Junk RP-Australia defense pact, environmental activists urge new Senate

Press Release
By KALIKASAN-PNE
June 1, 2007

QUEZON CITY, Philippines  –  Are mining-affected communities in Mindanao the next playgrounds of RP-Australian war games?

Environmental activists from Kalikasan PNE urged newly-elected Senators to reject the joint RP-Australia military agreement expected to be signed by President Arroyo today, asserting that the entry and deployment of Australian troops was partly meant to crush local opposition to the intensified entry of giant Australian mining firms in the Mindanao region.

"The deployment of Australian troops will be concentrated in the southern Philippines region where mining investments especially from Australian firms are on the rise. This includes BHP Billiton – the world's largest mining firm – in Pujada Peninsula in Davao Oriental and Claver in Surigao del Norte, Medusa Mining in Eastern Mindanao, Red 5 in Siana in Surigao del Norte, Indophil in South Cotabato, Climax-Arimco in Surigao del Norte," Kalikasan Peoples Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) National Coordinator Clemente Bautista said.

"It is no sheer coincidence that the war games with Australia are planned to be held near the mineral-rich regions coveted by Australian mining giants. These military war games will only contribute to securing their economic interests over the province and suppressing growing local opposition to these destructive and plunderous mining projects. These foreign troops and military aid will be used against the Filipino people themselves," he said.

"Local communities are sure to stand up in arms against these huge mining projects which threaten their ancestral lands, ecosystems, livelihoods, and ways of life. Are they the "terrorist threats" that the RP-Australia defense pact claims to crush?" Bautista asked.

Uniting with national fisherfolks federation Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), Kalikasan PNE and its allied environmental and peoples organizations vowed to lobby for the junking of the RP-Australia defense pact as the Senate convenes in July.

"We will challenge our fellow patriots from the new Senate to uphold our sovereignty and national patrimony and DEFEND MINDANAO against more intrusions of foreign troops and mining giants," Bautista said.

"We remind our incoming Senators that overseas operations of many mining companies have actually contributed to conflict and instability, human rights violations, and environmental degradation in local communities throughout Indonesia, Papua new Guinea, and the Philippines." Bautista explained.

With the overwhelming defeat of administration bets in the Senatorial race, Bautista hopes that the Senate will be more open to the people's clamor for the pull-out of foreign troops and foreign mining firms in Mindanao and the adoption of a genuine people's mining policy.