Another Big Lie

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‘And that Big Lie is that mining is the reason these tragedies are happening and the best thing to do is to stop mining in the Philippines and problem solved.

AS expected, Donald Trump won the South Carolina primary, trouncing former Gov. Nikki Haley 60-40 and taking almost all of the state’s delegates to the Republican nominating convention to be held later this year.

Haley’s loss in her home state has fueled more “get out now” calls from Trump and his allies, arguing quite correctly that as it stands, she has no path to the nomination.

But Haley is on a mission to try to wake up the Republican Party of Lincoln and Reagan that Trump is the worst choice they have for 2024.

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She insists that he will lose to Biden. And with 44%, 42% and 40% of Republican primary voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina rejecting Trump, she may indeed have a point.

But let’s leave it at that because this piece is not about Trump’s Big Lie. It’s about another Big Lie from some elements of the Roman Catholic clergy in the Philippines

Recently, after heavy rains that were not experienced in the past, much of Mindanao (including parts of Davao City) ended up submerged in water. In other parts, there were landslides and one landslide area happened to be outside the mining area of Apex Mining in Mack, Davao De Oro. Some people died when the landslide engulfed one or two public transports parked in the area.

Later investigations seem to suggest that the area is a hazard zone where settlements are not meant to be built. But this is the Philippines, remember? So, guess what?

Tragedies like these are a perfect setup for the new Big Lie being propagated by some members of the Roman Catholic clergy in the Philippines (like Caritas). And that Big Lie is that mining is the reason these tragedies are happening and the best thing to do is to stop mining in the Philippines and the problem is solved.

I suspect that if Caritas were around when the Big Flood happened during the Sumerian times, they would have blamed mining in the Philippines.

The statement simply reveals the ignorance of these clergymen, the same sheer ignorance that emboldened them to condemn to death scientists (and others who used their gray matter) who claimed the Earth orbited around the Sun — because in their God-blessed eyes and mind, the Sun was the one that orbited around the Earth! While that was not the first Big Lie ever propagated by Catholic clergy, for purposes of this piece let’s count that as the first one. And let’s pause first and let that sink in: for years and years and years men of God insisted that the Sun orbited around the Earth and if you thought otherwise, they were more than eager to have you excommunicated and even executed!

Sheer idiocy. Then as now.

The Caritas folks blame mining for the deforestation of the Philippines. Again, talking without knowing what they are talking about. A map issued in the year 2006, citing as its source the Environmental Science for Social Change, clearly shows how over 100 years, from 1900 to 1999, our country lost most of its forest cover in the most heavily populated areas — Central Luzon and around Metro Manila, the urban areas in Cebu and Panay and Negros and even Mindanao. Why! Because it was — and is — the unbridled population expansion and poor urban planning that was and is at the root of our loss of forest cover.

The same maps show heavy green areas of the Philippines, which coincide with mining areas! (there is a God!). And why not, when responsible miners under the Mining Act have to plant 100 trees for every tree they need to cut down.

But clergymen who insisted that the Sun orbited around the Earth don’t care about facts. The speech is inspired by God, for goodness sake!

So, it’s fine for them to speak a Big Lie after a Big Lie after a Big Lie.

But I’ll forgive them for the new Big Lie if they’ll just pay the proper taxes on everything they own and make money from.

Then we can have more money for disaster relief that results from acts of God!

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