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Church bells simultaneously tolled on Sunday, May 9, nationwide to encourage Filipinos to register to vote for the May 2022 polls.
Bishop Jose Collin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, National director of Caritas Philippines. (CBCP/ MANILA BULLETIN) The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Natio
Philippine Church decries government lifting ban on mining
Caritas Philippines and several bishops are decrying the lifting of the moratorium on mining in the country, saying it will have a “devastating effect on marginalized communities”.
By Robin Gomes
Caritas Philippines, the social arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), as well as several bishops have criticized President Rodrigo Duterte s decision to lift a nine-year moratorium on new mining deals. They say the move will likely have a catastrophic effect on poor and marginalized communities.
Duterte signed an Executive Order on April 14, lifting a 9-year moratorium on new mining deals imposed in 2012 by former President Benigno Aquino III, who called on government authorities to check and renegotiate contracts with mining firms in cases of environmental abuse. Aquino’s moratorium also provided a respite to the environment to regenerate its depleting flora and fauna.
Published April 16, 2021, 6:58 PM
Caritas Philippines has urged President Duterte to reconsider the lifting of the mining moratorium.
“The Catholic Church, through Caritas Philippines, the Eco-Convergence and the CBCP National Laudato Si Program strongly enjoin President Duterte to reconsider the lifting of the mining moratorium,” Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, Caritas Philippines national director said, in a statement on Friday, April 16.
Bishop Jose Collin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, National director of Caritas Philippines. (CBCP/ MANILA BULLETIN)
He added that such action which is a “sign of desperation to solve the ginormous economic gap caused by the COVID-19 pandemic” is unsustainable destructive and extremely detrimental to the Filipino communities in the peripheries and the Philippine ecology.
The police killing of a mother and her son in Tarlac demonstrated how ingrained impunity has become in Philippine society, a Catholic bishop said.
Bishop Enrique Macaraeg of Tarlac said the recent incident is only one of the many killings that “have been happening around us”.
“Some of them happened without a video to record them,” he said. “Whether posted on social media or done hidden without a witness, killing is a sin.”
The bishop was reacting to the double murder case involving 46-year-old police officer Jonel Nuezca.
Nuezca shot dead 52-year old Sonya Gregorio and her son, 25-year old Frank Anthony, on Sunday.