OUR NATIONAL PATRIMONY IS NOT FOR SALE!
Statement
TASK FORCE SIERRA MADRE and ALYANSA TIGIL MINA
February 3, 2005

We, a united movement of indigenous peoples, Church groups, academic institutions, civil society organizations and people's organizations, call:

1. for a moratorium on large-scale commercial mining activities

2. to reject the National Minerals Action Plan

3. to scrap the Philippine Mining Act and enact an Alternative People's Mining Act

It is a myth that the present mining industry can be a responsible and sustainable contributor to national development. The mining companies neglect of the victims of the MARCOPPER Tragedy in Marinduque is a testament to their failure.

We reject the conscious and deliberate effort of the GMA Administration to pave the way for foreign investors to outrightly extract our irreplaceable mineral wealth, as embodied in the National Minerals Action Plan and the Supreme Court's reversed decision on mining issues. The administration substantially weakened the rights of the indigenous peoples to defend their ancestral domain by subsuming the NCIP within the restructured Department of Land Reform through EO 364.

Mining is not a solution to the fiscal crisis, which is a crisis of liberalization policy and corruption in governance. The economic losses from the irreversible destruction of biodiversity will far outweigh the speculated financial proceeds of mining. The rush to revitalize this extractive industry for fast cash in the short-term will only result in the permanent displacement of indigenous communities, destruction of ecologies, social conflicts, health problems and unequal distribution of wealth.

The decision on how to utilize this mineral wealth should rest to us Filipinos. We should benefit from the economic proceeds of mining. The principle of free, prior and informed consent of local communities should be observed and respected at all times.

Experience has shown that mining companies employ destructive technologies. There is poor enforcement of policies and safeguards, and its proceeds do not redound to the majority of the Filipino people. There should be a mechanism where communities can hold these companies accountable and responsible for their past dangerous mistakes.

We have already suffered too many losses of lives and livelihoods in past tragedies. We call on the people to be vigilant in protecting our environment and reclaiming control over our mineral wealth as part of our national patrimony. We should resist this administration's schemes to massacre our natural, physical, and human resources.