The Kalikasan-People's Network for the Environment calls for the scrapping of what it describes as the Macapagal-Arroyo government's policy of plunder in favor of mining transnationals.

The call has been broadcast in support of a campaign by the Subanon tribe and other concerned residents of Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte against large-scale mining operations of the Canadian firm Toronto Ventures, Inc., which has been among other things desecrating the Subanons' sacred ground, driving them from their homes, and damaging the main water source of the entire community.

TVI is typical of Canadian mining firms engaged in destructive business in Asia. Meanwhile, large-scale mining is also the culprit behind the gradual destruction of Homonhon island, a historical site and important tourist destination in Samar.

In Marinduque, mine tailings dumped into Calancan Bay from 1975 to 1991 have caused another death.

Environmental groups and indigenous peoples' organizations are in jubilationm over the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling decision declaring the Mining Act of 1995 as unconstitutional. The Kalikasan-People's Network for the Environment states that the SC ruling vindicates environmental groups that had opposed the said law. Meanwhile, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance calls on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to immediately implement the SC decision.

The one-week continuous heavy rains that started Sunday, December 14 in the southern part of the country triggered flashfloods and landslides in Southern Leyte and many areas in Mindanao. Massive landslides buried hundred homes and killed hundreds of people in eight barangays in the four towns of Liloan, San Francisco, Maasin and San Ricardo. Meanwhile, more than 173 barangays and tens of thousands families in Regions X, XI and CARAGA were affected by flashfloods and landslides due to the continuous downpour. Some 3,158 families out of the more than 21,044 families (92,646 individuals) affected by flashfloods are now staying in 58 evacuation centers. The Citizen's Disaster Response Network (CDRC) is monitoring the situation. More

A group of environmentalists denounced the hypocrisy of the government to blame only mother nature for the disaster. According to them, the landslides occured because the government failed to implement any reforestation program and did not stop illegal logging. More

12/25/03: An update and appeal by Multi-Sectoral Task Force Panaon Island