The promise of economic gains through mining are not worth the long-term devastation that come with it, Marinduque Rep. Edmundo Reyes Jr. said yesterday.

In the light of the latest ecological disaster in Southern Leyte, the active promotion of commercial mining by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo defies reason, the Negros Concern for Environment Protection, that has aired its support for the Negros bishops mining advocacy campaign, said yesterday. The joint launching of the mining advocacy campaigns of the Dioceses of Bacolod, Dumaguete, Kabankalan and San Carlos will be held at the John Paul III Cultural Center at the Sacred Heart Seminary in Bacolod City this morning.

Reyes, one of the speakers at the launching, said the devastation caused by Marcopper Mining Co. that closed down in 1996 is immeasurable, and it still continues to threaten Marinduque today.

In fact, he said, he does not know of any large scale mining in the country that has had no massive effect on the environment and the health of the people.

Marcopper shut down after a tailings pond spill that caused waste from the mines to kill the Borac River system and agricultural crops, Reyes said.

The incident opened the eyes of the world to the destruction being caused by Marcopper that, in fact, for 16 years had been quietly dumping its waste into the sea causing extensive damage to marine life, he said. Marcopper not only had a devastating effect on the environment, it caused health problems and scared off tourists and potential investors away from Marinduque, Reyes said.

US scientists also warn of impending disasters should the tailing ponds left by Marcopper collapse, he also said.

The people refuse to relocate, they risk their lives because they are too poor to leave their homes and livelihoods that are located in areas that could be devastated in case the ponds collapse, he said. Our government is too poor to address the problem and the mine owners are gone, so the people are left at the mercy of Mother Nature, he added.

Other speakers at the launching today will be Rene Capa of the Katilingban sg Mangunguma kag Mangingisda-Sipalay City, and Fr. Cesar Aculan, social action director of the Diocese of Calbayog, Seminar.

The activity, "Aton Banwa, Pangapinan Ta! Lungsod Nato, Panalipdan Ta!" is a forum where the unified position of the four bishops of Negros Island on large-scale mining and its imminent proliferation in Negros will be issued. NCEP secretary general Jessie Arcilla said his group supports the bishops' stand against mining.

NCEP supports the campaign to stop mining in Negros and the scrapping of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, he said.

The havoc wrought by Marcopper in Marinduque, Lafayette Mines in Rapu-rapu Island and the Maricalum and Philex Mines in Sipalay, Negros Occidental, are grim reminders that the commercial mining is inimical to the interests of Filipinos, Arcilla added. The immediate danger in Negros is posed by Collet Mines in Siplay City, it said.*CPG

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