Protesters against large-scale mining activities in Mati City condemned the government’s unresponsiveness towards their call to stop large-scale mining projects in the region as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his second State of the Nation Address (SONA).
During Marcos Jr.’s SONA, he expressed his aim to simplify tax measures and financial policies in the mining industry. The President also sought Congressional approval and support for the proposed measure including the rationalized fiscal regime of the mining industry.
In a report by Rappler, Primo Solis, Chairman of the Barangay Macambol Multi-sectoral Association for Integrated Development said their “desperate calls for help” were left unheard, thus the group already lost hope on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and local official’s decisive response to this matter.
Solis added that Marcos Jr.’s “strong backing of the mining industry is dangerous to the country.” claiming that the administration has done nothing to stop the billion-dollar mining project in Mati City that caused “massive ecological destruction.”
One of the projects in Mati City is the $2 billion mining project of Asiaticus Management Corporation (AMCOR), which covers areas in Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary and areas of the Pujada Bay Seascape and Landscape.
Meanwhile, residents of Davao Oriental also pleaded with the Marcos administration to look into the significant damage, especially in the rice farms of the province caused by several mining operations conducted by Riverbend Consolidated Mining Corporation, and ARC Nickel Resources Incorporation.
Due to the damage the two mining companies caused in the two Banaybay river systems, the DENR ruled cease-and-desist orders last year but eventually altered its decision.
