Responsible mining

MINING is not the most popular of industries, what with reports of abuse by companies on the labor force, the local communities, and the environment. Understandably so as minerals are not an unlimited natural resource. At some point, a mining operation will have to end, leaving the area stripped and, more often than not, the workers and the community at a loss about their future.

But there is such a concept as “responsible mining”– with a growing movement around the world — wherein policies and plans are clearly laid out so that mining operations can be regulated. Frameworks have been developed to ensure that the environment is not completely compromised, the workers are not left to hang dry while the company takes all the profits, and the communities around the mining area benefit too from their consent to have their natural resources extracted. It’s all pretty clear in the books, but actual implementation is challenging.

This is what the provincial government and other local government units must carefully study before any decision is made to open Pangasinan, which has been assessed to be rich in various untapped mineral resources, for more extensive mining operations.  The local governments will have to play the lead role in bringing together all the stakeholders — the affected communities, workers from in or out of these communities, the mining investors, non-government organizations that advocate responsible mining, civil society groups, even the church and the academe perhaps. It’s an overwhelming task, but it will have to be done unless our public officials simply intend to kill Pangasinan’s environment and the communities. As it is today, there is limited mining operations around the province, but these remain largely unregulated. It’s time for the local government units to look to set the standards for responsible mining now if Pangasinan hopes to make the most of its mines without destroying the environment.

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Ping a cut above the rest

PING Lacson is right:  Do not ask the senator why he could not be caught when he went into hiding but, rather, ask his catchers why they could not catch him.

That Mr. Lacson was not arrested for one year and two months is an indictment against government ineptness and inutility.

Also, do not ask Ping Lacson where he went or hid during the 14 months that he disappeared from public view. That’s extracting information from one who might do what he just did when confronted again with a similar case that, basically, would try to infringe on man’s inherent right to freedom of movement as guaranteed by the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Ping Lacson will always remain an enigma, a cut above the rest, who, in pursuit of his principled politics, has devoutly distinguished himself as the only lawmaker who continues to reject the perks of pork barrel. May his tribe increase.

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