Jesuit university wants talks to end row
President offers peace talks to mining association angered at 'exclusion'
Father Jose Ramon Villarin (photo: Ateneo de Manila University)
- John Francis Lagman, Quezon City
- Philippines
- November 24, 2011
Ateneo de Manila University invited mining industry representatives to talks today to end a row stemming from what a mining association calls its "exclusion" from an academic conference this week.
The conference, hosted by the Jesuit-run university's school of government yesterday, discussed the alleged damaged caused by mining and called on the government to impose a moratorium on the approval of new mining agreements and operations.
However, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines says it should have been invited to the conference to put across its side of the argument in a growing national debate on the effects the mining industry has on the environment and local communities.
In response to the perceived snub the association published an advertisement in the Philippine Daily Inquirer yesterday to coincide with the gathering.
In the advert it accused the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) of being an “an unabashedly biased institution,” and called the conference, titled The Future of Mining in the Philippines, “a farce.”
“All the presenters are known to be against mining” and characterized the output of the conference as “all expectedly expressing anti-mining views,” the advertisement read.
The real future lies in the sustainable communities the mining industry is building in remote areas of the country, the association said.
“Where government services in terms of education, hospital care and social infrastructure are lacking, the industry provides,” the advertisement read. “We are for responsible mining. ASoG should be for responsible learning,” it added.
The advert prompted Ateneo de Manila University president, Father Jose Ramon Villarin, to today invite the association to the university to discuss the issue.
“Instead of attacking the school and the conference, we ask them to come to the table and sit down with us to tell us where the school went wrong and how we can improve our research,” he said.
Father Villarin said the Chamber of Mines misunderstood the nature of the conference. “It was a peer review conference, the purpose of which was to review academic papers” and no go into a full-scale debate,” he said.
The conference, hosted by the Jesuit-run university's school of government yesterday, discussed the alleged damaged caused by mining and called on the government to impose a moratorium on the approval of new mining agreements and operations.
However, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines says it should have been invited to the conference to put across its side of the argument in a growing national debate on the effects the mining industry has on the environment and local communities.
In response to the perceived snub the association published an advertisement in the Philippine Daily Inquirer yesterday to coincide with the gathering.
In the advert it accused the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) of being an “an unabashedly biased institution,” and called the conference, titled The Future of Mining in the Philippines, “a farce.”
“All the presenters are known to be against mining” and characterized the output of the conference as “all expectedly expressing anti-mining views,” the advertisement read.
The real future lies in the sustainable communities the mining industry is building in remote areas of the country, the association said.
“Where government services in terms of education, hospital care and social infrastructure are lacking, the industry provides,” the advertisement read. “We are for responsible mining. ASoG should be for responsible learning,” it added.
The advert prompted Ateneo de Manila University president, Father Jose Ramon Villarin, to today invite the association to the university to discuss the issue.
“Instead of attacking the school and the conference, we ask them to come to the table and sit down with us to tell us where the school went wrong and how we can improve our research,” he said.
Father Villarin said the Chamber of Mines misunderstood the nature of the conference. “It was a peer review conference, the purpose of which was to review academic papers” and no go into a full-scale debate,” he said.
