READ: 𝐀𝐓𝐌 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞
Alyansa
Tigil Mina (ATM) joins civil society organizations and progressive
movements in rejecting any move to amend the 1987 Philippine
Constitution.
Tampering with the charter’s economic provisions to
allow 100% foreign ownership, particularly of our land and natural
resources, is highly detrimental to the country’s sustainable
development. It renders the whole nation vulnerable to the destructive
exploitation by foreign firms, whose primary motivation is profit over
environmental protection and people’s welfare.
Also, lifting the
restrictions on foreign investments is tantamount to giving up our
sovereignty and being a colony of foreign corporations. Plus, this may
potentially result in a highly-skewed wealth distribution, where foreign
firms who own land and natural resources reap more profits while
government only gets measly taxes.
Particular to the mining
industry, charter change would further expand the extractives industry.
The likely result would be flattened mountains, razed forests, choked
rivers, ghost towns, and exacerbated impacts of climate change. Added to
these are: the loss of people’s livelihoods, ill health, worsening
human rights violations, and more burdens to women and indigenous
groups.
At present, Republic Act No. 7942 (Philippine
Mining Act of 1995) already allows for 100% ownership of minerals by a
foreign entity under the Financial and/or Technical Assistance Agreement
(FTAA). The Supreme Court found this unconstitutional in January 2004,
but the decision was reversed a few months later. In its earlier
decision, the Court found that by allowing 100% foreign ownership of
minerals, the lawful claim of affected communities, specifically
indigenous peoples, over their lands are jeopardized.
RA7942
legitimizes the plunder of our national patrimony—literally moving our
mountains, destroying our forests, contaminating our rivers and water
systems, and polluting the air we breathe. Eventually, when disasters
occur and when the minerals are gone, communities are abandoned and left
to suffer alone. This situation will only worsen if ChaCha prospers and
transnational corporations are allowed to act with impunity.
Apart
from amending the Constitution’s economic provisions, we also reject
any move to incorporate political reforms, most especially shifting to
other forms of government or lifting term limits. We are wary that the
true agenda of ChaCha is to perpetuate in positions of power incumbent
officials, notably President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos and Speaker
Martin Romualdez.
We call on the government to focus on
addressing the pressing problems of the nation instead of wasting
resources on ChaCha initiatives. We demand that our government leaders
completely stop pushing for their vested interests and instead work for
genuine solutions to our economic woes.
We call on the Filipino
people not to be deceived by the misleading rhetoric of the proponents
of charter change. Similar to previous charter change attempts, the
current push for constitutional amendments must be stopped. Whether
through a People’s Initiative, a Constituent Assembly or a
Constitutional Convention, charter change must not be allowed. Together,
let us resist ChaCha!
Source: Alyansa Tigil Mina https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=382373761088509&set=a.230714322921121
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