Ours Is A Country of Ironies

In 2002, the Philippines registered a total of 4.8 million agricultural farms, covering 9.7 million hectares.

The tropical climate of the country is suitable for the growth of various agricultural crops for food and other consumption.

The country’s large population is a vast

reservoir of intellectual, skilled,

and semi-skilled work force that is a

crucial cog to harness the country’s material potential towards real

economic progress.

¡  Continued peasant landlessness ú  1/3 of landowners hold 80% of

agricultural land ú  7 out of 10 farmers are landless

¡  Continued exploitation and oppression peasants ú  Systematic land-grabbing by big

foreign agro-corporations ú  Usury and other unequal sharing

schemes of agricultural produce under the feudal dominance of landlords.

¡  Agricultural collapse ú  Lower food production per capita

than in 1981 ú  World’s biggest rice importer

‏(2006)

¨  backward and state of agriculture in the country

¨  trade liberalization that has drastically cut lands for rice and other food crops through land-use conversions and crop conversions.

¨  further aggravated by the rice cartel

Philippines is the 5th most mineralized country in the world

l  Mainly extractive l  Export-oriented l  Dominated by TNCs and

local mining elite l  Dependent on foreign

capital and technologies

Exploration

Mine Development

Extraction

Initial Processing

Refining & Smelting

Fabricating

¨  Still negligible contributions to domestic economy

¨  Production value decreasing

INDICATOR   2011   2012  Contribution to Employment   0.6%   0.7%  Contribution to Exports   6.0%   4.9%  Contribution to GDP   1%   0.7%  Production Value of Metallic Minerals  

P122.98B   P100.8B  

Mula sa: •  MGB-DENR. Mining industry statistics. 8 January 2012. •  Bulatlat.com. Philippine mining situation at a glance. 12

September 2013.

¨  Investment Guarantees ¡  Repatriation of Capital ¡  Freedom from Expropriation ¡  Remittance from earnings and

interest on foreign loans ¡  Freedom from requisition of

properties ¡  Confidentiality of Information

¨  Tax Holiday during recovery of pre-operating expenses for a maximum of 8 years from commercial production (FTAA)

¨  Income Tax carry forward of losses

¨  Water rights, timber rights, easement rights

Deforestation due to corporate large-scale logging

70% 60% 40%

30% 23.7% 22.2%

P H I L. F O R E S T C O V E R

¨  2012 Bloodiest year for anti-mining activists

¨  Apex of recent killings under Aquino in Tampakan (10)

¨  HRVs in NV rising this 2013: 10 leaders get SLAPPs, 1 desparecidos

Cases under Aquino

Cases under Arroyo

¨  Successful people’s barricades vs Royalco, Apex Mining

¨  Environmental investigative missions in Benguet, South Palawan, Nueva Vizcaya

¨  Fact-finding mission and Legal action vs Glencore-Xstrata re: killings

¨  Refiling of People’s Mining Bill (HB 171) in Congress

¨  Protest mobilizations in national level

 Church  Response:    

Sustained  Mass  Movement!