We’ve been reading what seems to be a recently put up site on illegal mining in the Philippines and we’re thoroughly engrossed by the story it is telling.
Called Philippine Underground, most of the articles are written by someone called Aurora Holt and she describes how illegal mining operations are conducted in various places in the Philippines.
One such place she is describing is an area in Zamboanga del Sur called Balabag, where an apparently well connected illegal mining operator has basically faked a claim to a mining site and began operating it, selling the precious minerals to Chinese black market buyers.
The amount of corruption and crime involved in the operation is staggering, if the writer’s facts check out.
Personally, I think that mining is a destructive undertaking because it essentially involves digging a huge hole in the ground and killing whatever ecology there is in the area that is going to be mined. But, at the same time, I know that a lot of the things that we have are made from materials produced by mining — like the computer I am working on right now. Metals are one, but so are some components of the plastics we use.
On the whole, we wouldn’t advocate that mining be done in any area, unless, of course, the community of people in that area would want to have mining there. And this is basically the idea behind all the consultations that mining firms in the Philippines have to do before they can start mining operations — they have to get the permission and cooperation of the communities it will affect.
In Philippine Underground, we see how a process for Free Prior and Informed Consent has been subverted and how the government has failed to enforce the rules that should protect the people.
If you’re interested and want to learn more about Illegal Mining in The Philippines, the site we discovered shows in full detail how it is done.
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saulramos has written 5 stories on this site.
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