The Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA) in the Philippines is alarmed and dismayed by the issuance of Executive Order 130 re-allowing new mining projects in the country.
On April 15, 2021 the Malacañang released Executive Order (EO) 130 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, lifting the nine-year ban on new mineral agreements, in the guise of economic recovery amidst the pandemic. Yet the mining sector contributes only 0.89 percent to the Philippine GDP, and constitutes 5.99 percent of its total exports.¹ EO 130 again opens up the country’s rich natural forests, watersheds, and key biodiversity areas to destructive exploration and extraction, and further exacerbates the risks to communities and future generations of Filipinos.
“Lifting the mining moratorium exposes his administration’s support for mining projects that will impact our water, food supply, forest, biodiversity, indigenous communities, and fragile island ecosystems,” said GLA consortium member Alyansa Tigil Mina.
As we face the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing new mining will only endanger already environmentally-critical landscapes and threaten indigenous peoples, farmers, fishers, and local rural and island communities who rely on these life-giving ecosystems. Tropical forests and forest landscapes must be sustainably and inclusively governed to mitigate and adapt to climate change, fulfill human rights and safeguard local livelihoods—EO 130 does the exact opposite.
We call on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Finance, and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to heed the calls of mining-affected communities and local governments, and support legislation that promotes inclusive governance and a just minerals regime that safeguards local livelihoods, health, and safety, such as the Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB), which has already been filed both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.
We urge the Office of the President to cancel EO 130, and instead fulfill his earlier promises of putting the environment and welfare of Filipinos first, and lead us towards a just, green recovery.
¹ Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. (2021). 2018 Report. Retrieved from https://eiti.org/es/implementing_country/2
The Green Livelihoods Alliance is an alliance that aims to ensure that tropical forests and forest landscapes are sustainably and inclusively governed to mitigate and adapt to climate change, fulfil human rights and safeguard local livelihoods in twelve countries in South America, Africa and Asia, as well as internationally, the Alliance works with Civil Society Organisations, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.
