(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he would “one of these days” call for a dialogue between mining companies and local communities to break what he said was the “mining impasse.”
“One of these days, tawagin ko ang mga mayaman at ang mga mahirap. Makinig nalang kayo. Tingin mo dito? Sirain mo palayan niya, paano sila magsurvive. Ikaw kutkot ng kutkot..This cannot go on,” he said in a speech during 26th anniversary rites held by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology at Camp Aguinaldo.
He said “if the rich wanted,” they could pay the local communities for the “trouble” they had to go through.
“If he has lost 100,000 hectares, tutal mayaman yang mining (company), bayaran mo. Taniman mo ng kahoy..,” he said, as he threatened to sanction them if the planting of trees was not done in the affected area.
“There are so many injustices here we have to correct. Just give me time,” he added.