PRESS RELEASE

“The Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) calls on all human rights advocates, environmentalist and patriotic Filipinos to condemn and launch a sustained protest over the Supreme Courts final decision on the Mining Act of 1995. The Supreme Court has unmasked itself as vulnerable to manipulations by interested parties by making biased judgements over matters of social justice. This is a fundamental flaw in the existence and legitimacy of the Supreme Court, which every concerned citizen should denounce in order to reclaim justice for the people.”

This is the statement of Joan U Carling, Chairperson CPA in response to the final decision of the Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Mining Act of 1995. The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed with finality the motion for reconsideration filed on January 20, 2005 on the reversal of its earlier decision on the unconstitutionality of the Mining Act of 1995.

Carling claims that “It is highly deplorable that while Supreme Court earlier deemed the Financial and Technical Assistance Agreements (FTAA) unconstitutional , it has now succumbed to unprecendented lobby, pressure and manuevers of the GMA administration and the mining industry to give in to their selfish interest”. She added that “the legitimacy, integrity and fairness of the Supreme Court is now under question and the people who stand to suffer from this decision will never forget this act of injustice”. Carling opines that “the Supreme Court chose to ignore the voluminous evidence on the adverse impacts of corporate mining on the environment, the destruction of peoples livelihood sources, and the outright violation of the collective rights of indigenous peoples.

After the Supreme Court’s declaration on the Constitutionality of the Mining Act of 1995, the Philippine government has embarked on a campaign to lure foreign mining companies to invest in the country. Several mining companies have renewed their mining applications while others have signified their interest to invest in the mining industry. In response to this development, Carling warned mining companies “to keep off the mineral resources of the people. Affected communities will meet you with their might and will fight back if the government and mining companies will insist on opening up their land for corporate mining. There will be more protests, mass demonstrations and resistance on the ground. The country will become a battle ground against the plunder of the peoples resources. It is an honorable act and our duty to defend our land from imperialist plunder”declares the Chairperson of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance.#

Reference person: Joan U Carling, Chairperson