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MANILA, Philippines — Is mining needed by the Philippine economy? Why are many churchmen against it or are silent? Is open pit environmentally unacceptable? Is the sharing of benefits commensurate to the contributions of each sector of the community? These are the questions raised that have to be answered with patience, clarity, with both national and local viewpoints by the economists and the geologist.
Most developed nations gave their economies a running start with the exploitation of a natural resource. Germany started with the iron in the Ruhr; England with the coal of Newcastle; the US with the iron and coal of the Great Lakes; Japan with the fish of the Pacific; and the Middle East with the oil under the sands.
No doubt that Philippine economy is riding a building boom that should last for at least another three or five years more. It also has an IT boom but these are not enough to fight poverty and keep our people from becoming OFWs or migrating outright. We missed the export boom that pushed our neighbors like Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.
We are too late for manufacturing where China will underprice us anytime. But we have our minerals and power sources we have yet to harness to push up our economy.
The geology of the archipelago says that we have three geological faults that run from north to south that must have burned out any petroleum that could have existed except for west of Palawan on that shelf that ends in the Spratlys. Instead the Lord has given us probably the best mineral deposits outside of South Africa and North America.
About two kilos of gold are mined in Diwalwal every day for the past 30 years. Our nickel in Surigao is of such high grade that it is shipped out without need for processing. And yet we cannot provide jobs for our people who want to do honest work.
Is open-pit mining bad? Actually it is the safest type of mining and its footprint is normally less than 200 hectares and each province has millions of hectares. Looking for the deposit will need small holes in a wide area but actual mining is very small which can be easily rehabilitated.
Are most of the benefits of mining mainly ploughed back to Manila and abroad? What do the churchmen see? During mining, they see are some of their people employed but after the mines have taken out the minerals, their people are just as poor.
Do you blame them if they do not understand? Their training has been mostly in philosophy, theology, and the arts. The economists and geologists need to explain and show that benefits of mining are fairly shared with the various sectors of the community. Are the taxes enough and ploughed back for the common good of the people?
Do we consider both the national economy and the local development? The balance can be difficult to achieve but the sharing of benefits has to be considered. Philippine economy needs to harness the mines if we are to fight poverty and provide jobs for our people. <[email protected]>
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By: Fr. Emeterio Barcelon, SJ
Source: Manila Bulletin, July 15, 2011
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