07-Mar-12, 9:40 AM | Jefry M. Tupas, News 5

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Alumni of the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao University have followed their alma mater’s lead and come out with a statement opposing “indiscriminate mining” in the country, a position that has earned the school criticism from industry players.

Among the more than 30 signatories are singer-composer Joey Ayala, Brother Karl Gaspar, lawyers Joel Mahinay and Jennifer Ramos, Dr. Jean Lindo, environmentalist Norma Javellana and peace advocate Augusto Miclat.

The Ateneo graduates, who claim extensive work and engagements with various development agencies and grassroots communities, said they are “very much proud of our alma mater for extending its influence in support of the struggle to oppose indiscriminate mining.”

“For a number of years now, many of us have gathered facts on mining from various sources and done analyses to objectively assess its impacts. We have consulted with various experts and sought their counsel as to what we need to do vis-à-vis the aggressive drive of mining companies,” their statement said.

They dismissed claims of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines that mining attracts investments, generate jobs, generate revenues for the government, and improve the lives of the host communities.

“We have gone on exposure to the countryside where there are mining explorations or actual operations and have actually seen for ourselves the impact of mining,” they said.

“This is why we have the audacity to claim that despite the token benefits that we can derive from mining, by and large the negative impact will far outweigh the benefits. This is the reason why a number of grassroots communities have opposed mining. And thankfully, an increasing number of civil society agencies have supported them in their struggle against mining,” they added.

The group called on their fellow ADDU alumni to join them in opposing mining in Mindanao and across the country.

“Let us support this call, even as we encourage all Filipinos to be vigilant regarding the issue,” they said. “Let the truth be told and let justice guide our actions on behalf of our disadvantaged brothers and sisters, and for the benefit of the creation.”

Last month, ADDU hosted a mining forum that was attended by local and international mining experts and advocates at the same time a pro-mining forum was also conducted by the CPM in another university.

reposted: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/26224/joey-ayala-other-ateneo-davao-alumni-take-stand-vs-mining

Editorial

8:23 pm | Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

As in the impeachment court, so it was at the recent mining forum in Makati City, where pro- and antimining advocates engaged in a heated face-off, capped by the sight of arguably the country’s most powerful businessman, Manny V. Pangilinan, losing his cool and calling the environmentalist-scion of one of the country’s most influential families, Gina Lopez, a liar.

We meant the concept of hearsay—in the impeachment court something treated with disdain, the testimony classified as such eventually getting thrown out and declared inadmissible. At the mining forum, words akin to hearsay were also present, but not as one of the bright minds in the room pointed it out: namely, that when Pangilinan and Lopez were trading barbs on the effect mining can have on rural communities, both of them, really, were mouthing second-hand testimony. Perhaps they’ve seen tangible evidence of it on their occasional visits to mining areas, but neither of them has actually lived there, to experience first-hand, in the raw, how it is to be at the receiving end of this wealth-producing but also injurious activity about which they were now at each other’s throats.

The right person to have challenged Pangilinan’s apologia for the mining sector was not Lopez, however well-intentioned or deep into the cause she might be. The right person should have been an actual inhabitant of any one of the country’s mining areas who could testify, in his or her own words, and certainly more eloquently than Lopez could ever manage or Pangilinan could ever hope to rebut, whether gouging huge swaths of the country inside out to extract the mineral riches said to be underneath, displacing residents and perhaps turning the land into a howling wilderness for good, would be all worth it.

But from the ranks of farmers, fishermen and tribal minorities, the marginal and destitute folk who have lived for generations in those remote, undeveloped areas where mining often occurs and that inevitably have to bear the brunt of its aftereffects, no one was at the forum to speak on their behalf. Because, as former elections commissioner and now Meralco management consultant Christian Monsod ruefully pointed out in his speech: “It is unfortunate that two major stakeholders on the issue of mining were not invited to speak today—the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the Department of Agriculture.”

Egregious omission, indeed—and quite symptomatic of the long way the mining debate has to go to arrive at a consensus that’s fair, inclusive and acceptable to all sectors. At present, to hear the two sides press their respective cases is to end up with absolutist, polar positions. On the one hand, the mining industry and its proponents have only used the rosiest economic projections—$840 billion of potential profits from reportedly the fifth most mineralized country in the world—to push for full-scale mining as almost the magic pill to drag the Philippines out of its economic doldrums. Meanwhile, they’re quick to dismiss any resulting environmental damage as minimal (only 62,000 hectares, or 0.2 percent of the country’s land mass, is covered by mining claims, Chamber of Mines director Gerard Brimo said at the forum).

The antimining side, on the other hand, points to the staggering devastation of lands, ecosystems and human communities that mining inevitably leaves in its wake—and all for a pittance, really, as the industry’s average contribution to the Philippine GDP from 2000-2009, for instance, was a dismal .91 percent, rising barely to 1.30 percent in 2010. As for the claim that mining can significantly generate jobs, that, too, seems a mirage: Its share of total employment in 2010 averaged merely 0.5 percent, or about 197,000 workers.

Is “responsible mining” possible, a middle way that allows the country to tap its mineral wealth while keeping to the minimum the harm such activity imposes on the environment and the inhabitants (unfortunately, also often the poorest and most defenseless citizens) of the affected areas? Unless that elusive but nonnegotiable middle ground is reached, President Aquino’s administration would do well to proceed with caution on this complex issue. The relentless push for greater laissez-faire in mining should, instead, prod the state to ensure that it is not stampeded into bartering long-term national welfare for short-term economic gains. This is not a game between moneyed factions alone. The entire nation, including its future generations, will live with the consequences of a badly crafted mining policy.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/24439/middle-way-on-mining

By Erwin Mascariñas | Friday| January 20, 2012 | Filed under: Top Stories Mindanews

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/19 January) — Environmental groups warn that Caraga region could be the next environmental disaster  area after Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities if the local government units and government agencies do not take action soon.

“As the capital of extractive activities in the Philippines and the number one region in climate change hot spot, no doubt, Caraga will suffer/experience same fate as that of Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City,” said Carl Cesar Rebuta, project development officer of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan (LRC-KsK).

In an online interview, the Cagayan de Oro-based environmental campaigner noted that Caraga hosts the most number of mining permits in the country, covering almost half of the total land area of 1.8 million hectares of the region. He said it is also the timber corridor of the Philippines and hosts most number of Industrial Forest Management Agreements (IFMA) permits.

“The remaining and fragile watershed of Caraga is threatened by these extractive activities,” said Rebuta.

He cited as example the case of Mt. Hilung-hilung in Cantilan-Carrascal, which  is covered by an active mining operations, the case of Bukid dako and Bukid gamay of Placer. MRL Gold (Mindoro Resources Limited ) has an active exploration permit in the Lake Mainit areas. Mainit, Placer, and Tubod watershed areas are also at risk since it is now covered by mining operations of Philex. And several more in Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and even the Taguibo watershed issue in Butuan City are all plagued with mining and illegal logging operations, said Rebuta.

Nokie Calunsag, Campaign Officer and Media Coordinator for Green Mindanao, said that if illegal logging activities such as that in the Cortez area in Surigao del Sur and other parts in Caraga region would not be acted upon by the concerned agencies, environmental disaster will ravage the region in the future.

“If left unchecked the ones that will suffer would be the people. We propose that there should be a moratorium to stop logging and mining activities in Caraga for the time being and conduct assessment and study on its current situation and environmental effects. They say that these are all for the development, but the bottom-line is that when the worst happens it is the people in the community that would be at the losing end and not the companies behind the destruction,” he said. (Erwin Mascarinas/MindaNews)

Still a “No,” Cantilan tells MarcVentures Mining

By Carolyn O. Arguillas

SURIGAO CITY (MindaNews/03 August) – The local government of Cantilan in Surigao del Sur has denied for the second time a mining firm’s application for a business permit, claiming it has no legal basis for its application.

Cantilan Mayor Genito Guardo, in a letter to the lawyer of the Marcventures Mining Development Corporation (MMDC) said records at the Sanggunian Bayan show that MMDC “acquired its Certificate of Registration as a corporate entity with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 43 days after the original Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) holder, Ventura Timber Corporation (VTC) and MMDC signed the Deed of Assignment transferring mineral rights to MMDC. This puts MMDC’s right as an assignee under the cloak of fictitious representation from the very beginning.”

“Furthermore, records also show that Mr. Mario G. Vijungco was authorized by the MMDC Board of Directors to represent MMDC in the Deed of Assignment (DA) 13 years after the signing of the Deed of Assignment,” the mayor said.

Guardo said the transfer of mineral rights to MMDC was void ab initio, because VTC holds a cancelled MPSA.

MMDC has a nickel mining project in Cantilan and is a subsidiary of Marcventures Mineral Holdings (MARC otherwise known as AJO.net) whose stocks are actively traded at the Philippine Stock Exchange, a press statement from Baywatch said.

Emma Hotchkiss, Baywatch President told the 1^st Caraga Media Summit last Saturday that VTC entered into a Deed of Assignment with MMDC on December 7, 1994 but MMDC  was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1995.

Since the grant of their MPSAs, VTC and Carac-an Development Corporation (CDC) both owned by Vijungco, “grossly violated the conditions of the Memorandum and disregarded requirements stated in the conditions. VTC and CDC admitted that they did not have any mining activities in the area from 1995 until 2004, thus, abandoning the said mining areas.” Hotchkiss said.

On February 1, 2005, then Environment Secretary Michael Defensor issued Memorandum Order No. 2005-03 declaring both MPSAs as “abandoned/non-performing tenements” and therefore “cancelled” because there was “no record of actual mineral production; non-payment of fiscal obligations; non-submission of required reports; and non-filing of declaration of mining feasibility study in gross violation of the conditions of the grant of MPSA.”

On May 31, 2005, VTC filed a Motion for Reconsideration, while CDC filed its own on July 1, 2005.

On February 27, 2007, then Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes reinstated the MPSAs of VTC and CDC.

On March 23, 2009, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Presidential Proclamation No. 1747 declaring the portions of the public domain of Alamio, Buyaan, Carac-an, Panikian Rivers and Sipangpang Falls, situated in the municipalities of Carrascal, Cantilan and Madrid, Province of Surigao del Sur and in the municipalities of Jabonga, Santiago, and Cabadbaran, Province of Agusan del Norte, as watershed forest reserves.”

The area comprising 43,601 hectares was declared as critical watershed forest reserves subject to prior rights and without prejudice to the rights of the indigenous peoples and other related rules and regulations.

P1747, however, stipulates that  “Any valid contract, permit or license for the extraction or utilization of natural resources already existing prior to the Proclamation shall, subject to national interest and to existing laws, rules and regulations, be respected until their termination.”

“This clause continues to concern the pro-environment groups since the DENR continues to allow the mining company to continue its operations despite the numerous resolutions issued by the Protected Area Management Board to (then) Environment Secretary Lito Atienza to issue a cease and desist order to MMDC pending delineation of the watershed area,”  Hotchkiss noted.

MMDC lawyer Noel Libres, who had sought the mayor’s reconsideration, explained that  the local government unit’s ordinances and resolutions against mining are contrary to the Philippine Mining Act. He also cited Section 17, of RA 7160  (Local Government Code of 1991) which  provides that the “enforcement of forestry laws, pollution control law, small scale mining law, and other laws on the protection of the environment, shall be pursuant to national policies and subject to the supervision, control and review of the DENR.”

But Mayor Guardo, who ran on an anti-mining platform, said the LGU has the ultimate mandate over the approval of the proposed mining project. He cited DENR Memorandum Circular No. 2008-08, dated December 24, 2008, entitled: “Clarification of the Role of LGUs in the Philippine EIS System in Relation to MC 2007-08”, particularly, paragraphs 2 and 3 thereof.

Paragraph 2 states that the issuance of the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) “is not an automatic approval of the project. Through the EIA Process critical issues that should be addressed by the various agencies are identified for guidance on environmental considerations of final approving entities.”

Paragraph 3 states that although LGU endorsement of the proposed projects is not mandatory in the processing of the ECC applications, “it should be inevitably be required and subsumed under the local government’s permitting requirements where the results of the EIA and recommendations in the ECC should be considered along with other factors. It is believed that the LGU has the ultimate mandate over the approval of proposed projects. Hence, the result of the EIA process is an input to the LGU endorsement of proposed projects.”

Upon receipt of MMDC’s business permit application, the mayor inspected the mining site along with members of Baywatch, and found the mining company was in full blown operation with three stockyards full of ore that were ready to ship.

The Baywatch press statement said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) authorized MMDC to start its Development Phase even without endorsements from the Cantilan LGU and the Sanggunian Panlalawigan. MGB’s OIC Basadre issued the mining company permission to proceed to Development Stage citing company receipt of an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) and endorsements from Brgy. Cabangahan, where the mining site is located, and from then Surigao del Sur Gov. Vicente Pimentel.  The law requires two out of three LGU endorsements before it can proceed to the Development Stage.”

‘The governor is not the Sanggunian Panlalawigan,” a member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan said when an MMDC official told members in a hearing that they have secured an endorsement from Pimentel. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

reposted from: mindanews

Our mountains, rivers and oceans are dying because of us!

Dili na ako matingaya kun sa sunod kita na sab an mu dawat nan isog nan ato kagubatan na nahitabo na sab sa CDO and Iligan.

by Haribon Foundation on Monday, October 10, 2011 at 9:11am
PRESS RELEASE
Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) Statement on the NPA Attacks in Taganito Mining Project
October 7, 2011

Alyansa Tigil Mina expresses its deep regrets and anguish to the resulting social disorder brought about by the NPA attacks to the Taganito Mining Project in Claver, Surigao del Norte. Beside the destruction of equipment and damaged structures, our alliance is disturbed that the communities in and around the mining site are the biggest losers in these unfortunate events.

ATM believes that challenging the Philippine government’s policy on revitalizing the mining industry as a misplaced priority, is a sound position. Our advocacy is based on the analysis that the political, environmental and social costs of large-scale mining far outweigh the economic benefits it claims.

We believe that active non-violence is one of the most effective way of pushing our messages, and we will continue our work using non-violent strategies. The lives and livelihoods of rural poor communities, especially indigenous peoples, remain to be the central element in our advocacy. Mining operations in the area formed the driving force resulting to severe environmental damage. The attack of the rebels was a response, for which they and only themselves will decide. Indigenous peoples in the surrounding areas were neither participants to the environmental genocide nor punitive NPA attacks. In both cases, the IPs bear the brunt of the impacts.

This incident reveals several flaws on the way the government is pursuing its mislaid policy on mining, as its reactions to the people’s struggles against mining is unconvincing. The initial responses from both the government and the mining industry are both over-reactive and ridiculous, bordering on disrespect.

Both are mistakes.

The event is a wake-up call to the Aquino government and the Philippine mining industry.

We caution the government in its reliance to sweeping and simplistic reactions to the incident. To respond with pure military power without addressing the social issues will only increase the tension and threaten the already fragile peace situation in the area. We believe that this incident must not compromise the peace negotiations. Militarization of the area must not be an option, and must be avoided.

The claim of the military that the attack was purely motivated by revolutionary taxes is almost a mockery. There are legitimate grievances, including consent, social acceptability, working conditions and environmental costs, that need to be addressed. We know that there is a pending case at the Supreme Court questioning the legality of this mining project. Claiming that extortion is the basis for the attacks is simplistic sidestepping of the issues, and a case of self-absolution.

To accuse insurgents and activists as anti-development because they thrive in poverty to swell their numbers, reflect an immature and irresponsible appreciation of the issues surrounding large-scale mining. The Chamber of Mines has a different view on development from the environmental and IP-support groups opposing mining operations. The roads to these development scenarios are as varied and divergent as the modes and strategies to combat poverty. But to put premium on their “view” of development as the correct path to development, mirror the narrow perspective of the miners.

It is understandable that the government and the mining industry will be concerned with investors’ confidence. We sincerely hope that the Aquino administration display the same eagerness in promoting and protecting the general welfare and sound environment of the communities being impacted by mining.

We also hope that the DENR will come out as strongly for the protection of key biodiversity areas and watersheds, as they have come out emphatically worried about the status of the mining industry after this incident. The DENR is coming out as a well-informed agency on how to utilize our mineral resources. We look forward to the day they also demonstrate heartfelt conviction to be the stewards of the earth that is also their other mandate.

We pray that the Dept. of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) will be as enthusiastic in recognizing and respecting local autonomy when LGUs decide to reject mining in their localities, with the same fervour they displayed in being concerned with the security of the mining companies and their executives.

We wish that the Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be equally concerned about genuinely producing a National Industrialization Plan, as it is gravely concerned about the impact of this attack to mineral trade and investments in the Philippines. Without this industrialization plan, the current rate of extraction and exportation of minerals is as irrational as the incentives and tax breaks given to mining companies.

We urge the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct a fact-finding mission to determine the extent of human rights abuse that were perpetrated. For those responsible for abuses, they should be held accountable. In the same way that mining companies must be held accountable when they infringe on the rights of communities to move freely, access to water, self-determination and just compensation.

Finally, we challenge the national government and the Chamber of Mines to a national policy dialogue to discuss and confront the issues surrounding large-scale mining in the Philippines. We believe that a reasonable and sensible discussion is possible. But a dialogue will only be fruitful if there is honest resolve to find solutions, taking into account all perspectives, and not only from the mining industry. We have posed this challenge to then newly-appointed DENR Secretary last year. We are still waiting for an invitation.

Should the government fail to respond adequately and in a balanced way to this incident, we fear that local resistance to mining can only escalate.

In behalf of Alyansa Tigil Mina

Jaybee Garganera
ATM National Coordinator
nc@alyansatigilmina.net
(0927) 761.76.02 / 434.46.42

Signed by the ATM Council of Leaders and Core Group

Judy Pasimio
Legal Rights and Natural ResourcesCenter– Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth-Philippines
(LRC-KsK/FOE)

Nymia Pimentel-Simbulan
Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights)

Giovanni Reyes
Koalisyon ng Katutubong Samahan sa Pilipinas (KASAPI)

Tess Tabada
Visayan State University (VSU)

Miguel Magalang
Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (MACEC)

Fr. Edwin Gariguez
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines- National Secretariat for Social Action (CBCP-NASSA)

Anabelle Plantilla
HARIBON Foundation

Dave de Vera
Philippine Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID)

Fr. Joy Peliño
Social Action Centre, Diocese of Marbel

By Franklin A. Caliguid
Inquirer Mindanao

BUTUAN CITY—Some 300 New People’s Army guerrillas staged coordinated raids on three mines operating in Claver, Surigao del Norte province, on Monday, killing three security guards.

The communist rebels burned down 10 dump trucks, eight backhoes, two barges and a guest house, according to police and military officials. The rebels also seized several guns from private security guards and smashed computers in offices.

The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which is currently holding peace talks with the Aquino administration.

The military said the refusal of Taganito Mining Corp. (TMC), Taganito HPAL Nickel Corp. and Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) to give in to the NPA demand for a revolutionary tax prompted the attacks.

In Malacañang, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa said “this incident is an isolated case and the business community and the public can be assured that the government is on top of the situation, and that this will not deter this administration from luring investors into the country.”

“The situation in the area has been contained,” Ochoa said. “We are now exerting efforts to ensure that those responsible for these attacks are brought to justice.”

Days earlier, a rebel leader called for the dismantling of mining operations that wreak havoc on the environment and displace indigenous communities.

TMC and PGMC are among the country’s leading exporters of nickel ore to Japan, China and Australia.

TMC is owned by Nickel Asia Corp., the Philippines’ largest nickel producer with Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. as its partner. Taganito HPAL is a sister company of TMC.

In June, Nickel Asia said its sales volumes were likely to increase about 20 percent this year, with about 60 percent of output going to China. The company was looking to sell about 10 million tons of ore this year, topping last year’s record of 8.3 million tons.

Guards outnumbered

Some 300 rebels, wearing police uniforms and on several dump trucks, simultaneously swooped down on the compounds of TMC in Barangay (village) Taganito and PGMC, in nearby Barangay Cagdianao, at 10 a.m., according to a police spokesperson in the Caraga Region.

Superintendent Martin Gamba said company guards of TMC and PGMC were outnumbered and were forced to abandon their posts.

In the TMC raid, Gamba said the rebels set on fire the firm’s administrative office, several dump trucks and mining equipment.

Killed were three TMC security guards, said Colonel Rodrigo Diapana, commander of the Army’s 402nd Infantry Brigade based in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur province.

4 taken hostage

Gamba said the rebels also seized four people, including Jose Anievas, the resident manager of TMC.

Chief Superintendent Reynaldo Rafal, the police chief of Caraga, said the rebels, some wearing military uniforms, seized three TMC  officials at roadblocks, using them to gain entry into the mining sites.

After disarming private security guards at the site, the rebels herded all the people in an open area and burned down equipment and facilities, Rafal said.

Another group of rebels attacked the nearby PGMC also in Claver town. Three hours later, another mine site operated by Taganito HPAL,  was also attacked by rebels.

Three barges bombed

Before retreating, the rebels bombed three barges docked at the TMC wharf.

As of press time, Gamba said the police had yet to assess the extent of damage on the nearby PGMC area, citing continued skirmishes between pursuing troops and the rebels.

Hours later, the rebels freed two of the hostages as military and police authorities continued to pursue them.

Gamba said one of those freed was Anievas. He did not identify the other freed hostage.

The police spokesperson said two more people, including the TMC chief security, remained in captivity.

20 Japanese unharmed

None of the 20 Japanese working for a joint-project between TMC and Sumitomo were harmed during the raid, according to Gamba. The Japanese live on the same compound that the rebels raided in Taganito village.

In Camp Aguinaldo, a military spokesperson said the attacks in Surigao del Norte were extortion-related.

“The New People’s Army is already losing mass-base support so it uses force or coercion to get financial support. That’s why this happened,” said Colonel Arnulfo Burgos Jr., public affairs chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Soft targets

Burgos considered mining firms and other private businesses “soft targets” for the NPA.

The attacks came days after the spokesperson of the National Democratic Front in Mindanao called on the NPA to dismantle “environmentally exploitative and destructive large-scale mining companies” operating in Caraga.

Jorge Madlos alias Ka Oris said the Aquino administration’s failure to protect the environment was displacing indigenous communities and was causing  massive environmental havoc.

“The revolutionary movement shall continue to uphold and to carry our national policy of banning and dismantling large-scale mining, logging and agribusiness companies with a track record of violating revolutionary policies,” Madlos said in a statement.

Irregularities, lumad

The mining operations of TMC and PGMC in the hinterlands of Claver were marred with controversies amid alleged irregularities in the acquisition of mine permits, displacements of “lumad” (indigenous people) communities and environmental destruction.

In May, the Tribal Coalition of Mindanao Inc. (Tricom) asked the Supreme Court to cancel mining permits, licenses and agreements granted to TMC, PGMC and three other mining firms over supposed spurious tribal consent documents in securing licenses and permits.

Clashes

Tribal communities also alleged that open-pit mines operated by the firms posed danger to the environment and health of the lumad communities in Claver.

Sporadic clashes between soldiers and communist rebels were  reported in Claver and adjacent towns of Gigacuit and Bacuag as government troops pursued the rebels.

No casualties have been reported from the clashes, according to Diapana.

“More troops have been deployed as part of our relentless pursuit operations against the rebels,” he said.  With reports from Dona Z. Pazzibugan in Manila and Reuters

The environment and Mindanao’s future

By: Cielito F. Habito

Nowhere in the country has the economy-environment tradeoff been more evident than in Mindanao, whose natural wealth has been exploited over many decades for the benefit of a relative few, and at great cost to future generations. As an economy that has derived its growth primarily from resource extractive activities, Mindanao must build a sustainable future based on much more prudent management and stewardship of its inherent wealth than in the past. Mindanao 2020, the new 20-year blueprint for the island region formulated collectively by Mindanaoans over the last two years, is based on this key premise. What does this imply for the different production activities that will propel the Mindanao economy in the next 20 years?

Agriculture and agriculture-based industries will continue to be the most prominent driver of the Mindanao economy well into the future. But the right balance between large plantation agriculture and smallholder farming needs to be sought, to both widen benefits and sustain the environment. Apart from bananas, pineapple, oil palm and other plantation crops now dominating Mindanao’s exports, there must be stronger efforts to tap the potentials of non-traditional high value crops thriving in Mindanao, such as mangosteen, marang, lanzones, rambutan, pomelo, durian, and many more. These crops lend themselves to farming models based on sustainable smallholder systems, inasmuch as the existing structure in these crops are already primarily of this nature. Due to their highly perishable nature, expanding the markets for these crops will entail greater value-adding through processing, thereby presenting opportunities for further agri-based industries.

Organic farming and halal food production will expand within Mindanao’s farm sector, given its natural suitability for these specialty niche segments of the market. As these are inherently associated with sustainable production practices, their expansion will also be in keeping with the imperative of planning Mindanao’s future around an increasingly fragile environment.

The forestry industry can no longer rely on logging of old growth forests, which are close to depletion in Mindanao. Forest products must henceforth be derived from sustainable forestry based on well-managed commercial tree farming. Massive reforestation is called for in the face of large-scale deforestation over the past decades, now being manifested in serious environmental disasters such as landslides, devastating floods, and depleting groundwater resources.

Coastal and marine fisheries will have to be pursued in more carefully measured steps, to avoid the further depletion of fishery resources that has already impacted on the lives of millions of Mindanaoans. Mariculture will figure more prominently in Mindanao’s fisheries sector, particularly as efforts to rejuvenate marine fisheries resources through fishing moratoriums on key fishing grounds will reduce production from that source in the short to medium term.

Mining is in Mindanao to stay, and there is no room for extreme positions on this. A number of large mining projects are just starting or are in the pipeline, and it is widely agreed that the key imperative is to ensure responsible mining operations, whether by large, medium or small firms. The immediate need is to clearly define and get wide agreement on what it really means to do “responsible mining.” Apart from environmental sustainability, achieving broader benefits from the industry than is currently obtained needs to be addressed with appropriate policy and program interventions. Part of this is the need to ensure greater domestic value-adding in the industry, by encouraging more processing of mineral and metal products within the country and minimizing if not avoiding the direct export of raw mineral ores.

The prospects for industry and manufacturing will be severely constrained by energy availability and cost through the medium term. Large hydroelectric dams and power plants are now faced with greater risks to efficiency and profitability due to siltation of waterways and loss of surface water. In light of this, there must be a conscious move towards small hydroelectric plants and other renewable energy facilities (solar, wind, biomass), along with work to reforest and restore Mindanao’s watersheds.

Tourism development, particularly ecotourism, can be a “win-win” for the economy and environment, and must be pursued vigorously through policy reform and public investments. Much has been done in preparing the groundwork for this under a tourism cluster approach; what is needed is to reach Mindanao-wide consensus on the prioritization of tourism development initiatives, as well as in packaging tourism attractions.

Finally, peace and security are likely to be compromised anew within the next 20 years if various natural resource and environment pressures are not properly managed and allowed to lead to new tensions and conflicts. These pressures include tightening water supplies; competing claims over agricultural and mineral lands; depleting fisheries; and air, soil and water degradation due to pollution from mining and industrial activities. This makes it even more critical that ecosystems are planned and managed in a way that will prevent such pressures from even arising. Fostering common stewardship of the shared natural resourcebase across social, economic, cultural and political lines would help avert or minimize the likelihood that such tensions will arise and escalate into violent conflict in the future. Indeed, the very future of Mindanao rests on the future of its environment.

note: The admin of this site asked permission from the author before it was reposted