Broad environmental alliance rejects GMA’s ‘recycled’ Cha-Cha schemes, Throws support for nationwide rallies on January 12 and 15

PRESS RELEASE
December 11, 2006

References:
Trixie Concepcion, Defend Patrimony! Spokesperson
Ester Perez de Tagle, ENRAGED! convenor, 09176923496
Clemente Bautista, Kalikasan-PNE, 09283448797

Broad environmental alliance rejects GMA’s ‘recycled’ Cha-Cha schemes,
Throws support for nationwide rallies on December 12, 15 and 17 2006

Saying that the “Philippines must first clean up our filthy and foul political leadership under President Gloria Arroyo before attempting to change the Constitution”, Church leaders, scientists, environmental advocates, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and peoples formations united under the Environmental and Natural Resources Advocates for GMA’s Expulsion (ENRAGED!) alliance will be throwing their support for the massive nationwide rallies against Con-Ass on December 12 and 17.

ENRAGED! convenors are “rejecting GMA’s ‘recycled’ Cha-Cha plans and are calling for the immediate disposal of the stinking and dirty Con-Ass”, said Ester Perez de Tagle, ENRAGED! convenor and Concerned Citizens Against Pollution (COCAP) founder.

“We must first clean up our dirty and corrupted political leadership as a pre-requisite to genuine Charter Change. Only then can we hope to have policies that will genuinely benefit the majority of our population and protect the environment and our finite natural resources,” de Tagle said.

“We will oppose any form of Charter Change under the Arroyo administration that will exploit our national resources and patrimony. We have rejected the Cha-Cha that GMA and her allies want to bring about precisely because the proposed provisions only aim to strengthen destructive economic and environmental policies such as mining liberalization,” Clemente Bautista, ENRAGED! convenor and Kalikasan-Peoples Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) National Coordinator said.

“The Con-Ass, Con-Con, and Peoples’ Initiative proposed by the Arroyo administration are all versions of the same blueprint for environmental destruction, economic plunder, and political exigency. These three odious schemes are equally unacceptable to us environmental advocates. These only give us more reason to call on President Arroyo to step down,” Bautista said.

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes, member of Defend Patrimony!, a national alliance opposing the mining liberalization policies of the government, also “encouraged all environmental advocates and anti- foreign TNC mining entities to defend our national patrimony and support the growing clamor for Cha-Cha’s demise”.

ENRAGED! represents at least thirty environmental organizations nationwide. It was formed in July 2005 in response to President Arroyo’s destructive environmental and economic policies and unresolved counts of massive electoral fraud in the 2004 national elections. ###