On mining in Mindanao

Dear President Aquino,

We bring before you an issue of profound concern to us. That is the issue that will allow a foreign interest to not only take away from Mindanao Filipinos precious parts of our homeland and to leave in its stead harmful substances that will not only poison us and our children for centuries to come, but will also kill all living creatures that God has entrusted to our care.

It is with the deepest respect that we, the ordinary Filipino citizens from all walks of life, write this open letter to you. Our deep respect for you is based not only on the high office you presently hold in our nation, nor is it based only on the exceptional personal qualities you have demonstrated throughout your years of public service, but more than all else our deep respect for you is founded on the blood that runs through your veins.

It is the blood of your martyred father, returning from years of exile, who said “Filipinos are worth dying for,” just minutes before his assassination, as he placed his foot on Philippine soil knowing full well that his return to his homeland meant sure death.

It is the blood of your sainted mother, a self-described housewife, who without hesitation took up the banner of your fallen father's cause and work tirelessly and fearlessly to see democracy and the rule of law restored to our nation. And this she did in the face of one of the world's most powerful dictators.

How proud are we Filipinos to stand before the whole world as a shining example of how freedom and democracy could be returned to the oppressed people without a bloody revolution or a civil war. How many people and nations since have been inspired by our example? For us your Filipino family has been the embodiment and symbol of what is noblest in the Filipino soul.

Mr. President, what we write here in recognition of your family and its place in our history and hearts; we believe is the feeling of the vast majority of ordinary Filipinos, humble, working citizens like us. It is no secret to you or to us that you were chosen to hold our highest office because in a period of chaos caused by deceit and corruption there was one trustworthy name that could not be doubted. And you carry that name.

Imagine, then, Mr. President, our distress in learning that one of your men signed away our birthright. This was totally unexpected by us. It was a blow to our belief in human nature, our trust in your name. For when that despicable document was signed, it was signed not in ink but in our blood. It gave away that which was not for anybody to give.

Yes, one may think that we are but simple people often poor and struggling to feed ourselves and our children. And, yes, for most of us that is true. One may also think of us as did our Spanish and American colonizers, as superstitious, ignorant and uninformed. But in this thought that person would be dead wrong. This is a different world we live in now where vast amount of information around the world are pouring into our towns and barangays. Even the poorest of us can easily discover the records of Sagittarius Mining, Western Mining, XStrata and the environmental impact of the processes they are proposing for their gain and our destruction. In fact it appears to us that we are perhaps far more informed about the possible and potential dangers of these mining operations than that person who ordered the DENR to issue the clearance for open-pit mining. Otherwise how could one sign away our birthright so blithely? We wonder what pressures have been brought to bear upon this person to take this decision so inimical to us Mindanaons?

For the sake of argument we may put the case where the people of Mindanao were so “unprogressive,” so ill-informed, but by reason of some undefined instinct were determined to totally oppose such a project. Even if that were the case (which it is not) we could justifiably ask, “Why in God's name would one directly oppose without a word to them, the people's own judgment about what they believe to be in their best interests?”

But the plain fact is that educated Filipinos, geologists, engineers. economists, ecologists, jurists, ethicists, religious leaders of all denominations as well as common people with that special brand of Filipino common sense, that has experienced exploitation for hundreds of years are saying “No” to this proposal.

We in Mindanao, as in other parts of our nation, have also had our martyrs and saints and most probably we will have yet more. This, as your family knows even more acutely than the rest of us, has always been the price of working for justice. But in the end justice wins out, and in today's world where things happen at a rapid pace we expect to see our cause be won relatively soon. The open pit mining, the mountains of toxic tailings, the poisoning of our soils and sea water, the death of our terrestrial plants and animals and aquatic life of our streams, the killing of marine life will never happen, because this project will never get our approval. That is our determination. We can say this because we believe with your father, that Filipinos and our homelands are worth dying for.

So, Mr. President, we as Filipinos again expressing our deepest respect are petitioning you to rescind the approval of DENR clearance for open pit mining in Tampakan which in the opinion of the vast majority of Mindanaoans is most destructive of our homelands and its peoples and all other living things.

And may the Good Lord with Ninoy and Cory standing on either side smile down upon us all!

Sincerely yours,

Movement for Sustainable South Cotabato