29/07/2026
๐ก๐ข ๐ง๐ข ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ก ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐!
๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ, ๐ต๐๐๐ฎ๐ด ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ!
๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ: ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง๐ด, ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ.
๐ก๐ข ๐ง๐ข ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ก ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐!
The ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ-๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐น๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น๐ - ๐ข๐ฟ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, and ๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ express our ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป to the proposed mining operations in Sibuyan Island.
Sibuyan Island, often called the โ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฬ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐,โ is one of the most biologically diverse islands in the Philippines. Home to Mount Guiting-Guiting Natural Park, numerous endemic species, and dense forest ecosystems found nowhere else on Earth.
Sibuyan is more than a ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒโ it is a vital source of ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ and ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ for its people.
The proposed open-pit mining operations in a 42-hectare area (equivalent to at least 8 PSHS-MRC campus) pose an ๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ to these ecosystems. Mining raises serious concerns over ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐น๐ผ๐๐, and ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด-๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ on local communities.
Once critical ecosystems are ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ, they cannot be ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ easily. Although reforestation and rehabilitation efforts may help restore portions of affected areas, they ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐ fully recreate old-growth forests, replace endemic species, or reverse every ecological loss caused by large-scale land disturbance.
Economic development is crucial. However, it must never come with an ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ to our environment, public welfare, and future generations.
As student leaders and environmental advocates, we believe that genuine progress is measured not only through economic gain but also through our commitment to protecting the natural heritage entrusted to us.
Today, ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต the people of Sibuyan defending their island.
We call on fellow scholars, youth organizations, and every Filipino to ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ, and ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ grounded in science, sustainability, and social responsibility.
๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ, ๐ต๐๐๐ฎ๐ด ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ!
๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ: ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง๐ด, ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ.
๐: Apolinario, J.
๐จ: Maulion, S.