Mining in Central Luzon
The calamity that battered Aurora and Nueva Ecija in December 2004 was the result of the long-term plunder of Central Luzon's forests and mountains by imperialists and their local puppets. But it is not just these areas that have been devastated and continue to be destroyed by their greed. Aside from the destruction wrought by logging companies, other areas of Central Luzon have been seized and ravaged by local and foreign mining companies as well as pollution-causing electric power plants.
In fact, it is rampant commercial mining that has wrought the most destruction to the region's mountains and other natural resources. The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has reported that 15 out of the 17 most endangered mountains in the Philippines are found in Central Luzon.
Blowing up mountains to make way for mines eradicates many forests and damages the balance of nature in these areas. The ensuing pollution wreaks destruction over a far wider area, causing people living in surrounding communities to suffer various ailments. The wanton dumping of mine tailings kills rivers, rice fields and coastal areas and all the organisms living in them.
Among the endangered mountains are those near the Angat watershed, Mt. Irid and Mt. Angelo along the Bulacan-Quezon border and sections of the Sierra Madre along the Nueva Ecija-Quezon border.
Mt. Arayat in Pampanga has also sustained great damage, and so have Mt. Natib, the Mariveles mountains in Bataan and the lofty mountains of Zambales and Aurora.
Mining companies have been granted greater freedom after the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the Mining Act of 1995 in December 2004 and again this February. In Central Luzon, the Dizon Mine is slated to begin open pit mining in the mountainous area between Zambales and Pampanga. White clay mining is also about to commence in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija. Exploration has already begun in Sta. Cruz and Candelaria, Zambales for chromite, nickel and other minerals, in an area covering almost 4,000 hectares. Even before the Mining Act's legality was upheld, up to 24 companies had already been granted Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSA) in the region. There are also pending applications for Financial and Technical Assistance Agreements (FTAA) covering practically all mountainous and hilly portions of Aurora and Tarlac.
Toxic waste continues to flow from the abandoned Koto Mines and the Dizon Copper Silver Mines in Zambales. The toxic pileup continues to ravage not only the livelihood but the health of people living in the area. Fish caught in San Marcelino Lake, for instance, is no longer edible due to the high concentration of mercury dumped in the water by the nearby Dizon Mines.
Most of these mountainous and hilly areas are part of guerrilla zones. From the start, the revolutionary movement has clearly been opposed to the Mining Act and all plunderous and destructive mining operations in the country. The revolutionary movement is likewise fully aware that only by strengthening the people's resistance can the harmful and lethal effects of commercial mining be stopped or thwarted.
As in other parts of the country, the New People's Army (NPA) and the revolutionary movement in the region have pledged to wage all-out opposition to foreign and local mining companies operating within the territory of the people's democratic government. To the extent possible, the Josepino Corpuz Command will stop the mining operations of foreign capitalists in Central Luzon and punish anyone who tramples on the people's rights and wreaks havoc on the environment.
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