DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Councilor Leo Avila has thrown his support to the desire of the hundreds of forest occupants of a part of Mt. Tipolog in Tawan-Tawan, Baguio District to manage the area through a community-based forest management agreement (CBFMA).
In a hearing conducted by the city council committee on environment and natural resources that Avila chairs, the councilor assured the CBFMA applicants of his endorsement.
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MANILA — Environmental activists and local residents of Rapu-rapu, Albay reported that there is a possible water contamination in the creeks and coastal waters surrounding the Lafayette mining area.
Mr. Antonio Casitas, a Rapurapu resident and leader of the Sagip Isla Sagip Kapwa, a local organization opposing the operation of Lafayette, reported that for two weeks now foul odor coming from creeks nearby the mining area in Brgy. Poblacion were observed by the residents.
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MANILA — In the wake of the reopening of the controversial Rapu-Rapu polymetallic mine in Albay last February, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources recently announced that investments in the mining sector are expected to hit $348 million this year. But whatever benefits such investments supposedly bring would be cancelled out by the severe social and environmental costs of large-scale mining, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.
Southern Philippines a hotspot for foreign war games and giant mining projects
MANILA — The presence of Australian military troops and mining companies in the Philippines, which President Gloria Arroyo is literally begging for in her state visits, will only aggravate the volatile peace and order situation in the country particularly in Mindanao, environmental activists from Kalikasan Peoples Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) warned today.
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SARANGANI — Because of the extensive media coverage on May 3?s mangrove planting activity in Sitio Asnalang, Maasim, Sarangani Province, several organizations signified interest in engaging in a similar project. And so on May 22, 2007, people from different faiths converged in the area to help rehabilitate its mangrove forest.
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