July 26, 2017 (Wednesday)
Function Room, Faber Hall, Ateneo de Manila University
Loyola Heights, Quezon City
In March 2017, after a decade of protest by community groups protecting their watersheds, EI Salvador became the first nation on earth to pass a total legislative ban on metals mining. EI Salvador also beat back a lawsuit in a World Bank tribunal by a large mining company, Oceana Gold, which also mines in the northern Philippines. Based on extensive research and policy work on this case at local, national, and global levels, Broad and Cavanagh will analyze both wins. They will explore the factors that led to this historic lawsuit and ban, what other countries are moving in this direction, and what the Philippines can learn from this experience.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
John Cavanagh is the Director of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. He will speak on other countries taking steps and implications for the Philippines.
Robin Broad is professor of international development at the American University in Washington, D.C. She is a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow for 2017-2018. She will speak on Salvador becoming the first country to ban metals mining.
Both have been researching the Philippines for four decades and are co-authors of several books, including “Plundering Paradise: The Struggle for the Environment in the Philippines,” and “Development Redefined: How the Market Met its Match.” They helped facilitate the visit of Nueva Vizcaya governor, Carlos Padilla, to EI Salvador in March 2017, when that country passed its historic ban on metals mining.
For further inquiries, you may contact the Department of Political Science at telephone no. 426-6001 local 5250.
