Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI
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Mamburao (Agenzia Fides) – The Supreme Court’s recent decision to declare null and void the ordinances and resolutions of provincial governments that imposed a 25-year moratorium on mining activities in the province of Western Mindoro, on the island of the same name in the center of the Philippine archipelago, has sparked doubts and criticism in civil society and the Catholic community in the Philippines. The ruling, published on May 14 and which came into force a few days ago, upheld a 2018 ruling by the Mindoro Regional Court that had annulled the local government’s mining ban. The Supreme Court explained that, according to the Constitution, local governments can prohibit certain mining projects, but do not have the authority to prohibit all large-scale mining activities within the territory. The lawsuit before the court was filed by the Agusan Petroleum and Mineral Corporation (APMC), which signed contracts for large-scale mining activities with the central government in Manila in 2008. That same year, the provincial government of Western Mindoro, responding to civil society demands, issued ordinances imposing a moratorium on mining. The APMC had opposed these ordinances and challenged the constitutionality of these ordinances in court proceedings initiated in 2014. In its ruling, the Supreme Court recognized that mining activities have “environmental impacts,” but emphasized that contractors are obligated to comply with environmental protection measures established by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. According to the “Alyansa Tigil Mina” coalition, which includes organizations and groups committed to environmental protection and anti-mining, the ruling will have “significant repercussions” for the region. The coalition reiterated its commitment to a “balanced approach to biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable development.” Bishop Moises Cuevas of the Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan in Eastern Mindoro (another province on the same island) said the ruling could set a legal precedent for the similar ordinance currently in force in Eastern Mindoro and “could have a destructive impact on our mission, expressed in the encyclical “Laudato si’,” which is to care for our common home.” The local Church held a “Forum for Dialogue on the Mindoro Mining Moratorium” on July 10, bringing together local representatives and communities to discuss what to do in the wake of the court’s ruling and proclaimed a day of prayer for environmental justice on the same day.At the forum, representatives of Catholic parishes, environmental and human rights organizations, and representatives of the provincial governments of both Mindoro provinces reiterated their opposition to large-scale mining. Father Edwin Gariguez, executive director of the Diocesan Social Action Center in Eastern Mindoro, described the fight against mining as “a moral and pastoral obligation” and recalled the profound impact on indigenous peoples. “The cry of the earth is the cry of the poor,” Father Gariguez said in this context, quoting the encyclical “Laudato Si’.” “This fight is not merely ecological or political, it is pastoral and moral. We are called to protect life in all its forms,” he affirmed. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 15/7/2025)
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