New multi-billion dollar mining deals recently signed by the government with Chinese companies are a slap in the face for the people of Palawan who are fighting against irresponsible mining, a Catholic bishop said today.

Four agreements worth US$14 billion involving nickel mining projects in Palawan and Zambales provinces were signed during President Benigno Aquino’s recent visit to China.

Reacting to yesterday’s official announcement of the deals, Bishop Pedro Arigo of the Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa today called them an affront to the residents of the island-province, where two anti-mining activists have been murdered this year.

Dr Gerry Ortega was killed in January and tribal leader Rabenio Sungit was gunned down last week. Their deaths are believed to be linked to their anti-mining campaigns.

“It’s like adding insult to injury,” Bishop Arigo said, referring to the mining deals.

Members of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) on Tuesday lit candles in front of their national office in Quezon City and called for Sungit’s killers to be brought to justice.

Sungit, a church member from Quezon town in Palawan, was shot dead by a gunman at a public market.

“He championed the rights for indigenous people and fought against encroachment by large-scale mining companies and other environmentally destructive projects,” said UCCP head Bishop Elmer Bolocon.

Chamber of Mines president Philip Romualdez, however, has defended the deals saying will bring in much needed investment within the next five years.