Environmental advocates launch chain letter campaign for GMA to step down

July 16, 2005
Press Release


Environmental advocates launch chain letter campaign for GMA to step down!

The newly formed environmental alliance ENRAGED! (Environmental and Natural Resource Advocates for GMA’s Expulsion!) launches their cyberspace campaign through sending chain letter asking President Arroyo to vacate Malacanang.

Trixie Concepcion of Earth Island Institute and ENRAGED spokeperson says, “This is one of our small contributions to the mounting movement of removing the anti-environment President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.”

The environmental alliance believes that President Arroyo has never shown genuine interest in the environmental protection and welfare of indigenous peoples (IPs), upland communities, and environmental advocates. She has passed policies and orders that silence the voice and weaken the rights of IPs and peasants who oppose destructive environmental and economic projects of her administration such as large dams, coal power plants, large-scale mining and logging.

Frances Quimpo of Center for Environmental Concerns said that in the provinces of Samar and Mindoro Oriental anti-mining activists and advocates are being harassed and killed because of their opposition to the government large-scale mining projects such as the mining operations of Bauxite Resource Inc and Mindex-Crew Mineral.

“Genuine national recovery be it fiscal , political or moral takes the path of peace justice and integrity of creation which GMA abandoned by plundering our national patrimony by imposing large scale mining and logging in favor of foreign investors and their local partners,” says Fr. Al Albor of Brigadang Berde.

During her four year term, President Arroyo approved 96,141 hectares of mineral lands under mining agreement and another 166,511 hectares forest lands under large scale logging agreement. Most of these agreements are owned by foreign transnational mining companies and big commercial loggers.

“These facts are one of the major reasons why people want President Arroyo to step down. No matter how big the “hakot” crowd in the pro-government rally in Luneta, the people remains convinced that Arroyo is anti-environment and a faked President that need to be ousted from Malacanang,” says Clemente Bautista of Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment.

The ENRAGED! bows to bring the biggest environmental contingent on July 25 State of the Nation Address mobilization…

Other members of ENRAGED! are Kalikasan-PNE, MASIPAG, SIBAT, COCAP, LRC-KsK, Bangon Kalikasan Movement, SEARICE, Heal Toxics, People’s Task Force for Bases Clean-Up, AGHAM, KAMP, WEDPRO, SALIKA, SANIBLAKAS, Task Force Macalajar, Soljus Pax, Luksong Tinik Mountaineers and PAMALAKAYA.