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Kusog Mindanaw holds Roundtable on Mining in Mindanao

From July 1-2, 2005, Kusog Mindanaw held a roundtable conference on mining at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City.

Kusog Mindanaw is a multi-sectoral and socio-political formation, rather than a formal organization, committed to the promotion of peace and development in Mindanao. It operates as a forum for unity and consensus-building among key leaders of major Mindanao-wide sectoral coalitions and federations, such as the Mindanao Business Council (MBC), the Mindanao Coalition of Development Networks (MINCODE), Mindanao Lawmakers Association (MLA), and many others.

Supported by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and organized by KAS partners TACDRUP and the Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc., the roundtable conference, entitled Mining for Misery or Digging for Prosperity: Towards an Acceptable Win-win Solution to Ensure Mindanao Peace and Development, brought together leaders from Mindanao civil society, business, government, church, and NGO and indigenous peoples communities for candid discussion of the benefits and perils of mining in the island region.

The conference’s three-person resource panel included DENR Assistant Secretary Jeremias Dolino, Concurrent Director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, who presented on the national government’s current policy towards and regulations concerning mining, Atty. Marvic C. Leonen, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Legal Rights and Natural Resource Center, Inc., - Kasama sa Kalikasan ( LRNRC-KSK), who presented the case against the national government’s policy of actively promoting the mining industry, and Mr.Benjamin G. Romualdez, President of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines and ASEAN Federation of Mining Associations, who presented the view of the mining industry.

The panel was followed by a discussion led by, among others, Fr. Albert Bael, who spoke on the experiences and sentiments of the Subanens in Zamboanga, Mr. Romy Serra of the Mindanao Business Council MBC, who announced his group’s commitment to “responsible minerals development”, Ms. Sylvia Okinlay Paraguya, Chairperson of MINCODE, who argued against the Philippine Mining Act and for a “People’s Mining Act”, Datu Migketay Victorino L. Saway, Sec. Gen. of the United Indigenous Nations of Mindanao, and Archbishop Fernando Capalla, Chair of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines CBCP, who gave the viewpoint of the members of the Bishop-Ulama Conference (BUC).

The conference concluded with attendees agreeing on a list of points of concession and non-concession. Prominent among the points of concession were respect for the rights and decisions of the indigenous peoples and protection of the environment.