Pro-Life is Beyond Contraception

This is a letter I sent to the Philippine Daily Inquirer in protest of the DENR resolution on Mining Issue in Mindoro.

This is in support to the Open Letter of Bishop Broderick Pabillo, DD addressed to DENR Secretary Lito Atienza published in the PDI yesterday.

I am not from Mindoro but as I write this article I ask my self what concerns me to air my view? This is because I believe that the issue involve is not just about mining in Mindoro but it is about the care of environment as a whole. It is all about life.

Secretary Atienza is a known defender and advocate of Pro-Life. I deeply admire him for promoting that noble cause. However, I wish to remind him that the issue of pro-life doesn’t only limit to contraception and abortion; it includes, more importantly, issues about killing environment. Mining, even if how responsible, kills the environment. It is worst than abortion. It is worst than using condoms and contraception. It destroys the order of nature. More so, the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) issued by DENR Sec. Atienza did not only violate the law but flatly insulted the people of Mindoro . His act of bypassing the right of the people of Mindoro on this concern is an insensitive display of his arrogance of power. I wish again to remind him that DENR does not own Mindoro and that issuance of ECC directly offends life and kills social justice.

I claim that the process of granting Intex Resources, the mining firm that wants to exploit and rape the nature of Mindoro , has much irregularity. In the letter of Bishop Pabillo, the DENR did not recognize the LGU’s moratorium on mining; the failure to conduct genuine public consultation and the refusal to recognize the sustained rejection and with holding of consent of the legitimate Alangan and Tadyawan Mangyans to be affected by the mining operation.

It saddens me to think that Sec. Atienza whose advocacy is in promotion of life rejects life in its truest essence. I was with the hunger strikers two days ago and upon seeing them my heart broke in tears. It was not that easy to make such a sacrifice, but they are prepared to die for hunger than seeing Mindoro will die in the hand of foreign exploiters.

Again, this is not an issue of mining per se. I believe this is an issue that deals on how determine are we in protecting our already devastated natural environment. If Lito Atienza does not understand and know the present situation on our environment: the issues on global warning and climate change, uncontrolled floods and landslides and many other deadly calamiites, may I then request his son, Kim to lecture his father about these matters. This is a very shameful fact to the DENR whose primary duty is to protect and defend our environment. The world really changes: “it is horrifying to note that we need to fight our government to save our environment.”

If Secretary Atienza will not listen to the pleading of these poor Mangyans, the Mindoreños and all Filipinos of good will, he should do not campaign on pro-life programs, he has no right!