Philippine CSOs commend the local development council’s endorsement to uphold the ban on open-pit mining in South Cotabato

The Philippine Misereor Partnership, Inc. (PMPI), a network of 236 Civil Society Organizations across the Philippines, hails the Provincial Development Council (PDC) of South Cotabato for issuing a resolution upholding the South Cotabatowide ban on open-pit mining.

The resolution, signed by Governor Reynaldo Tamayo, Jr. – in his capacity as
Chairperson of the PDC – stems from another three separate resolutions from
the Disaster Risk Reduction/Climate Change Adaptation Committee, Social
Development Committee, and Institutional Development Committee of the
province.

The PDC resolution only proves that even the development planners believe that mining, particularly the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project of Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) is not needed for the progress of the province. Moreover, the endorsement by Governor Tamayo, who is the Chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of South Cotabato further strengthens the clamor of local people and communities to protect the environment and welfare of the province.

Yolanda Rafol-Esguerra, National Coordinator of PMPI, in a statement, said, “We are confident that if the Sangguniang Bayan will genuinely heed the voice and will of the people, the Environmental Code of South Cotabato will be maintained.”

“The Code is a historic legacy of the people of South Cotabato in their effort to protect their environment and people. A reversal and the lifting of the ban on open-pit mining will signal another historic moment for the province– the environmental destruction of the South Cotabato ecosystems. And the people of South Cotabato will forever remember and hold responsible the current members of Sangguniang Bayan as the culprit of this shameless action of destruction of the future the generations to come,” Ms. Esguerra added.

Note: The Tampakan deposit is a large copper and gold orebody located in the south of the Philippines in Tampakan, South Cotabato. Tampakan represents one of the largest copper resources in the Philippines and in the world having an estimated resource of 2.94 billion tonnes of ore grading 0.6% copper. The deposit also has a resource of 18 million oz of gold. (Source: Wikipedia)