NPA’s green stance a front for extortion, say miners

MANILA, Philippines—The umbrella organization of the country’s largest mining firms expressed alarm Thursday over statements made by representatives of the New People’s Army that their attack against three mining firms in Claver, Surigao del Norte, last Monday was a retaliatory action for alleged environmental destruction committed by those firms.

“The insurgents—whose real intention was to extort money from responsible large-scale mining operators in the area—are clearly riding on the wave of sentiments being advanced by, among others, the Palawan anti-mining movement whose proponent, wittingly or unwittingly, are being used by groups identified with the Left,” the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines said in a statement.

“The constant propaganda aired during the last nine months of the proponent’s TV and radio facilities nationwide to promote its advocacy Save the Palawan Movement has apparently emboldened the NPA to believe that protection of the environment can justify their attacks on mining companies,” it added.

The mining group reiterated its adherence to the principles of responsible mining and good governance, adding that its member firms would “never succumb to pressures of whatever form to pay the rebels’ so-called ‘revolutionary taxes.’”

“As contractors of the Philippine government, our members are committed to religiously pay the right amount of taxes only to the government,” the group said.

“In the pursuit of our mining projects, we uphold the human rights of all stakeholders, especially those in our host communities,” the Chamber of Mines added. “We will remain to be the Filipino people’s partner in progress in the areas of job creation and livelihood promotion, educational advancement, community development, health and sanitation, infrastructure, increased government revenues, and poverty alleviation.”

“Even as we ask the Aquino administration to provide protection for investments in minerals developments, we are heartened by the assurances of President Benigno Aquino III, through Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, that the perpetrators of the recent attack will be brought to justice,” the group said. Daxim L. Lucas