text HADER GLANG
Pro-mining councilors here have said that they would not succumb to a protest leveled against them by the Catholic Church, which is opposing to the proposed mining operation in Vitali by the Linktone International Mining Corporation.
Councilor Nonong Guingona, one of the ten majority members of the City Council who voted for the retention of the controversial resolution 202, said that he would stand firm by his decision even if it threatens his political career.
“We just did grab the opportunity because we have been selling the city ever since to investors. The protest against the city is not right…it should be against the DENR because it’s the agency that decides for mining operation,” Guingona pointed out.
For Councilor Rodolfo Lim, he just did a right decision, thus he had to stand by it without fear and hesitation. “Next year is election, but if the people judged us for the decision (resolution 202) we have made…we leave it up to them.”
Other councilors, who rejected the appeal of Archbishop Carmelo Morelos for recall and reconsideration of resolution 202, invoked the separation of church and state.
Though they refused to react on the criticisms made by Saint Joseph Parish Monsignor Crisanto de la Cruz, they said church leaders should not meddle on the political affairs.
Meanwhile, Mayor Celso Lobregat made clear his stand on the mining issue, saying that he is neither for nor against it until after a study of the environmental impact assessment has been made by the concerned agency.
In so far as the City Council’s action of endorsing to the DENR the resolution, Lobregat said he will transmit it to the DENR with the words that it is only for ECC compliance and nothing more.
Lobregat has appealed for understanding of the issue on hand by both parties as he stressed the need for the environmental impact assessment of which one of them is the ECC.
For Vice Mayor Maria Isabel Climaco, she is prepared to accept criticisms from any groups in the light of her stand. She praises the Church for its position in the mining issue.
Last week, leaders of the Archdiocese of Zamboanga, non-government organizations, people’s organizations, academe, and students from Catholic schools converged and held an anti-mining prayer rally at City Hall.
The protesters said the City Council obviously was backing up the Linktone International Mining Corporation to operate in Vitali that had been identified by Mines and Geosciences Bureau as susceptible to flooding and landslides.
Monsignor de la Cruz vowed out he would exhaust all means to oppose the mining exploration in Vitali and to urge President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to declare Vitali as a water reservation or conservation area.
Earlier, Councilor Cesar Jimenez planned to file a motion to expunge Resolution 202 during the next session of the City Council, as a last ditch effort to withdraw the Council "endorsement" of the environmental clearance certificate application of the Linktone.
Jimenez will invoke Rule 17, Section 18, of the Rules of Procedure of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of the City of Zamboanga, which states: "A motion to rescind, repeal or expunge may be made only if the time to reconsider the controversial question has already elapsed."
Councilors Jimenez, Manuel Dalipe Jr. and John Dalipe were the only members of the City Council against the proposed mining operations in Vitali on ground that the area is prone to geological hazards.
Expressing concern that the proposed site for the mining activity will encroach the proposed watershed area in Vital, they questioned the manner the Council approved the resolution, saying that they were not furnished with a copy of the report that contained the controversial measure.
“The majority was so quick and fast in approving the same,” Dalipe said.
Jimenez said the motion to expunge would come a week after the motion for reconsideration and recall of the subject resolution was presented. “To expunge simply means to erase or delete the resolution." (ZS)
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