Tampakan project gets local churches' support

A group of local churches in South Cotabato has urged government authorities to issue an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for the proposed Tampakan copper-gold project, saying it will bring economic benefits to the southern Philippine province. “We took part in the extensive consultation for the Tampakan project, had a conscience vote and we are behind the project,” said lay minister Percy Ladot, speaking on behalf of some 270 representatives from local churches of the Christian and Missionary Alliance of Churches of the Philippines (CAMACOP). CAMACOP, composed of 2,917 local churches, is considered one of the largest evangelical groups in the Philippines. “We implore the South Cotabato provincial government to give the Tampakan project a chance, to see how responsible mining can work,” Ladot said in a statement. Malacañang has remanded the petition filed by Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) for ECC to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for reconsideration. The ECC guarantees that a project will not cause damage to the environment. Aside from CAMACOP, the University of Southern Philippines College of Engineering also issued a manifesto this week “commending Malacañang for its positive action” on the Tampakan ECC application issue. The manifesto was signed by Dean Lyndon Roble and 28 other geology and engineering department chairs and faculty members. The manifesto said "the proposed Tampakan project will not cause significant negative environmental impact and SMI has complied with all the ECC requirements." Mindanao Business Council chairman Vic Lao had earlier lauded the Aquino government “for acknowledging that the Tampakan project should proceed and that responsible mining is possible in Mindanao.”  — KBK, GMA News