Sibuyan local officials sign joint resolution vs mining

Local officials in Sibuyan Island’s three municipalities have signed a joint resolution rejecting mining operations in the island.

The municipalities of Magdiwang, Cajidiocan and San Fernando issued Joint Resolution No. 1 and 2, indicating the people’s opposition to mining in the island.

In Joint Resolution No. 1, the local officials asked President Benigno Aquino “to declare Sibuyan Island free of all metallic mining (all forms of mining except gravel and sand)”, while Joint Resolution No. 2, addressed to DENR Secretary Ramon Paje asked that all mining permits issued in the island be revoked.

Sibuyan’s officials recently trooped to the office of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to insist that their autonomous decision to free the island from mining activities be respected.

Environmentalists and anti-mining advocates hailed the local officials’ joint resolution to reject mining to protect and preserve the island’s rich ecosystem.

Sibuyan island, dubbed as the Galapagos of Asia, is rich in natural resources and biodiversity. It is known to have the densest forest in the world.

The island is home to a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. One hundred twenty-three species of trees, 54 of which are not found anywhere in the world, 700 vascular plant species, and 131 species of birds, and many mammals and rodents still yet to be catalogued, are found in Mt. Guiting-guiting Natural Park.