LONDON --Since he was deported Jan. 5 from the Philippines hours after he set foot at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Fr. Frank Nally has yet to receive an explanation from Philippine immigration authorities about his case.“Until now I am hoping that an explanation be given but nothing has reached me or my congregation,” Nally, who heads the Solidarity Desk of the Columban Fathers in the United Kingdom, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer yesterday. Nally, 52, said that when immigration personnel stopped him at the NAIA, all he was told was, “You are blacklisted!” But Nally suspected that his being a part of a British-funded fact-finding mission on massive mining activities in Mindanao in July last year had something to do with it. “Halfway during the interrogation, I heard one of the immigration officials mention the word delegation. I think that was it,” Nally recounted. He was also informed that the order to deport him had come from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency. He was held overnight, his passport was confiscated and he was put on a plane to Hong Kong early the next day. He got his passport back from Hong Kong airport personnel. Fact-finding mission on mining “There was no explanation whatsoever. I was not offered food or drink and was not allowed to use my mobile phone to call people who could help me out,” Nally said. With Nally on the fact-finding mission that was funded by Cafod (an international Catholic food agency) was British Member of Parliament Clare Short. Blair Cabinet Short once served in Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Cabinet as secretary of state for international development. Mining expert Clive Wicks of the World Conservation Union was also in the group. Nally flew to Manila two weeks ago to coordinate the release of the fact-finding team’s report on the impact of foreign mining firms on the Philippine environment and communities. Simultaneous launching The report is to be simultaneously launched in London and Manila on Jan. 25. The 62-page report covers legal, environmental and political issues and gives a number of recommendations. Short and Nally organized the fact-finding team following an appeal from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines for foreign assistance in its fight against large-scale mining which threatens ancestral lands and the remaining forests in the country. One of the places they visited was Midsalip town in Zamboanga del Sur province which, according to Nally, has 70 percent of its land under mining and exploration applications. Tarsier, Philippine Eagle Aside from being the ancestral land of the Subanen people, Midsalip, particularly its mountains, is home to the Philippine tarsier and the Philippine eagle, both endangered species. From what he had observed even before the fact-finding team could start its investigation, Nally said he believed that the Philippine government allowed big mining companies to devour lands at the expense of indigenous people who rely on them for their livelihood. “Mining is being presented as the savior of the Philippine economy and [as a means for the] alleviation of poverty. The experience is the opposite. It causes poverty and environmental degradation,” Nally earlier wrote in one of his letters to his congregation, a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer. After hearing about his ordeal at the NAIA, the Columban Missionary Society, with headquarters in Ireland, scored the Philippine government for subjecting Nally to such treatment. Very disturbing Fr. Tommy Murphy, the superior general of the Columbans, described the incident as “very disturbing” even as he urged the Philippine government to review and reverse the case promptly. “The attention his exclusion and deportation bring to the issues involved will hearten those ordinary Filipinos who risk their lives to defend their lands and communities against the activities of foreign mining companies,” Murphy said in a statement. Political killings He added: “It seems strange that the Philippine government would feel threatened by the presence of an Irish Columban priest, who is asking questions about the activities of mining companies. One can only assume that they have succumbed to the pressure exerted by these companies.” Another possible reason Nally was barred from entering the country could be his having brought to Blair’s attention the spate of political killings in the Philippines. “It is through letters written about the growing number of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines to Prime Minister Tony Blair may also have added to the sensitivities of the Philippine authorities,” a leading Catholic newspaper in Britain said. “The Universe” bannered Nally’s deportation in its Jan. 17 issue. Nally wrote to Blair a few days before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited London. Fascistic Days after Nally was deported, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. denounced the “fascistic treatment” of the priest, who used to serve in parishes in Mindanao. Pimentel said the shameful incident betrayed the Arroyo administration’s “insincerity” and “double talk” in inviting foreign observers to look into the human rights situation in the country. (Raj Padilla is a former correspondent of Inquirer Visayas.) | 
