In the past few weeks the integrity of the Save Palawan Movement has been questioned. I need to make one thing crystal clear: We do not lie. The foundation of the Save Palawan Movement is truth and the common good. The tables of prof. Arsenio Balisacan speak for themselves. In mining the incidence of poverty is increasing.
The tables do not say that mining has caused poverty. What the tables indicate is that people involved in the mining sector stay poor year after year after year. Poor people also go to construction, agriculture, manufacturing, but the incidence of poverty in those sectors has been steadily decreasing.
Why is mining the only sector where the incidence of poverty has been progressively increasing for the last 20 years? Doesn’t this say something about how the sector performs?
I can confidently say that if poor people get involved in community-based sustainable ecotourism, their lives will improve. I know this from personal experience. Puerto Princesa and Bohol show that tourism is the way to go.
The Save Palawan Movement does not lie. The fact is that the highest incidence of poverty is in the mining sector and it has increased by 74 percent since 1988.
While the footprint of mining is small, its impact goes far, far beyond the parameters of its operations, especially when accidents happen as it happens often. In Palawan alone, there were two major accidents this year where coral reefs were destroyed, hectares of farmlands disadvantaged, tons of nickel spilled into the sea. Up to now there are literally hundreds of abandoned mined sites that remain unrehabilitated and the people around them continue to suffer.
When the Chamber of Mines says that mining does not affect agriculture and fishery resources, and I have farmers and fishermen whose lives say otherwise, who is lying?
When the Chamber of Mines says that mining does not affect tourism, and I have been to islands I can no longer help because there are huge pits that have permanently scarred the island, who is lying?
When the Save Palawan Movement wants to save biodiversity in Palawan and wants to eradicate poverty through the care of the environment and mining firms take advantage of that poverty to enrich themselves, who should Palawan be protected from?
The signature campaign of the Save Palawan Movement is genuine. The millions who have signed are people who care. Watch the link “No to mining in Palawan’s support” on YouTube and see for yourself.
—GINA LOPEZ,
Save Palawan Movement