One of the burning issues of the day is whether or not to allow mining at all in this country.
What is at stake in this intense debate is huge. One side, led by the Chamber of Mines, wants to exploit the potential richness of our mineral deposits to provide jobs and propel the country to prosperity. To them, it is a question of economics like jobs and investments.
The Chamber is also working hard to block the confirmation of Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez. They are hoping that if it is successful, their problem would be solved.
On the other side are environmental groups led by the crusading Lopez. They argue the need to preserve the environment for the benefit of future generations.
Both sides, to be sure, have powerful arguments. There is probably no simple and right answer to this raging debate. But the most important voice—the President’s—has not yet been heard even as he hinted at being on the side of Lopez on the issue of destruction of watersheds as a result of mining.
Otherwise, he has kept his true position close to his chest. This is perhaps due to the realization that jobs and investments are also important.
Others in the periphery of the debate advocate what they term as responsible mining. What this group probably means by responsible mining is the extraction of mineral deposits with minimal destruction to the environment. But is there really a mining operation that will not damage the environment? I for one would really like to see one.
The Philippines is one of the 10 most mineralized countries in the world. The amount of mining done to the country since the turn of the 20th century is staggering. If we continue to open the country to mining, it is safe to assume that in the not too distant future, there will be nothing left in the country.
I grew up in the mining city of Baguio. In the early 50s, there were still a lot of mines operating in the city. At that time, the city was the fourth-largest gold-producing area in the world. But it is no more. Only Philex Mines is operating and was fined substantially a couple of years ago because a dam containing mineral waste burst, contaminating the river. Benguet Corporation, one of the biggest gold mines in the country is now only a shell of itself.
One can still see what happens to the environment once a mine stops operating. At the foot of Kennon Road remains what used to be a mine. There is nothing there anymore except the skeleton of buildings and the destruction of the river that runs along the 36-kilometer road. And who can forget what happened to the Marcopper mine in Marinduque in the 1990s, when the tunnel containing mine waste burst? The toxic waste spilled into the Boac River, virtually killing it. The Canadian owners of the mine never came back to repair the damage to the environment. In fact, the Canadians have also not taken back the tons of toxic garbage.
I really still have to see a mining operation that will not destroy the environment. How, for instance, can a whole mountain be restored when the preferred method of extracting minerals is open-pit mining? The trees, the soil and the wildlife in these mountains can never be brought back.
Another good example of this is what happened to the tiny South Pacific island of Nauru. In its heyday, the island was a huge producer of phosphate and had one of the highest per-capita incomes in the world. But phosphate extraction basically destroyed the topography of the country. The environmental destruction caused by phosphate mining could no longer be restored. Now the country is back to square one.
Money, however, is a powerful argument for those who advocate mining.
In the end, maybe what is more important is not the immediate benefits that the country can derive from mining but what will happen to the country in the future especially in this age of global warming and climate change. As to the question whether the country can progress without mining, we only have to look at tiny Singapore and Japan to see that progress can be achieved without the benefit of mining. Japan imports everything that it needs to power its industries like oil, lumber, and other minerals. Its mountains and rivers however, remain pristine for the Japanese people to enjoy. Japan is also the third-largest economy in the world. Singapore on the other hand is so tiny it is devoid of any mineral to be exploited. But it has harnessed technology and finance to make the country possess one of the highest standards of living in the world.
So, there is a way out of our predicament if we really strive for it. We should not be so dependent on commodity exports to progress. These resources that the country has buried on the ground are not infinite. Besides, there is the future to think about.
Will Lopez be confirmed? We have not seen the end of this debate. It will continue into the future. Hopefully the debate will not be so acrimonious and contentious so that the debates can be conducted intelligently.