Filipino fishermen protest against Australian mining company
Updated
Fishermen and residents in central Philippines have held a river protest in the Cebu-Bohol Strait today to protest the offshore mining activities of the Australian firm NorAsia.
About 300 fishermen and villagers from the central Philippine province of Cebu met with local officials to express their opposition to the offshore mining activities of NorAsia.
The protest and dialogue were led by the National Federation of Small Fisherfolk Organizations in the Philippines.
The group's spokesman Gerry Albert Corpuz says the demonstrators were against the offshore mining's possible destruction of the environment and its effects on their livelihood.
NorAsia began seismic surveys of the Cebu-Bohol strait on 5 September, but demonstrators claim they were able to abort the survey hours later by barricading the site.
NorAsia representatives claim local officials allowed them to conduct the survey, but the mayor denied he issued any permit to the company.
More than 440,000 hectares of marine water will be subjected to seismic tests and oil and gas drilling.
