APO Hiking Society's Danny Javier was said to have been hired by an international mining company as their strategist in a mining operation in General Santos City.

For this, environmentalist criticized the company for what they called a desperate move on the part of the mining giant to improve their image to the public.

In a press statement, Erwin B. Quinones of the Campaigns Paralegal Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center said Danny Javier's new job as "strategist" for Xtrata - Sagittarius Mines Incorporated (SMI) is ridiculous and desperate.

"Hiring Javier is a desperate move by Xtrata-SMI to sanitize its image in the face of widespread community opposition," said Quinones.

The Catholic Church, who have been resolute in its opposition to the project laughed off Xtrata-SMI's latest publicity stunt.

"Is this their way of showing us that they are responsible?" asked Fr. Romeo Catedral of the Social Action Center.

"Getting Javier will not erase the apprehension and anxiety felt by Indigenous and Rural Communities, much more stifle opposition," Catedral added.

Sr. Susan Bolanio said "Javier contradicts himself by saying that he is an environmentalist by heart and yet works as a strategist for a very environmentally destructive mining industry."

Bolanio is the spokesperson of Socsksargen CAN (Climate Action Now), an alliance of several organizations opposing the Xtrata-SMI Tampakan project and other extractive industries.

The environmentalists appealed to Javier whom they said is an environmentalist.

"We would like to send a message to Danny Javier, who is known for his being environmentalist through his songs, but also as a socially aware artist through his involvement in social issues, that his involvement in the SMI operation is a gross contradiction of what he has been espousing," Quinones said.

Quinones challenged Javier to hear the voices of the B'laans of Columbio belonging to La Bugal (unbreakable) Organization, whose thousands of members for the past decade have risked and lost their lives opposing the project.

"We invite Javier to also listen to the B'laans in the remote villages of Bong Mal, Barangay Kimlawis in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur who have recently come out in the open to denounce Xtrata-SMI's lies and deceit and vowed to oppose the company's presence in their area," Quinones added. (BOT)

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on November 15, 2009.