Lumad yes; foreigners no!
HAVE MY SAYBy Klaus Doring
I AM BACK. 11 days time out. Relax, unwind. I stay on my veranda,
just had a glass of wine, check all old newspapers. And suddenly this
headline caught my attention: Lumad yes; foreigners, no! Foreigners?
I am an expatriate living in the Philippines since 1999 for good. Foreigner’s, no?
But after checking the first paragraphs, I got happy. Mining is the
topic. And our good vice Paolo Duterte voiced out: “Never!” Never on the
applications of foreign groups to mine in the hinterland of Paquibato.
Paquibato is one of Davao’s remote mountainous districts. From the
nearby Panabo City, one can reach Barangay Mapula after a little less
than two hours.
Vice Paolo made it very clear, and I must confess, I strongly agree
with him. Don’t allow any foreign mining in Paquibato. The land
rightfully belongs to the Lumad. And they will say they will themselves
undertake mining there – fine! Yes, Vice Palo is so very right in
saying, that he doesn’t want the landlords, the rich AND the foreigners
to dip their fingers in the ancestral lands and make the people their
laborers, ostensibly provide them houses to pretend that they are people
and supportive of the people.
Kudos Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte. And, it’s known: Mayor Rody Duterte,
his father also has been consistent about his anti-mining stance for the
city.
*****
Email: doringklaus@gmail.com. The author is Professor for German Language at the University of Southeastern Philippines.
Also published today in Mindanao Daily News/Mindanao Business Week.
