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The deportation and black-listing of Columban Father
Frank Nally, 52, at the Manila airport last January 5 was
unnecessary. Father Frank is no threat to the Philippine people or
their national security or the government but is a threat to the
forces of darkness and corruption that exploit and oppress the
rights of the poor and indigenous people.
He is a friend and supporter of
Filipinos and a defender of their rights and dignity. He is an
advocate for justice and peace calling for an end to assassinations
and evil. The only people to gain from preventing him from entering
the Philippines where he served as a dedicated missionary for eight
years are those who sleep with the devil. Consider how pedophiles
and child rapists are protected by powerful officials and even when
ordered to be deported by the Commissioner on Immigration they still
can stay to abuse children.
The immigration officials were
acting only on orders from powerful people at the top. Those that
prosper by allowing the international and local mining corporations
to pollute and pillage the land of the indigenous people. It only
takes a few greedy people to cause so much injustice and poverty.
Bringing these realities to public light and advocating positive
alternatives to save the people and their environment is part of the
mission of Father Frank Nally. We must all support these life-giving
efforts.
Father Frank was here to prepare
for the launch of an important report on these problems and to
promote what is good and right. Good and ethical mining practices
are those that respect the rights of the indigenous people to their
ancestral lands and a participation in responsible mining that will
benefit the majority of poor people and protect the environment. The
people, not the politicians ought to get a fair share of the wealth
generated. But when the people are robbed, driven off the land and
exploited by large scale mining operations backed up by police and
military then this has to be exposed, criticized and stopped and
good practices planned and implemented with the people’s
participation.
The special report was launched
on January 25 at University of Sto. Tomas (UST) in Manila and in the
Jubilee Room at the House of Commons in London the same day.
The research contained in the
report was done at the request and with the support of the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Thousands have died in
recent years from the environmental destruction caused by mining
disasters, logging and toxic pollution. The forest degradation
reduces to poverty a once self-reliant and proud people. Rare animal
species are also one step from extinction as a result and more
carbon dioxide is pouring into the atmosphere.
The massive money from mining
propels the politician’s reelection and the cycle repeats itself.
Some say there is no hope and the good Filipinos are condemned by
the curse of this corrupt political self-perpetuating system. That
is not necessarily true. Even corrupt and sinful systems can be
redeemed. When enough people are empowered and committed to
nonviolent people power, imbued with moral authority and a spiritual
commitment to truth and justice, then they can overcome evil regimes
even if they kill torture and maim. Blood baths, massacres, wars,
invasions and insurrections are not the way to a just society.
Even though the Philippine
Constitution explicitly forbids outright foreign ownership of land
and property a 1995 law granted foreign and local mining companies
ownership of the land and the mineral wealth beneath it. This was
passed by a Congress made up of the ruling elite to benefit
themselves and the multinational mining corporations. After public
outrage and a massive people-power campaign, the Supreme Court ruled
that the law was unconstitutional.
But then in 2005 inexplicably the
Supreme Court reversed itself and said the 1995 law was
constitutional after all. In 2006 at a private mining investors
meeting in London between Philippine political leaders and business
tycoons, the politicians boasted how they had pressured the Supreme
Court to reverse its own ruling.
“We did it, they triumphantly
said, we did it!” The discussion at that private meeting was
recorded and later leaked on the Internet. The upcoming report will
help reveal the truth and give positive recommendations that
politicians would be wise to adopt.
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