YES, there are alternatives.

We should recognize that the nature of the Philippine economy is largely agricultural with a high potential for agro-industrialization. This, in fact, was the main strategy outlined in the 1987 Constitutiom - which promoted first the social justice and asset reform agenda - towards national industrialization. The threat of large-scale mining operations endanger existing sustainable livelihoods in an area.

Agro-forestry. In Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, more than 700 hectares of citrus orchards in Malabing Valley are threatened by the Didipio Gold and Copper Project. Farmers earn 1 million pesos per hectare from these citrus farms. It is highly doubtful that the mining operation will give the same benefits. This same model of agro-forestry has been successfully replicated in Bukidnon.

Eco-tourism and Watershed Development. The Samar Island Biodiversity Project (SIBP) has established that in the long-term (over 25 years) the benefits of eco-tourism, fisheries, water use and agriculture development will actually bring more benefits to the three Samar provinces than the proposed open pit bauxite mine. This data has been used to pressure the DENR to create the Samar Island National Park. In the same vein, the collective resistance of Oriental Mindoro for the entry of Crew Minerals for the Mindoro Nickel Project, has actually resulted in improved agricultural production and higher productivity of Lake Naujan. Sibuyan Island, Romblon has been described as the biodiversity equivalent of the Galapagos Islands, and mere hours from Manila. Yet instead of becoming a focus for “green tourism” the interior of the island is set to be an open pit mine.

Fisheries/ Coastal Resource Development. In an archipelagic country like the Philippines, coastal resources provide much of the protein requirements of the people, and mining threatens the health of the seas. Rapu-rapu is an example of fisheries resources tossed to the wayside - a series of spills at the mine set off a poison scare that devastated the area’s fishing industry. The mine eventually went bankrupt and closed, while the fishing industry continued on.

Community-based Small Scale Mining. We cannot discount that in the Northern Philippines, especially in the Cordilleras, mining has been a traditional way of livelihood for some cultural groups. And their practice of mining returns actual and concrete benefits to the households and the communities. This model could be developed with stricter environmental safeguards and replicated in other prospective mining sites. At the very least, the benefits of the industry would go to the local community and not exit the country.

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