The truth about mining

Mining in the province of Palawan is a divisive issue. Each side – both pro-mining and anti-mining – is trying to win over supporters from among the residents of the province.

But the pro-mining side, including the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, laments that the Save Palawan Movement, which is pushing the “no to mining” in Palawan campaign, is using deception and disinformation to try to gain support and to tarnish the image of the mining industry.

They say one of the ways the anti-mining group is using is the gathering of signatures in support of its cause. But the big portion of the signatures they have gathered so far appears to be questionable because they have gathered signatures even from elementary students who are vulnerable to deception. Many school teachers made it part of their homework to gather signatures from their family members, on pain of failing grades if they do not do their homework.

Also part of the come-on for students is free entry to concerts if they sign up to the movement. The incentive of seeing their television and movie idols is just too much to resist so they sign up to the anti-mining movement.

The gathering of signatures by the anti-mining group has spread to people in churches, malls, markets and other public places, and even to people lining up for clearance at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) office. What is sad is that they’re using disinformation and scare tactics to make people believe that mining will destroy Palawan province.

But how big is the area covered by large-scale mining in Palawan to be in a position to ruin the province? The three large-scale mines in the province occupy only 2,000 hectares. This is only 0.14 percent of the total 1.4-million-hectare land area of the province. A fourth mine will reach production stage some years from now. The rest consists of a number of quarry operations – or non-metallic mining – throughout the province, including Puerto Princesa City.

Mining operations do not affect the other economic activities in the province, including agriculture, fishing and eco-tourism. Mining cannot displace farms because farming is not feasible in the lateritic areas in southern Palawan. Laterite soil is just too rich in iron and nickel and naturally poor in nutrients to be suitable for farming. Laterite areas cannot, therefore, be considered bio-diverse.

Also, mining won’t affect tourism in Palawan province since large-scale metallic mines are in the southern part of the province, which is quite far from identified tourism areas.

If anti-mining advocates think mining is responsible for the deforestation in Palawan, they are wrong, pro-miners say. Scientific data available indicate that more than half of the deforestation in the province can be traced to land conversion for agricultural use and housing requirements of the growing population. Other factors that contributed to forest loss are uncontrolled forest poaching and slash-and-burn farming due to poverty. Anti-mining groups should instead use their time and efforts on these issues.

For those who might fear that nickel, which is being mined in southern Palawan, is harmful to human health, mining companies assure them that nickel is not carcinogenic in itself. They say that certain nickel compounds are, but those are man-made for industrial applications and not the result of mining. There are varied uses of nickel. Among them are in stainless steel pots and pans, cutlery, surgical instruments as well as cardiovascular stents because of its non-corrosive properties.

There is no danger that mining will cover large areas because under the 1995 Mining Act, many areas in the country are closed to mining, including those that are classified as protected under the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act.

In case many people don’t know, mining has been with us since the start of civilization. Nowadays, mining activity takes place all over the world because without metals, progress will stop. There will be no gadgets and appliance, no transport facilities, no bridges and buildings, no household utensils, etc.

What is important is we allow only responsible or sustainable mining, not a total ban on it. Mining has many products that are useful to man. Incidentally, miners, including those in Palawan, are some of the largest taxpayers.

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