How true and sincere is the statement of Monte Oro Resources & Energy Inc. that it has abandoned its coal mining project in Catanduanes? Pangataman-Bikol, an NGO pushing for environmental protection and preservation, is highly skeptical of it given that it is a quick repudiation of Monte Oro's earlier declaration that it was still exploring prospective coal areas.
There are good reasons to share that skepticism, one of which is indeed the contradicting statements made by Monte Oro one day after the other.
Another reason is the fact that Monte Oro admitted to still exploring the area for possible coal mines. Clearly, to abandon and to explore are two different things. What exactly then, does Monte Oro intend to do?
Bikol bishops, informed as they are by people immediately affected by the mining project, have unanimously and unequivocally opposed any mining operations. Very often prudent in issuing statements, these religious leaders have exhibited decisiveness in this issue in lending their support to those opposed to the coal mining project. Their voice of protest is what prompted Monte Oro to declare, with dubious intent, that it has backtracked on its plans.
Regardless of its true intent, Monte Oro's mining project is to be clearly opposed. Arguments saying that it would engage in responsible mining fly in the face of facts that in the Philippines, there has never been a case of what is deemed "responsible mining."
Our experience with the Rapu-rapu mining project of Lafayette Mining Corp. has proven our fears to be real and not mere alarmists' sentiment. The environmental disater that was predicted to occur by residents and independent scientific researchers took place. The government agency supposedly tasked in protecting the environment, the DENR which was then headed by Angelo Reyes, failed to heed the people's voice in that matter. Curiously enough, Reyes now heads the Department of Energy, the government agency in question which is responsible for granting Monte Oro access to 7000 has. of Catanduanes's land for its "coal mining exploration." With its track record, therefore, the government is not to be trusted in safekeeping our environmental resources for the common good. That task, for good or for ill, is ours.
Monte Oro says it has abandoned its plans for coal mining in Catanduanes. While that is very much doubted, what remains indubitable is that people have not abandoned their commitment to opposing any form of large-scale mining in Bikol.