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Nearly 10,000 hectares of land is the composition of the final mining area (FMA) of the Tampakan Project, which will impact the destruction of forests, leading to soil erosion, air pollution, and a loss of biodiversity.

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Almost 500,000 hectares of flooded area in the event of climate change can be inundated with 250 metric tons of acid-forming waste rocks. Over 800,000 trees will be cut putting areas near the mining site at higher risk of experiencing flash floods and landslides.

Photo credit: Photo by Arnaud Mesureur on Unsplash

500 hectares of land will be permanently altered by the open pit. Imagine the equivalent of almost 2 Samal islands that go 800 meters deep.

Photo credit: Photo from The Smart Stones: Olivine Foundation

Around 2,900 Lumads will be uprooted from their ancestral lands. Indigenous people take its identity and livelihood from their ancestral lands. Their resettlement will also be the process of them losing a part of their identity and losing their social cohesion.

Photo credit: Bobby Timonera

985,730 hectares of watersheds composed of the Catisan Allah Watershed (South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat), Marbel Watershed (Cotabato), and Padada River Watershed (Davao del Sur) are going to be contaminated with the conduct of the Tampakan Project and may impact the water supply within and beyond the affected provinces.

Map of Tampakan’s mining claim and the watersheds. Image courtesy of CCCP.

Since 2010, the province of Cotabato has banned open-pit mining. Yet, the Sagittarius Mines, Inc. still urges to continue with the Tampakan Project despite the impending legal conflicts.

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The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 is implemented to motivate pro-miners to invest in mining in the country for increased foreign investments and to create jobs for its people. However, it spurred conflicts with the Indigenous Peoples rights Act (IPRA). The law itself should manifest a limitation in which it does not violate the rights of our Lumads to their ancestral lands.

Photo credit: Dominik Vanyi

The Diocese of Marbel, headed by Bishop Cerilo Casicas, the open-pit mining ban in South Cotabato “is very well aligned with the Catholic Church’s encyclical on the environment, the “Laudato Si.”

“146. In this sense, it is essential to show special care for indigenous communities and their cultural traditions. They are not merely one minority among others, but should be the principal dialogue partners, especially when large projects affecting their land are proposed.“

Photo credit: Strohscheidt/MISEREOR

14 FAULT LINES covering 83 km snake underneath the mining area which is only 12 km away from Mt. Matutum, an active volcano. This increases the seismic activities on the site which can lead to spilling of the dam alongside mine tailings and toxic mine wastes.

Photo credit: Andrew Buchanan on Unsplash