MINING AND NATURAL HAZARD VULNERABILITY IN THE PHILIPPINES

The archipelago of the Philippines is well endowed with nonferrous mineral resources, and in recent years the Philippine government, acting under the influence of the dominant and seemingly ubiquitous neoliberal development paradigm, has liberalized its mining laws in order to accelerate economic development. Yet the Philippines is also a country highly prone to a variety of natural hazards that have the ability to interact adversely with minings potential for environmental degradation. Thus there are great dangers inherent in pursuing such a development paradigm