Environmentalists in 6-day

tour in Zamboanga del Sur

ZAMBOANGA CITY (ZNS) – A group of environmentalists, peace advocates and church-based organizations are set to hold a six-day environment tour in the province of Zamboanga del Sur.

The six-day activity, dubbed as Philippine Learning Tour, will commence on Friday, August 1.

It will be spearheaded by the People’s Defense of Patrimony Against Destructive Large-Scale Mining, Enviromental Plunder and Development Aggression (PROTECT); Advocates for Peace (AdPeace); and, church-based organizations.

Dipolog City Bishop Jose Manguiran, PROTECT chairperson, said Wednesday the tour’s objective is in pursuit of the gift of life and as expression of solidarity to the Indigenous Peoples (IPs), whose ancestral domain was encroached by mining firms.

Manguiran said the tour is also aimed to verify the reported violation of human rights and the extent of damages within the IPs ancestral domain.

Manguiran said the six-day environment tour is in response to the appeal from the IPs and non-IPs whose ancestral domain was destroyed by mining firms.

He said among the places they will visit are the mine site in Sitio Balabag, Barangay Depore in Bayog town; Midsalip town, among others.

Philippine Independent Church Bishop Antonio Ablon said God ordained the human beings to be the stewards of His creation.

However, Ablon said that today God’s creation “is groaning because many times human have failed to become responsible keepers of what God has entrusted to them.”

He noted that the country is rich in mineral resources and that foreign mining firms are taking advantage “of our government’s subservient to foreign control and domination.”

He said investment in mining by foreign firms greatly contributes to the destruction of the environment and displaced the IPs who are the common dwellers of the gradually disappearing green habitat.

Ablon explained this is the reason why “countless have died” due to calamities and hunger. (PNA) 090114