The document discusses the extractive industry, particularly mining, in the Philippines. It notes that while the Philippines has an abundance of mineral resources, the mining industry contributes little to the economy and tax revenue. The 1995 Mining Act was crafted to attract foreign investors but relinquished sovereignty and failed to consider environmental and social impacts. Mining has resulted in environmental degradation, human rights abuses, and has not improved livelihoods as promised. The mining model has prioritized short-term profits over long-term sustainability and the needs of communities.

1. EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY AND THE
CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES
FR. EDWIN A. GARIGUEZ
Executive Secretary, National Secretariat for Social Action –
Justice and Peace (NASSA-JP) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference
of the Philippines (CBCP)

2. Quantity of Mineral
Resources per unit area
 3rd in the world for gold
 4th in the world for copper
 5th in the world for nickel
 6th in the world for chromite

3. REVITALIZING
Promotion of mining MINING AS A
as an engine for GOVERNMENT
economic growth POLICY . . .
and in the alleviation
of poverty in the
countryside!

4. The Mining Act and Mining Policy Framework
The 1995 Mining Act was passed primarily to
attract foreign investments while getting around
the constitutional provision of Filipino corporate
ownership in resource extraction.
The law was passed as a key economic measure of the
Ramos administration, a way of saying the Philippines was
“open for business” – a policy congruent with the
liberalization mantra of the IFIs and IDAs.
Act grants different types of mining rights:
• Exploration permits for corporations and individuals The act allows
• Mineral production Sharing Agreements (MPSA) 100% ownership
participation in
• Financial Technical Assistance Agreements (FTAA) through, FTAAs
Philippine Mining Act is acclaimed as “among the most
favourable to be found anywhere”

5. The PHILIPPINE MINING ACT OF 1995 was crafted to attract
foreign investors. The country’s right to sovereignty is relaxed
in order to provide palatable incentives to transnational
mining investors :
 100% foreign ownership of mining projects,
 concession area of up to 81,000 hectares on shore and
324,000 hectares off shore,
 100% repatriation of profit,
 5 years tax holiday later extended to eight, and deferred
payment are allowed until all cost are recovered,
enjoyment of easement rights, and other auxiliary rights in
mining concession,
mining lease for 25 years, extendable to another 25 years,
losses can be carried forward against income tax, among
others.

6. Existing/ Approved
Exploration Permit 64
Mineral Production 313
Sharing Agreement
Financial or Technical 4
Assistance Agreement
Mineral Processing Permit 50
Industrial Sand and Gravel 213
Permit
Mining Lease Contract 77
TOTAL 721
Data as of March 2010

11. Minute Economic Contributions of
Mining to Philippine Economy
 Mining gross production value in 2007 was valued at
Php 101.5 billion pesos
 Government tax collection (in 2007) was at
Php 10.4 billion pesos
 National Gov’t. (Agencies) collected Php 8.35 billion pesos
 BIR collected Php 942 million pesos
 DENR/MGB collected Php 774 million pesos
 LGUs collected Php 357.9 million pesos
 Contribution of mining sector to 2007 GDP was merely
1.4% (consistent in 3 decades)

12. Crunching the Numbers
 Claimed investments was only 35%
 Job creation was only at 158,000 in 2008
 Actual tax collection was only at 11%
 Actual Paid-up investments (SEC) was only
at less than 10%!
 GDP contribution is only 1%
 Agriculture GDP contribution is at 16.5%

13. With all the hype about mining
serving as an engine of economic
development:
The local mining industry’s contribution to the
Philippine economy since the time the Mining Act
of 1995 was implemented has barely reached 2
percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
In contrast, agriculture, a sector that is often
negatively impacted by mining activities,
contributes a solid 16-17 percent of GDP!
(From study conducted by the University of the Philippines and
Ateneo de Manila)

14. Philippines is still net importer of
metals
 US$ 689.4 million worth of iron and steel
 US$ 97.74 million worth of copper
 US$ 131.26 million worth of other metal
manufactures
(2000 figures)
LRC-KsK, irlg 2005

15. Why the “resistance”?

17. The present mining policy does not, however, recognize
the reality that the Philippine archipelago, with small
islands having forests and surrounding marine
ecosystems, are more sensitive to mining impacts.
There are areas where the resulting ecological loss
resulting from mining operations will be too considerable
to be justified by the benefits.
Sustainable development will not be achieved if the
country’s backbone of biodiversity resources is severely
compromised. While the mineral supply may be
considerable, the archipelago as a whole may not be able
to “sustain” its widespread extraction.
(de Alban, et al. 2005)

18. In July 2006, the Right Honorable Clare Short MP, former
UK Minister of International Development, led a Fact
Finding Mission on Mining to the Philippines, the report of
which, “Mining in the Philippines: Concerns and Conflicts” was
published in 2007. This report noted that:
“Mining in the Philippines is being developed at a
speed…scale…and in a manner likely to cause massive
long-term environmental damage and social problems.
Current mining plans will undermine the Government’s
own strategy for sustainable development by destroying
or severely damaging critical eco-systems, including
watersheds, rivers, marine eco-systems and important
agricultural production areas.”
“Mining in the Philippines: Concerns and Conflicts” by Doyle, C., Wicks, C.
and Nally, F. 2007. Society of St. Columban, Solihull, UK: 62 p.

19. The Tapian Pit, Marcopper mine on Marinduque Island
in the Philippines in 1989
Photograph by Catherine Coumans/MiningWatch Canada
Slide 19

20. Boac River Disaster of 1996 -
Marinduque

21. The Mogpog River, Marinduque Island. The red/orange colour
and Oxfam’s scientific studies indicate acid mine drainage
and contamination by heavy metals
Photograph by David Sproule/Oxfam Australia
Slide 21

22. Illness spans generations: Wilson Manuba and his father
Pedro – both Calancan Bay fishermen are suffering from
severe arsenic poisoning
Photograph by Ingrid Macdonald/Oxfam Australia
Slide 22

23. Cordillera
Abra River

24. THE SHOW CASE OF
“RESPONSIBLE MINING”
IN THE PHILIPPINES
LAFAYETTE MINING, RAPU-RAPU, ALBAY

25. November 9, 2005
February 2, 2006

26. OCTOBER 2007

27. POISONED RIVER, SIOCON. 2006

28. APEX MINE
2008

30. British MP "enormously shocked" by mining operations
in Philippines http://philippinesfactfinding.blogspot.com/
Clare Short said: “I have never seen
anything so systematically destructive
as the mining programme in the
Philippines. The environmental effects
are catastrophic as are the effects on
people’s livelihoods.”

32. Our experiences of environmental tragedies and
incidents with the mining transnational
corporations belie all assurances of sustainable and
responsible mining that the government is
claiming. Increasing number of mining affected
communities, Christians and non-Christians alike,
are subjected to human rights violations and
economic deprivations. We see no relief in sight.
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
January 29, 2006

33. The promised economic benefits of mining by
these transnational corporations are outweighed
by the dislocation of communities especially
among our indigenous brothers and sisters, the
risks to health and livelihood and massive
environ-mental damage.
Mining areas remain among the poorest areas in
the country . . . The cultural fabric of indigenous
peoples is also being destroyed by the entry of
mining corporations.
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
January 29, 2006

34. The right to life of people is
inseparable from their right to
sources of food and livelihood.
Allowing the interests of big
mining corporations to prevail over
people’s right to these sources
amounts to violating their right to
life.
Furthermore, mining threatens
people’s health and environmental
safety through the wanton
dumping of waste and tailings in
rivers and seas.
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
January 29, 2006

35. Development, when it is pursued primarily for
financial benefits without real consideration to
human and ecosystems well being is a distorted
version of development.
The inherent defect is that development is viewed
as the delivery of the much needed investment
which is often achieved at the expense of social
and ecological factors.
In the context of mining industry, by using this
distorted framework, the local community and
the indigenous peoples are the ones who are most
affected by this lopsided development priority.

36. Towards a Definition of “Responsible Mining”
The term “sustainable mining” is an oxymoron; by definition
minerals (e.g., oil, coal, metals) are not renewable. They can
be exhausted at slower rates and can and should be recycled
to the fullest extent possible, but this cannot be called
sustainable.
“Responsible Mining” avoids the following: (a) Densely
populated areas (no forcible displacement of humans); (b)
Zones of social conflict; Ancestral domains & Indigenous
Peoples. (c) Conservation units & biodiversity areas e.g.,
National Parks, watersheds, wetlands. (d) High rainfall;
typhoon prone belts; cyclone areas; Active seismic faults,
tectonic areas, earthquake prone areas; Steep slopes,
especially where protective forest has been destroyed, above
food- and fish-producing areas; erosion-prone and landslip
areas.

38. The Philippines has rich and diverse natural resources.
However, these resources are being rapidly depleted
due a variety of mutually reinforcing negative factors:
 high population pressure with the majority of the poor
deriving their income from natural ecosystems;
 advancing industrialization,
 conflicts of interest between long term environmental
concerns and short term profit motives in particular
regarding logging and mining . . .
The European Commission, 2005
http://www.delphl.ec.europa.eu/docs/cep%20Philippines.pdf: European
Commission, 2005. Philippines country environmental profile. Makati City,
Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines. 75 p.

39. Community State, Banks, and
Mining Companies
Resource for Resource for production
subsistence and consumption. Driven by
and livelihood global markets
Production for life Production for Commodity
Goodland & Wicks, Philippines: Mining or Food?,

40. Mining stands at the centre of the divide
Between the Rich and the Poor.
From the
North…
Glorious
..to the North
promises
MINING Contracts &
Agreements
To the
South
From the South

41. 1900
1999
Less than 6% of original forests remains
Source: Environmental Science for Social Change, 1999

42. Philippines

44. Mining consistency with Development Goals?
• The World Bank highlights that its „successful
development will depend very much on improving
environmental and social practices which caused
substantial problems in the past‟.
• The lack of adherence to international best practices
is blatant in the Philippines and appears to be
worsening

45. Consolidated Table on Cost Externalization in Philippine Mining
(Gonzales, 2008, “Econometric Treatment of Cost Externalization
in Philippine Mining”)
Mining
Environment Indicator Poverty Indicator Fishery
Indicator
Income Palay Coconut
Forest Land Magnitude
from Farming Farming Unemployment Fishery
Year Degradation Degradation of Poor
Mining (in Cost (in Cost (in Rate Value
(in million) (in million) Families
million) million) million)
1994 2,434.14 46.64 143.67 6.05 2.57 6.8 259,638
1995 2,397.00 43.35 156.97 6.50 2.89 6.9 281,816
1996 2,432.48 100.94 161.98 7.00 2.78 5.75 305,924
1997 2,468.48 88.42 163.86 7.06 3.11 6.1 332,131
1998 2,505.01 115.39 182.64 7.52 3.10 7.9 360,623 1,267.52
1999 2,542.08 133.59 177.63 7.98 3.08 7.85 391,605 1,507.18
2000 2,588.76 151.79 163.86 8.10 3.12 7.9 411,963 1,746.83
2001 2,900.37 169.99 182.64 8.29 3.10 8.25 443,613 1,950.11
2002 3,667.41 188.19 177.31 9.14 4.77 7.75 477,778 2,255.24
2003 4,290.63 206.39 181.54 9.70 5.23 7.25 537,035 2,483.98
2004 4,386.51 224.59 192.47 10.06 6.98 7.3 581,871 2,712.72
2005 4,794.00 242.79 196.93 9.89 7.05 4.5 626,707 2,941.46
2006 4,506.36 260.99 201.40 9.52 6.20 4.6 671,543 3,170.20

46. In a study entitled ”Philippine Asset
Reform Report Card”, results show that :
 Extractive activities are present in more
than one-third (39.8%) of the 1.85 million
hectares ancestral domains covered by the
study, with logging and mining as the most
prevalent extractive industries.
 It also revealed that a majority (72.1%) of the
extractive activities are in operation without
the consent of the tribes (i.e. without securing
FPICs).

48. The aggressive pursuit of mining investments has also spawned
numerous human rights abuses, especially against individuals
and communities opposed to mining. The abuse has included,
both physical and psychological harassment.
A number of anti-mining advocates have also been killed. The
purpose of this is clear, to cultivate a climate of fear and stifle
opposition.

49. Human Rights Context
Civil & Political Rights & Extra Judicial Killings
• Estimates of E x tra J u d ic a l K illin g s a n d E n fo rc e d D is a p p e a ra n c e s
over 900 Extra-
1200
Judicial killings
& 185 Enforced 1000
Disappearances 800
since 2001 K illin g s a n d D is a p p e a re n c e s
600 E xtra Ju d ic ia l K illin g s
• James Balao E n fo rc e d D is a p p e a re n c e s
Sept 08 400
200
• 2007 Visit of UN 0
Special 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Rapporteur on
Extra-Judicial “[Killings] eliminated civil society leaders, including
Killings: human rights defenders… &…narrowed the country’s
political discourse”

50. Mining as currently practiced in the Philippines
poses extremely high social, environmental and
financial risks.
It is therefore essential that rigorous due
diligence regarding potential human rights and
environmental impact of projects is conducted.

51. Some Relevant Quotes from
Catholic Social Teachings
vis-à-vis
Problems in Extractive Industry

52. If the environmental crises facing the world today were
simply a matter of information, knowledge, and skills,
then we would be heading out of these dangers.
For more than 30 years the world’s major institutions,
scientists, and governments, and some of the largest
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), have compiled
and analyzed details of how we are abusing the planet . . .
Yet the crises are still with us. The simple fact is that
knowledge on its own is not enough . . .
Ultimately, the environmental crisis is a crisis of the mind
. . . We see, do, and are what we think, and what we think
is shaped by our cultures, faiths, and beliefs . . .
- World Bank Study (Palmer and Finlay 2003)

53. “The more deeply I search for the
roots of the global
environmental crisis, the more I
am convinced that it is an outer
manifestation of an inner crisis
that is, for lack of better word,
spiritual.
As a politician, I know full well
the special hazards of using
“spiritual” to describe a problem
like this one . . . But what other
word describes the collection of
values and assumptions that
determine our basic
understanding of how we fit into
the universe? “
Al Gore, Former US Vice President

54. As Christians committed to our
vision to promote life, justice and
equity in an ecologically sustainable
and people-oriented communities,
we believe that environment should
never be sacrificed - that
“an economy respectful of the
environment will not have the
maximization of profit as its only
objective, because environmental
protection cannot be assured solely
on the basis of financial
calculations of cost and benefits.
The environment is one of those
goods that cannot be adequately
safeguarded or promoted by market
forces.”
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 40

55. 1. A COMMON HERITAGE IS A
COMMON TASK
 “It is the task of the State to provide for
the defense and preservation of the
common goods such as the natural and
human environments, which cannot be
safeguarded simply by market forces” (CA
40).
 Humanity today must move toward a
lifestyle that the limits of Creation can
sustain and “must be conscious of its
duties and obligations toward future
generations” (CA 37).

56. 2. RESPECT FOR THE INTEGRITY OF
CREATION IS A RELIGIOUS DUTY
 “At the root of the senseless destruction
of the natural environment lies an
anthropological error…Man thinks that
he can make arbitrary use of the earth,
subjecting it without restraint of his will,
as though it did not have its own
requisites and a prior God-given purpose,
which man indeed develop but must not
betray” (CA 37).

57. Peace with God the Creator, Peace
with all Creation
1 January 1990
(first papal document devoted
exclusively to environment and
development issues)
“Christians in particular
realise that their duty
towards nature and
Creator are an essential
part of their faith.”

58. 2. JUSTICE & UNIVERSAL
DESTINATION OF GOODS
The problem we have is admittedly, not that there are
not enough resources, but that unjust social inequity
restricts the enjoyment of goods to a privileged few
who squanders the limited resources, while masses of
people are living in conditions of misery, de-prived of
the fruit of the earth.
This situation is condemnable because “God intended
the earth with everything contained in it for the use
of all human beings and peoples . . . the right of
hav-ing a share of earthly goods sufficient for oneself
and one's family belongs to everyone.”
(Gaudium et Spes, No. 69; see also, THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS,
No. 8, Message of His Holiness Pope John Paul II for the celebration
of the WORLD DAY OF PEACE, January 1, 1990)

59. 3. REFORM OF THE ECONOMIC
SYSTEM IS OF MORAL URGENCY
 Serious ecological problems demand
that planning for development must
take into account “the limits of
available resources and of the need to
respect the integrity and cycles of
nature” instead of “sacrificing them to
certain demagogic ideas” about the
economy (SRS 26).

60. The Catholic Bishops”
Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP)
and its Agenda for Extractive
Industry Reform

61. We question the neo-liberal pitch that there is no other
path to development except through further economic
liberalization, especially in the mining industry.
The CBCP calls for changing the way we manage and
develop our natural resources . . . We are calling for the
abrogation of the Mining Act of 1995 that do not
adequately protect the interest of our people and the
country’s natural resources.
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Letter to
President Benigno Aquino III, 12 July 2010

62. The people and NGOs are not able to scrutinize the
applications and contracts because these are kept from
the public.
We are expecting this new government to turn away from
the policy of secrecy that characterized the previous
administration. The best instruments we could use in
safeguarding the interests of our nation are transparency
and sincerity . . . The promotion of participatory
governance guarantees check and balance on
government decisions and policies.
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Letter to President
Benigno Aquino III, 12 July 2010

63. Thank you!

70. At the root of the senseless destruction of
our environment is the anthropological
distortion which claims that human beings
are the absolute masters of the earth.
This justifies the reckless exploitation of resources in
the name of progress and development. Thus,
“instead of carrying out his role as a cooperator with
God in the work of creation, man sets himself up in
place of God and thus ends up provoking a rebellion
on the part of nature, which is more tyrannized than
governed by him.”
(CENTESIMUS ANNUS, No. 37, Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II; see
also, EVANGELIUM VITAE, No. 42, Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II,
March 25, 1995)

71. World Bank should fully implement its
guidelines and safeguard procedures which, if
applied, would under current conditions
preclude investment in most, if not all,
Philippine mining projects.
This would include the proposed IFC equity
investment of up to Can$5 million project in a
Canadian Mining Junior, Mindoro Resources
Ltd. (MRL), which is planning operations
throughout the Philippines.

72. The Philippines is not currently a location for safe or
responsible mining investment. The social, climatic,
geographical and geological conditions in the country
provide for challenging conditions to mine, to say the
least.
 Frequent and repeated tailings dam collapses and breaches,
which have adversely affected the health and livelihoods of
many people.
 Opposition and resistance to mining are therefore
increasing, resulting in some projects being stopped and
companies bankrupted.
 Most mining companies that seek to operate in the
Philippines find themselves embroiled in or accused of
responsibility for human rights abuses.
 All companies face environmental protection tests that, to
date, most companies have failed.

73. "It is unacceptable that citizens with abundant
incomes and resources should transfer a considerable
part of this income abroad purely for their advantage,
without care for the manifest wrong that they inflict on
their country by doing so."
(Populorum Progressio)

74. The reasons given for IFC’s new interest in
mining are startling. IFC is reported as
claiming that mining opens opportunities
for the poor to improve their economic
status, a statement that contradicts
practically all recent experiences of mining
worldwide.
Aspirations of poverty reduction from
mining are also contrary to the findings of
the IFC itself (Weber-Fahr 2002) and the
2004 World Bank Group’s Extractives
Industry Review (EIR 2004).

75. The command to "fill and conquer" the earth,
however is not a license to exploit the natural
world according to human whim or fancy. It is the
late Pope John Paul II himself who provides a
precise interpretation for the text:
" . . The dominion granted to man by the Creator is
not an absolute power, nor can one speak of a
freedom to 'use and abuse; or to dispose of things
as one pleases. . . when it comes to the natural
world, we are subject not only to biological laws,
but also to moral ones, which cannot be violated
with impunity"
(Sollicitudo Rei Socialis No. 34).