No mining ban, Foreign firms stay

Palace: No to mining ban
Foreign firms stay; industry still gov’t priority
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer May 21, 2006
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=0&index=1&story_id=76462

SAYING a ban was not the answer, Malacañang yesterday stood firm on its policy allowing big foreign companies to operate mines despite recommendations to stop Australian mining activities on Rapu-Rapu island and review the country’s liberalized mining law.

“Our country is blessed as one of the most highly mineralized countries in the world. It would be a disservice to our people if our full mineral potential is not realized as this is clearly a source of employment and development,’’ Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a statement.
“A ban on mining is not the answer but the standards and safeguards already in place and existing laws must be strictly enforced. Mining remains a priority for development,’’ Bunye stressed.

Bunye issued the statement after the Malacañang-created Rapu-Rapu Fact-finding Commission submitted to President Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday a report recommending the scrapping of the environmental compliance certificate issued to the Australian Lafayette Group and calling for a moratorium on mining on the 5,000-ha island of Rapu-Rapu in Albay.

It also called for a review of the Mining Act, especially its provisions on foreign ownership and management of mining companies and operations.
The commission launched an inquiry following mine tailings spills on Rapu-Rapu.

Presidential adviser on political affairs Gabriel Claudio said in a radio interview that the commission might have overstepped its bounds when it recommended wholesale changes in the law.

“This is not a matter of whether the mining law should be amended or repealed. We will be guided by inputs from the members of Congress about this,” Claudio said. “I don’t think we should be hasty to have any conclusion on what legislative moves should be done.’’

Palace cancels presscon
The Mining Act had stirred controversy because it allowed for the first time foreign companies to have a stake in mineral exploration and production in the country.

The commission’s chair, Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes, was to have held a press conference in Malacañang on Friday on his group’s recommendation but this was canceled at the last minute because Palace officials did not agree with its sweeping indictment of foreign mining investments in the country.

Bastes, instead, held his press conference outside the Palace.
Bunye said Ms Arroyo thanked the commission for its work and that she assured the public that its recommendations would be “carefully reviewed and considered.”

Environmental groups have welcomed the fact-finding commission’s recommendations.

“We hope President Arroyo will listen to the clamor of the people of Albay and Sorsogon to… keep the mines in Rapu Rapu closed as the negative environmental, social and economic impacts on the communities far outweigh the alleged benefits,” Greenpeace toxics campaigner Beau Baconguis said.

Flagship project
She said it was clear from the start that the P1.4-billion Rapu-Rapu polymetallic project, once dubbed the flagship of the administration’s program to revive the mining industry, threatened marine life in nearby bodies of water.

She said the government should form a team of experts to ensure that Lafayette Philippines Inc. cleaned up and rehabilitated the mine site and the surrounding marine areas.

“Moving forward will be meaningless without exacting full accountability from Lafayette and erring government officials,” Banconguis said.

Loss of 1,000 jobs
Defend Patrimony, a network of anti-mining groups, said the government should not cave in to Lafayette’s warning that the closure of its project would result in the loss of $259 million in investments and about 1,000 jobs.

“The commission validates the concerns of the people that the LPI operation will do more harm than good to the environment… and people,” Defend Patrimony spokesperson Trixie Concepcion said.
She said the commission’s report validated the position of fisherfolk, church people, environmental groups, local government officials, local businessmen and scientists against mining operations.

No test run
“The only way to save and rehabilitate the environment and the people of Rapu-Rapu is to permanently close Lafayette and to enact a moratorium on mining in the island,” Concepcion said.

Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes has rejected Lafayette’s request for a test run of its gold processing plant, saying he would wait for the recommendation of the commission.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources suspended the gold processing operation of Lafayette last year and fined the company P10.7 million for its alleged violation of the Clean Water Act.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, in a pastoral letter last January, called for the repeal of the Mining Act, saying that it “destroys life.” The bishops expressed concern over what they said was the threat posed by large-scale mining operations to the people’s livelihood and health and to the environment.

Huge nickel reserves
“Our experiences of environmental tragedies and incidents with the mining transnational corporations belie all assurances of sustainable and responsible mining that the Arroyo administration is claiming,” the bishops said.

Besides having gold, silver, copper and other minerals, the Philippines is believed to have 25 percent of the world’s known nickel reserves, according to industry experts.

Estimates as of 2004 put at $1 trillion the worth of the country’s mineral resources.

P57 billion revenues if …
Local mining industry officials have said that the revitalization of the industry, which had been in decline for the past 20 years, could yield about P57 billion in additional revenues for the government.“The Philippines can be one of the richest countries in the region if only it can get its act together and harness its mining potential,” Leo Gamolo, general manager of mining firm Crew Group Philippines, wrote in the Inquirer last February.