MANILA, Philippines — Environmental group Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) on Saturday called on provincial officials from South Cotabato to uphold the veto on lifting the open-pit mine ban in the area.
Last month, the South Cotabato Sangguniang Panlalawigan, composed of provincial officials, lifted the 12-year ban on open-pit mining in the province at the behest of tribal constituents and business blocs in Mindanao.
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Weeks later. Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. vetoed the measure, explaining that he "could not find any compelling reason to amend" such ordinance.
"Gov. Tamayo’s veto of the attempted lifting of the open-pit mine ban is a victory for the thousands who protested on the streets," Kalikasan PNE National Coordinator Leon Dulce said in a statement on Saturday.
"We now urge the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of South Cotabato to respect the people’s will by upholding the environment code and taking action against various permits issued to the Tampakan open-pit mine despite its illegal status," he added.
Dulce also urged the South Cotabato officials to scrap the permits issued by the national government to the Tampakan mine, and issue restraining orders on the developments activities of Sagittarius Mines Inc. and other proponents.
Anti-mining group Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) lauded Tamayo's move to veto the lifting of the ban, but said they will continue to monitor the developments "as there is still a chance that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan may override the veto."
"We will take this matter seriously and join the vigilance of local communities in South Cotabato to continue lobbying and putting pressure on the Sanggunian to not override the veto," ATM said in a statement Friday.
The removal of the ban in May cleared away the final regulatory obstacle for the long-delayed Tampakan Project, Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Wilfredo Moncano told Agence France-Presse.
Sagittarius Mines, the developer of the Tampakan project, has said it is "one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world."
Kalikasan PNE's Dulce previously said that the Tampakan project will destroy the Altayan-Taplan River ecosystems in the Quezon mountain range, while several coal mining projects will ravage the Daguma mountain range.
Mining ban limitations
In a dialogue with reporters on Friday, Tamayo said that any ban in South Cotabato will not affect the planned operations of Sagittarius Mines. He explained that the mining ban only regulates mines within the authority of local government units.
Mining experts have said there are at least $200 billion worth of copper deposits in Tampakan town, which are within the ancestral domains of the ethnic Blaan people.
The Blaans have long allowed Sagittarius to mine copper from their territories after securing a written free and prior consent with the help of their tribal councils and the National Commission on Indigenous People. — With reports from Gaea Katreena Cabico and John Unson