The Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI) challenges the Maharlika Investment Corporation’s (MIC) blatant and incomprehensible move to fund a loan agreement favoring a gold and copper mining project in Kalinga province.
The MIC was created through R.A 11954 or the Maharlika Investment Fund Act of 2023 supposedly to support the Philippines’ economic growth and sustainable development goals. Despite its supposed goal, MIC chooses to invest in mining, known to be one of the most environmentally and socially destructive industries on the planet and the least contributor to employment and revenues. This fund came from the taxes of our citizens, which are supposed to promote the welfare of this country. In essence, hard-earned Filipino taxpayers’ money seems to fund social and environmental exploitation.
We raise our objection over this imprudent decision because it is our experience that many mining companies subvert the free, prior, and informed consent from indigenous peoples and local communities, enabling the monumental destruction of the ecosystems and biodiversity and causing rampant large-scale forced land acquisitions all over the country.
This loan agreement between MIC and Makilala Mining Company will not only threaten our ecosystems and communities but also conflict with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources target to ‘increase tree cover by an additional 3 million hectares by 2028’ and undermine our country’s current climate mitigation effort towards net zero carbon target by 2050. Whenever large-scale mining operations are conducted, thousands of old-grown trees are cut down to pave the way for their operation, reducing our capacity to trap carbons. Soil extraction likewise releases methane, 28 times more potent than carbon to the atmosphere. As we are confronted by a climate emergency brought about by the triple planetary crisis, there is no room for such a decision, where massive destruction of our ecosystems is definite.
For years, local and indigenous communities have been confronted with the major ecological and social impacts of extractive industries, specifically large-scale mining. Research has proven that where mining is involved, human rights violations soar. The Global Witness Report of 2022 states that 11 out of 16 killings in Asia happened in the country, making us one of the deadliest countries for Environmental Human Rights Defenders (EHRDs).
PMPI firmly opposes this reckless investment in our priceless ecosystems. We are calling on the Maharlika Investment Corporation to withdraw its support for destructive large-scale mining projects and urging the government to uphold its commitment to environmental protection, Indigenous rights, and genuine sustainable development.
