Difference between revisions of "Marinduque Province, Philippines"

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Marinduque Province, Philippines (view source)

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==[[Marinduque News]]==
==[[Marinduque News]]==
'''Mining, "Tickets Out Of Poverty"'''
'''DOJ orders murder raps filed vs. Palawan former gov., 4 others in Ortega killing'''
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/353956/mining-tickets-out-of-poverty
*Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/251261/news/nation/doj-orders-murder-raps-filed-vs-palawan-former-gov-4-others-in-ortega-killing
*March 12, 2012, 2:00am
*March 13, 2012 2:26pm
:by DR. JAIME C. LAYA
:by MARK MERUEÑAS, GMA NEWS




MANILA, Philippines — The recent confrontation between pro- and anti-mining groups led to the promise of a mining policy that is “fair to all.”
(Updated 3:27 p.m.) The Department of Justice on Tuesday reversed its previous decision and ordered that murder charges be filed against Palawan former Governor Joel Reyes and four others for the killing of environmentalist and broadcaster Gerry Ortega.
 
The arguments are simple.  Mining, says the pros, will create jobs and raise income, generate foreign exchange, reward investors, increase tax revenue.  The antis maintain that people will be displaced, environment will suffer and considering human suffering and long-run risks, cost far outweighs benefit.
Also ordered charged were former Palawan administrator Romeo Serratubias, Reyes’ son and incumbent Coron Mayor Mario Reyes, Arturo Regalado and Percival Lecias.
 
Our experience is not encouraging.
"After the reinvestigation and evaluation of the evidence adduced by both parties, the new panel arrived at the conclusion that the additional evidence offered by the complainant are relevant in appreciating other pieces of evidence previously submitted by the parties during the first preliminary investigation and that such additional evidence are sufficient to modify the initial findings of the previous panel,” the DOJ said.
 
   
Decades ago when we had jungles to spare, concessions were issued with the idea that trees will be replanted to replace whatever was cut.  The reality was super-wealthy loggers; barren mountains, dry springs and rivers; landslides, flash floods and deaths; cries of “tuuuubig!”
The murder case was ordered to be filed in the Regional Trial Court of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan.
 
   
Kennon Road to Baguio used to be a delight.  Bued River was rushing blue water, hillsides were forested. After Black Mountain began mining, the river silted up, greenery disappeared and public works crews stood by to clear landslides, free trapped vehicles, fix roads and bridges.
The 28-page resolution was approved by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano. The panel is made up of Assistant State Prosecutor Stewart Allan Mariano, Assistant State Prosecutor Vimar Barcellano at Associate Prosecution Attorney Gerard Gaerlan.
 
It was worse in Marinduque where my children used to spend summers at my mother-in-law’s beach house. Distributing “tickets out of poverty,” Marcopper Mining dumped poisonous mine waste first into the sea and then into an open pit.
Ortega, 47, was gunned down in Puerto Princesa in January 2011after his radio program was aired. He was the main news anchor and commentator of Radyo Mo Nationwide's (RMN)'s Palawan station dwAR.
 
A dam and tunnel cracked, releasing some 1.6 million cu.m. of mine waste into the Boac River via a six-foot high flood, covering settlements, farms, fishponds, and effectively sterilizing an estimated 27 kilometers of river and coastline.  Zinc, copper, hydrogen sulfide, nitrous oxide and I-don’t-know-what-else poisoned humans and animals.  Highways and bridges were regularly washed away.
Reyes may have ordered the killing because of Ortega’s vocal anti-mining advocacy, Ortega's wife claimed.
 
   
And guess who paid for all these. Sure, government got tax and rehabilitation money, but check the result if you add up:  (a) cost to taxpayers of relief, rehabilitation, repair, hospitalization and (b) cost to the affected small farmers and fishermen and their families, of property damage, lost income and suffering.  All the while, Marcopper officers presumably enjoyed their salaries, fringes, bonuses and profit shares; and stockholders their dividends and capital gains.
In a June 8, 2011 ruling, the Justice department dropped the murder charges against Reyes and the four others noting that evidence and testimonies available at that time were not enough to indict them.
 
The law of supply and demand rules.  Third World countries fall all over themselves selling their natural resources to the First World.  With high supply, world price sometimes falls so low that in effect countries sell their non-renewable resources practically at extraction cost.  On the other hand, they import mining equipment and manufactures using their resource exports.  OPEC was wise in managing the price of crude oil—they will have something left after the oil is exhausted.
Extra-judicial confession of Rodolfo Edrad Jr. earlier tagged Reyes as the mastermind in the Ortega killing.
 
Mining policy can be fair to today’s taxpayers and future Filipinos with:  (a) a well-paid, honest bureaucracy to ensure that mining companies prevent landslides; promptly reforest; keep roads and bridges repaired; ensure purity of streams and aquifers; (b) fees and taxes enough to pay for potential loss or damage to infrastructure and private property and to lives and health; and to provide alternative ways of life to the unskilled aeta/agta, lumad and other cultural communities who populate the places to be dug up; and (c) income-producing assets to replace what the mining companies of this generation plan to sell.
But the panel said that without independent pieces of evidence to support it, an extra-judicial confession was not admissible in court.
   
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, however, ordered a reinvestigation of the case after the victim's widow, Dr. Patria Ortega, submitted additional evidence.
In Tuesday's resolution, only Marinduque Gov. Jose Antonio Carreon was spared from the charges due to insufficiency of evidence. — VS, GMA News


==[[:Category:Marinduque, Philippines Photo Gallery|Marinduque, Philippines Photo Gallery]]==
==[[:Category:Marinduque, Philippines Photo Gallery|Marinduque, Philippines Photo Gallery]]==
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