Bishop dares Atienza to prove pro-life stance

AS the hunger strike of anti-mining advocates pressing for the revocation of a mining clearance permit entered on its seventh day, an outspoken bishop dared Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Joselito Atienza to prove his pro-life stance by withdrawing the permit issued by his office to a mining company to operate in Mindoro.

In a strongly-worded letter sent to Atienza yesterday, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, called on the DENR secretary to uphold the law and suspend indefinitely as promised the environmental clearance certificate (ECC) issued to Norwegian mining company Intex Resources.

“You issued a defective ECC; have the courage to revoke it!” the bishop declared.

Pabillo, who also heads the Episcopal Commission on Social Action-Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said it is better to go wrong defending the lives and rights of Filipinos than to err defending money and foreigners.

“Better to lose your face in front of foreigners than to lose it in front of your countrymen and women,” he said.

Indefinite suspension of ECC

Representatives from the Church, local officials of Mindoro provinces (LGU’s) and Mangyan leaders (IPs) dialogued with DENR officials on Nov. 18 asking for an indefinite suspension of ECC granted to Intex Resources.

“In the said dialogue, in front of two provincial governors, several mayors, congressmen, priests, two bishops, DENR officials and several Mangyan leaders, you were emphatic about your allegiance to the law and your assurance to punish anyone in your office who does not abide by the law,” Pabillo said in his letter.

But despite acceding to the “irregularity” of ECC and his promise to cancel it, Atienza only issued a 90-day suspension order.

The order caught the anti-mining advocates by surprise, who had decided to call off the hunger strike after the “fruitful” dialogue.

Pabillo said Atienza’s action did not reflect accurately the discussions and agreements of the meeting.

Among those discussed and agreed in the meeting include 1) the recognition of the LGU’s moratorium on mining; 2) the failure of the Intex Resources to conduct a genuine consultation in the communities; 3) the steadfast refusal of LGUs to allow the entry of the Intez Resources in the area; and 4) the sustained rejection and withholding of consent of the legitimate indigenous people to be affected by the mining operation.

The bishop said they all felt betrayed by Atienza’s failure to act on the side of justice and truth.

“If the ECC is acquired with irregularity, why should it be just suspended for 90 days? Is it not invalid, and being so, must be revoked?” he asked.

Critical watershed area

Pabillo also scored the DENR’s failure to formally declare the contested area a watershed despite confirmation from Mindoro officials that “some 11,000 hectares covered by the ECC definitely includes the watershed that feeds the two Mindoro provinces.”

The area has long been established as a watershed, which explains why a mining permit by the same company in July 2001 was cancelled by former DENR secretary Heherson Alvarez, Pabillo said.

Aside from being a critical watershed, the area is also home to the communities of Alangan and Tadyawan Mangyans.

Mangyan leaders, together with some priests and nuns and LGU officials have been on hunger strike in front of DENR office since Nov. 17 to press their demands.

They said the indigenous communities have never given a genuine Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and that Intex Resources resorted to deception and indirect bribery to get the support of some tribal leaders.

“The 25 hunger strikers, most of them Mangyans, are now in the 7th day of their hunger strike. Don’t you care at all for their situation? Is this not part of your pro-life stance?” Pabillo asked Atienza.

Responsibility towards environment and people

While urging Atienza to act quickly in cancelling the permit, the bishop also reminded the official of his responsibility towards the environment and the people who depend on it.

“Allow me to remind you that your responsibility is more towards the care of the Philippine environment and the Filipinos who mostly depend on a well-balanced ecosystem than towards foreign investors who are here not to help our country – inspite of their protestations – but to exploit us and our natural resources,” Pabillo said.

Rich in natural resources, Mindoro is considered the food basket of southern Tagalog provinces including Metro Manila. Farmers depend on the rivers for irrigation of rice fields. To preserve the island’s ecosystem from destruction, both provinces of Oriental and Occidental Mindoro have issued a moratorium on mining for 25 years.

Gross violation of the law

“You have always insisted on the observance of the law. But the way you disregarded the decision of the local government units in Mindoro is a gross violation of Section 70 of the Mining Act of 1995, which clearly requires the conduct of a genuine consultation, approval and endorsement through ordinance from the affected municipalities and the provincial government,” the letter said

Pabillo noted that the issuance of ECC also has no basis because DENR “disregarded the decision of the independent scientists who conducted the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).”

The EIA Review Committee for the Mindoro Nickel Project on September 23, 2009 had recommended a denial of an ECC for the mining company. But the DENR office reversed the decision by issuing an ECC on October 14, 2009.

Reiterating his appeal for the cancellation of the ECC, Pabillo said the people would not have gone on hunger strike if not for its issuance.

“I appeal to you, Mr. Secretary, to revoke the ECC. Do not blame the people for going into hunger strike… They want to have their voices heard, and now, many people even out of Mindoro – bishops, priests, religious, lawmakers, students, parishioners and many NGO supporters are hearing it,” he said.

The bishop said it is now the time for the DENR official to prove his pro-life stance.

“Otherwise, please do not campaign on pro-life issues in the coming election and do not claim that you are for the good of the local government in which you would be running,” Pabillo said. “I pray that you would have courage, humility and compassion,” he added.

Bishop laments govt’s inaction against aerial spray

CHAIRMAN of National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA) of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo lamented the government’s slow response to their appeal to ban aerial spraying of pesticides on banana plantations.

In a radio interview last Sunday, Pabillo said President Gloria Macacapagal-Arroyo has yet to respond to their (bishops) appeal to permanently ban the practice of aerial spraying of pesticides.

Various studies have proven the dangers of pesticides on health and the environment. The Department of Health (DOH) in a study it has commissioned a few years ago also pointed out the hazardous effects of pesticides to human health.

But despite the outcome of DOH study on the hazardous effects of pesticides on the health of the people, the president still has not ordered a halt on the practice, Pabillo said.

He, however, acknowledged that some Church leaders had already met and dialogued with government officials representing the president. But the outcome of that dialogue still remains to be seen, he said.

Metro Manila bishops led by Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales had earlier written an open letter to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo asking her to ban the practice of aerial spraying, saying the practice “infringes upon human health and dignity.”

In the letter, the bishops stressed that life is more important than “economic gains.”

Pabillo in a separate statement earlier released by NASSA office also condemned the practice, saying “aerial spraying violates a person’s right to life and safe environment.”

He said that the Church is concerned of “the fact that pesticide poisoning is disproportionately borne by low-income, minority communities who are oftentimes incapable of seeking proper medical attention.”

Banana plantation owners in Mindanao, also known as Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) apply aerial spraying of pesticides to kill fungus on banana leaves. They argued that to discontinue the practice will result to great economic loss for the country.

But residents around plantations complained of various illnesses, ranging from respiratory ailments, blindness, allergies, high blood pressure, goiter and various forms of cancer, which they said were caused by the toxic pesticides sprayed by airplanes.

Anti-mining advocates to go on hunger strike against mining in Mindoro

OUTRAGED over the issuance of a clearance permit to a mining company to operate in Mindoro, anti-mining advocates from the island province are poised to go on hunger strike next week to express their protest.

Fr. Edwin Gariguez of Alyansa Laban sa Mina (ALAMIN) and Mangyan Mission said volunteers from their group are leading the hunger strike on November 17 in front of the office of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Manila.

The hunger strikers will be joined in their peaceful protest by representatives from the Local government units of two Mindoro provinces on Nov. 17.

Representatives from the Church led by Calapan Bishop Warlito Cajandig and San Jose Bishop Antonio Palang together with CBCP-NASSA Chairman and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo will say Mass for the strikers on Nov. 18.

‘Betrayal of public trust’

In a statement, Gariguez’ group lambasted the move of DENR to grant permit to the mining company saying that the action was a “brazen act of betrayal of public trust.”

“The issuance of the ECC is an outright insult to the people of Mindoro who have continually expressed their vehement and overwhelming opposition to the project as articulated in the Mining Moratorium of Oriental Mindoro and Municipality of Sablayan, in volumes of Sangguniang Bayan Resolutions, Position papers of sectoral and civil society organizations, indigenous peoples, farmers, fisherfolks and the Church,” the statement read.

Supported by the local Church and local government units of Mindoro province the protest activity is meant to pressure DENR secretary Joselito Atienza to revoke the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) issued to Intex Resources.

Intex Resources Philippines, a division of Intex Resources ASA of Norway, has been granted an ECC by DENR last October 14, 2009 to operate the Mindoro Nickel project that will extract and process nickel laterite ore and its by-products, such as chromite, cobalt, zinc, sulfide and ammonium sulfate.

The issuance of permit led the people of Mindoro to howl in protest saying it violated an existing ordinance that calls for a 25-year large-scale mining moratorium in the province.

“Instead of coming to rescue our fragile ecology, the DENR shamelessly pursued the national policy agenda of the Arroyo government to promote mining industry, with utter disregard to the risks posed by the destruction of Mindoro’s critical watershed through the risky large-scale, strip mining operation of Intex Resources ASA,” the statement further read.

The mining site lies in a critical watershed area which supplies irrigation water for Mindoro’s rice fields.

Gariguez said that aside from poisoning of water source and destruction of environment, mining will also displace the Mangyan communities living within the area.

The protest activity initially set from Nov. 17-19 may go on indefinitely until the ECC is withdrawn, according to a statement released by the group.

Bishops join people’s outrage against Laiban Dam project

JOINING the people’s outrage against the proposed Laiban Dam project, Catholic bishops collectively called on government to put forward the common good above all else by preserving the integrity of creation.

In a letter sent to President Macapagal-Arroyo, prelates led by Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales called on the government to scrap the contentious Laiban dam project citing ethical and legal considerations.

Other signatories to the letter are NASSA chairman and Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Communications and Mass Media Chairman and Auxiliary Bishop Bernardino Cortez, Pasig Bishop Francisco San Diego, Kalookan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias, Parañaque Bishop Jesse Mercado and Infanta Bishop-Emeritus Julio Xavier Labayen.

The 113-meter Laiban Dam project if realized will engulf around 28,000 hectares of “biodiverse-rich-forest-ecosystem,” including some 3,000 hectares of mangrove fish sanctuary and farm irrigation in the towns of Gen. Nakar, Real and Infanta.

Aside from destroying the rich ecosystems of the area, the dam will also displace several thousands of families, especially the indigenous communities of Dumagats and Remontados living within the Kaliwa watershed area.

The dam also sits on top of a major seismic fault line which could be dangerous in an earthquake of great magnitude.

“What maybe perceived as common good of the present generation may turn out to be a cause of suffering of the next,” the bishops stated in their letter.

“Even with the best intention of providing more water to the people can spark protests when it ignores and violates framework sustainable for development and violates ethical and legal procedures considerations,” they added.

The project ran contrary to existing laws such as Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System, the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act (NIPAS), the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act (Wildlife Protection Act), E.O. 33, and the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA).

The government wanted to revive the Laiban Dam in view of an alleged impending water shortage that could hit Manila and environs in any eventuality.

But in a public report, both Maynilad and Manila Water declared that their respective systems losses of 69% and 20% were mainly due to leakage problem, thus disproving the water shortage claim.

The bishops argued that instead of pushing with the project the government should consider rehabilitating the Wawa Dam which has supplied Metro Manila with water for 60 years.

“With a watershed area of 27,980 hectares, it is capable of continuously discharging millions of liters of fresh water daily,” they said.

For their part, the public and various organizations, together with the Catholic Church have taken up the cause, eyeing the move of government with suspicion.

A group of indigenous peoples, farmers, women rural workers, youth and religious groups are currently on a 148-km protest march from Gen. Nakar to Manila. The walk which began Nov. 4, and ends on Nov. 12 will stop at Metropolitan Waterworks Sewerage System (MWSS) and finally at Malacañang to urge government to stop the project.

The construction of the dam is a joint project of MWSS and San Miguel Corporation (SMC).

“In these trying times when uniting the people is more urgent any project that can be a cause of suspicion and division should be avoided,” said the bishops.

The prelates further urged the government and its agencies to focus and bring solutions on issues like “leakage problems of Maynilad and Manila Water; declaring Marikina Watershed Reservation as Protected Area under the NIPAS Law; and expediting reforestation efforts in Marikina watershed to increase water capacity, provide carbon sink and mitigate impacts of global warming and climate change.”

The MWSS must also pursue its primary mandate of serving the people, putting above all the common good while working closely with environmental groups, LGUs, NGOs and POs for the sustainable development of the people, the bishops said.

Saints’ holy lives a model for all, says CBCP head

AS the whole Christendom celebrates the feast of all saints, millions of Filipinos, whether here or abroad, troop to cemeteries to light a candle and pray for their dead.

Catholic tradition celebrates the feast of All Saints on November 1, followed by a day dedicated to the poor souls in purgatory on November 2. Individually and as groups, people across the country trudge to cemeteries on these days to pray for their dead loved ones.

CBCP president and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said Church history is filled with stories of people who have lived heroic lives as followers of Christ, men and women who have been proclaimed by the Church as saints in heaven.

“Their lives of faithfulness to Christ and of holiness serve as models for the Christian community,” he said.

But he also said Filipinos now need not only look for models at the saints we know, even among fellow Filipinos who have lived exemplary lives.

Just like the saints, the heroes of our time possess qualities worthy of emulation, Lagdameo said.

They can be models of morality, honesty, uprightness, diligence and trustworthiness, the prelate added.

Among others, he cited the country’s national hero, Jose Rizal, as someone who can stand as a model for everybody in search of change and renewal not only for oneself but also for the country.

The values that characterize the life of these heroic people can serve as model for everyone to imitate, the outgoing CBCP president said.

Memorial for unnamed saints

The celebration of All Saints Day honors those who have lived commendable Christian life on earth and are now in heaven. Since not all the saints are given a specific feast day, the Church for practical and pastoral reasons has designated a particular day to celebrate all the saints in heaven.

“November 1 is a memorial day especially for the many unnamed, unknown or unrecognized saints, inhabitants of heaven,” Lagdameo explained.

He said putting aside a day during the year to celebrate all the saints make up for the “deficiency in our celebration of the saint’s feast during the year.”

Feast of all martyrs

Historically known as the feast of all martyrs, in particular the martyrs during the persecution in the early centuries, All Saints day used to be celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost.

It was later transferred to November 1 during the time of Pope Gregory III who, in the 8th century dedicated a new chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica and for the first time celebrated the feast for all the saints.

The celebration was later extended to the universal Church by Pope Gregory IV in the 9th century.

All Souls Day

Lagdameo explained that it is part of Church’s teachings that the soul of anyone who had died needs to be “purified” before it can enter heaven.
But he added the Church “has no official teaching as to the place and duration and nature of this purification.”

“The Church believes that there is purification of believers prior to entering heaven and that, prayers and masses of the faithful benefit those in the state of purgation,” he said.

Lagdameo noted that it was the Church Fathers who expounded the idea of “purgation of sin through fire after death.”

“All Souls Day is an opportunity to remember, to pray for and offer Masses to our departed in the state of purification,” he added.

The practice of praying for the dead dates back to the time of early persecutions of Christians. Then Christians would gather in catacombs to pray for their dead believing that their prayers would deliver the soul of the dead from purgatory. The significance of praying for the dead is also mentioned in the Scriptures.

Bringing food and other practices

Current practices being observed during the feasts are bringing of food for the dead and decorating graves of loved ones with lights and other ornaments, aside from the usual candles and flowers.

Lagdameo said it is very important to have prayers and masses offered for the deceased.

“The souls in purgatory need our prayers more than the distracting music and party atmosphere that characterize our current way of remembering the dead,” he said.

In some cemeteries and memorial parks, families stay for three days to keep vigil. Prayers and chants recited for the dead oftentimes compete with the noise of endless chatter of people and loud music coming from karaokes.

Although the fiesta-like celebration is a manifestation of the thought that the deceased are already in heaven, Lagdameo said still “it is good to observe a subdued atmosphere in the cemetery so that those who want to pray can pray well.”

“It is good to observe a religious atmosphere especially in catholic cemeteries,” he stressed.

“My advice to the faithful is to offer special prayers to the dead on these days. It is the most important thing we can do for them more than anything else,” the prelate added.