the natural resources of the province including the endangered species of the tamaraw, the natural heritage of the Mangyan, and the production of palay and other crops in the province.”
Monsignor Ruben “Jun” Villanueva, director of the Social Services Commission of the Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose, claimed the rally was conclusive against Intex mining, adding that the mining issue is historically uniting Mindoreños, including those who belong to either camps of the long political rivals Sato-Ramirez and Representative Amelita Villarosa.
Wearing his black cassock, Villanueva said he insisted to get inside the Mamburao gymnasium where the public hearing was scheduled, and saw no anti-mining in the audience.
At 11 a.m., about 10 clergy, including Occidental Mindoto Bishop Antonio Palang, with Mendiola, mayors of Sablayan and Abra de Ilog towns, and board members Arnold Abeleda and Rod Agas walked out of the gym, followed by protesters numbering more than 5,000.
The public hearing was not held in Sablayan, which hosts the mining site, because of the strong opposition like in Oriental Mindoro, said Sablayan Mayor Godofredo Mintu.
But Mamburao Mayor Bambi Villarosa said it was but proper to conduct the public hearing in his town where the provincial capitol is located.
At the public consultation, the president of the Association of Barangay Captains in Sta Cruz town said they were for Intex mining because they believed the taxes the company would remit will uplift their poor lives, especially that many locals are unemployed.
But Villanueva said there were no clear and honest-to-goodness benefits laid down by the Intex mining company.
During the Pola public hearing, tension, heightened by a heated confrontation between a mayor and a priest, marked the event after antimining activists insisted on going inside where promining advocates were already seated comfortably.
The protesters, coming from different towns and in a caravan, numbered more than 2,000, according to Pola police estimate, and were led by the multisectoral Alyansa Laban sa Mina (Alliance Against Mining) or Alamin.
Tension was at its height at about 10:30 a.m., half an hour past the scheduled hearing, after Pola Mayor Alex Aranas reacted to the alleged disruption of the public hearing by the mining protesters.
When Aranas saw the protesting group, led by Fr. Edwin Gariguez, a founding member of Alamin who is working with the Mangyan Mission,
getting inside the gym, he stepped down from the stage and tried to stop it.
The public hearing was called off.
Meantime, the public hearing scheduled on May 15 morning in Victoria town was also called off after what happened in Pola town.
>>>Mayor Bambi made a lame reason saying it is proper to hold the said public consultation since this is the capital. The public consultation in Oriental Mindoro was not held in the capital which is Calapan City. It was done in Pola. The people do not want Intex. I hope the leaders would listen!<<<
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