It was exactly a year ago today, when local residents from Surigao del Sur vowed that they will never allow their exquisite hometowns to become another hapless victim of a crime against Mother Earth and nature. In celebration of the World Earth Day in 2009, more than a thousand folks from different sectors in the province joined a 3-kilometer march in the municipality of Cantilan to condemn mining operations in the area. These mining operations threaten the watersheds critical to the support of the province’s irrigation system, water supply and Cantilan’s proposed mini-hydro power project. Furthermore, the proposed mining sites infringe upon the indigenous peoples’ ancestral lands.

CITY OF CALAPAN, Philippines – An active member of the anti-mining movement in Oriental Mindoro was shot dead shortly before he was to attend a church service Sunday morning in the city, police said Monday morning.