Open-pit mines should be eternally banned

If you’ve ever seen an open-pit mine, you’ll swear it should be banned.

Many years ago, I filmed a TV commercial at the open-pit mine of Marinduque Mining. Imagine a giant hole in the ground and the Banaue Rice Terraces in it. The “terraces” are roads in a concentric circle where giant trucks (each tire about 8-inch tall) take the ore to the top.

I’m now wondering whatever happened to this open-pit mine—did they ever fill it up? Unlikely. Maybe it’s now a huge pond full of toxic water.

Unless mining companies today commit to filling up the pit after operations to its original terrain, then I think open-pit mining should remain forever banned!

AMADO MUNDA, dinkymunda@gmail.com