Antimining priest returns with award

The Roman Catholic priest who was recently awarded a prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in the United States for his crusade against nickel mining in Mindoro province arrived in Manila Tuesday night.

Fr. Edwin “Edu” Gariguez, who arrived late at night at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), was recognized for his decade-long campaign, which culminated in an 11-day hunger strike in 2009 to stop a large-scale nickel mining venture in Mindoro.

For his advocacy and heroism, Gariguez received his Goldman Environmental Prize at invitation-only ceremonies at the San Francisco Opera House on April 16. He was honored together with five other “environmental heroes” waging their own battles against commercial enterprises that potentially harm natural resources and public health in Kenya, Russia, China, the United States and Argentina.

The award is given annually by the Golden Environmental Foundation to “grassroots environmental heroes from each of the world’s six inhabited continental regions.” The award came with a cash prize of $150,000.

Goldman officials hailed them as a “group of fearless emerging leaders working against all odds to protect the environment and their communities.”

While in the US, Gariguez also met with 8th District of California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, an advocate of environment causes.

During the Earth Day celebration last week, environmentalists remembered the unyielding stand that Gariguez took to protect the rights of the Mangyans, an indigenous people, to retain habitable spot in Mindoro three years ago. Tina G. Santos