27 Jun Duterte’s Total Mining Ban in Mindanao Supported by Butuan’s Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos
The former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos supports President-Elect Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to “stop all mining companies from operating in Mindanao to avert any catastrophic incident in the future.”
He said that he is “in full support of environmental preservation, including the stoppage of mining activities in the region.”
He also added, “Mining destroys our natural resources and only foreigners and lawless group are benefiting (from) the mining business, it destroys the country’s resources and Filipino communities are at the losing end.”
Pueblos lauds Duterte’s stand about the mining issue in the country, particularly in Mindanao. He said that Duterte’s approach is a “strong, pro-poor and pro-Filipino stance.”
“Now is the time to address the proliferation of mining activities in an effort to avert any catastrophic incident that may occur in the future due to severely damaged natural resources,” Pueblos said.
It is foreseen that around 15,000 people will be displaced in halting the mining operations in Mindanao, yet the government prepared billions of pesos to the government agencies and help them address the problem once these people will lose their current job in the process.
The livelihood and economic development programs are channeled through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Agriculture (DA), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and other line agencies of the government.
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