Call for halt to mining in The Philippines

From the Working Group on Mining in the Philippines

Philippines - Mining or Food?
Launch of Report at Westminster on Monday 9 February 2009

New report SAYS MINING iS A THREAT TO FOOD SECURITY IN THE PHILIPPINES AND calls for a moratorium ON MINING

Former British Minister for International Development and Chair of the Working Group on Mining in the Philippines, Clare Short MP, is to host the Westminster launch on Monday 9 February of a new report, Philippines – Mining or Food? Alongside her will be Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, an Igorot indigenous woman from the Cordillera Region of Northern Philippines, and Chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Also present will be the report’s authors, Robert Goodland and Clive Wicks, and two UK bishops who are standing in solidarity with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in their opposition to destructive mining in their country – Bishop John Arnold, Auxiliary Bishop in the Catholic Diocese of Westminster and Bishop Michael Doe, General Secretary of USPG: Anglicans in World Mission.

The report calls for a moratorium on new mining in the Philippines, a review of existing mining projects, and a withdrawal of international investment in mining until proper procedures are in place to protect human rights and the environment. It provides evidence that mining is causing large-scale ruin of island environments and people’s livelihoods, particularly undermining food production and sustainability.

On behalf of the Working Group, Robert Goodland and Clive Wicks visited the Philippines in February 2008 and documented six actual and proposed mining locations on the islands of Mindoro and Mindanao. They warn that the large-scale mining proposed for the Philippines threatens to wreak havoc, compounding a legacy of deforestation and habitat destruction. Evidence is provided to show that the extraction process damages food production, particularly rice, and imperils fisheries. The Philippines already relies on rice imports because of the decline in its domestic production. The authors join Filipino campaigners and the country’s Catholic Bishops in calling for the Mining Act of 1995, which opened the country up to foreign mining companies, to be revoked.

The London launch will follow a similar one in Manila on 4 February, where Robert Goodland and Clive Wicks will also be present. Companies whose plans for mining are being challenged include Xstrata Copper, BHP Billiton, TVI Pacific, Philex Gold, and Intex Resources.

Clare Short MP will draw attention to the very substantial role the City of London has in financing mining around the world, including the Philippines, and the existing involvement, in the Philippines, of a number of companies with a British base of operations. She supports lobbying of the British Government, the European Union and the World Bank to recognise the seriousness of the situation and act in a responsible manner to respect the wishes of the affected communities.

The report includes maps to demonstrate the overlap of mining locations – both existing and proposed – with indigenous ancestral domains, watersheds and areas of environmental importance, all of which are critical for agricultural and food security in the island nation. The Philippine Government presents mining as “sustainable”, but many Filipinos reject this. Mining is also frequently associated with generating or exacerbating corruption, fueling armed conflicts, increasing militarisation and human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings. Codes of conduct and standards for the extractive industries conclude that mining should not be permitted in conflict zones.

The photo call will be held opposite St. Stephen’s Gate at 11am sharp. Present will be Clare Short MP, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz – in tribal dress – the two report authors, Robert Goodland and Clive Wicks, plus two “businessmen” in skull masks and Bishops John Arnold and Michael Doe, standing in solidarity with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. The back drop will be colourful banners, including a large depiction of a bulldozer threatening a watershed mountain.

Entrance for the 11.30am meeting is via St. Stephen’s Gate of the House of Commons. The Jubilee Room is located just off the North West corner of Westminster Hall. Please bring this invitation with you and allow time to pass through Security. Disabled access to the room is via the lift in the visitors centre.

Notes:

The London-based Working Group on Mining in the Philippines incorporates:
PHILIPPINE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES LINKS (PIPLinks),
THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF ST. COLUMBAN,
CEESP - THE IUCN COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL POLICY,
ECUMENICAL COUNCIL FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY (ECCR),
IRISH CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (ICHR),

Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links (PIPLinks) upholds and promotes the collective and individual human rights of Indigenous Peoples and other land-based communities in the Philippines.

The Missionary Society of St. Columban, with headquarters in Ireland, has nearly 600 missionaries of ten nationalities ministering in 14 countries, including the Philippines.

IUCN-CEESP - The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy has over 1300 members and they provide expertise on ways to harmonise biodiversity conservation with the crucial socioeconomic and cultural concerns of human communities, such as livelihoods, poverty eradication, development, equity, human and community rights, cultural identity, security and the fair and effective governance of natural resources. Press please note: IUCN- Commissions are mandated by their members and Commissions should be referred to by their full titles. Commission members are all volunteers not IUCN staff and do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN as an organisation.

The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) is a membership organisation of the British and Irish churches working for economic justice, environmental stewardship, and corporate and investor responsibility.

The Irish Centre for Human Rights (ICHR), based at the National University of Ireland Galway, is dedicated to the study and promotion of international human rights and humanitarian law.

The Report Authors:
Robert Goodland is an environmental scientist specialising in economic
development. He advised the World Bank Group from 1978 through 2001. He then became the technical director to H.E. Dr. Emil Salim’s independent Extractive Industry Review (http://www.ifc.org/eir) of the World Bank Group’s portfolio of oil, gas and mining projects. He was elected president of the International Association of Impact Assessment, and Metropolitan Chair of the Ecological Society of America. He was awarded the World Conservation Union’s Coolidge medal in October 2008.
(RbtGoodland@aol.com)

Clive Wicks has 48 years of experience of working in engineering, agriculture and environment, specializing in the impact of extractive industries on the environment. He is a vice chair of IUCN-CEESP (IUCN’s Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy) and co-chairs SEAPRISE (IUCN-CEESP’s Working Group on the Social and Environmental Accountability of the Private Sector). He worked in the international environmental movement for the last 24 years, mainly with WWF UK. He headed WWF UK’s African, Asian and Latin American programs, and represented WWF at G8, World Bank, International Finance Corporation, UNEP and UNDP meetings on extractive industries.
(Clivewicks@googlemail.com)

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is currently Chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues which meets annually in New York. Victoria originally qualified and worked as a nurse in her native Philippines before becoming an activist for Indigenous Peoples rights. She herself is a Kankanai Igorot from the Cordillera Region of the Northern Philippines. She is the Executive Director of Tebtebba Foundation which is a research, education and advocacy NGO working on Indigenous issues. She is very concerned on Mining issues and food security and Tebtebba is a leader in research and documentation on these matters as they affect indigenous peoples not only in the Philippines.

Victoria was one of the Joint Chair persons of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus that worked with state representatives at the General Assembly of the UN to ensure the passage of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in September 2007. She is a well known and respected Indigenous Rights activist with more than 30 years experience of working on these issues.

In the UK she is anxious to promote awareness of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples and press for it's active implementation by Government, Business and civil society groups. Her current work with Tebtebba is in liaising among South East Asian indigenous peoples organisations in recording and voicing their shared concerns and recommendations on climate change and climate change mitigation measures as they impact on Indigenous Peoples.