COMMENTARY First posted 00:47am (Mla time) June 30, 2006
By Nereus AcostaInquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=7328
Editor's Note: Published on Page A15 of the June 30, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE poetry of the earth, John Keats mused, is never dead. But if the dire threats to the Philippines’ staggering natural bounties are anything to go by, the poetry of land, sea and mountain may have already given way to the prosaic, or worse, the pathetic. It should not take cursory references to June as Environment Month to remind us of how much damage we have wrought on our fragile ecosystems -- and the pressing need for action on various fronts.
Rapu-Rapu Island and the Bastes report on the dangers of untrammeled mining have recently re-heated the ecology-versus-economy debates. How much of the environment and long-term sustainability are we going to sacrifice on the altar of much-needed development?
In the metropolis of 12 million residents, the meandering Pasig River, a symbol of romance and beauty to writers and poets like Jose Rizal, has become a fetid cesspool of domestic and industrial wastes. Smokey Mountain, once an infamous gargantuan heap of garbage spilling into Manila Bay, emblematic of everything wrong with the country during the Marcos years, may have had a facelift with new housing tenements and a church under construction using recycled and eco-friendly materials. But from the towering sides of a metropolis’ refuse, compacted over the years, ominous methane gas continues to billow.
Today, much of Metro Manila’s solid waste makes its way -- over 500 truckloads daily -- to the other side of the city, to Payatas, where only a few years ago, 300 families perished when tons of garbage buried them alive.
Elsewhere in the archipelago, the environment takes a constant beating. We are all too familiar with the litany of ecological devastation: a paltry 800,000 hectares of virgin forest today, compared to over 10 million hectares of sheer abundance and biodiversity before World War II; our coral reefs, once billed as the richest on earth, now down to 5 percent in pristine state; our topsoil, the very source of food security, severely eroded in over half of our provinces; over half of 450 rivers now declared dead or dying; our urban air quality ranked among the most polluted in the world.
The Environmental Sustainability Index by the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy (see www.esi.yaleenvirocenter.edu) ranks the Philippines 126th in a field of 146 countries. The components for the study included environmental systems, population pressure and threats to public health, as well as governance and institutional factors like investments in science and research. In 1998, when the ESI field was limited to 60 countries, we ranked 58th.
We often hear ourselves wondering: for a country so blessed with the bounties of the earth, with dive-spots judged among the finest in the world, with forests hosting species of endemic flora and fauna found nowhere else on earth, with the Visayas Sea now declared by the marine biologists as the richest in marine biodiversity on the planet, why has it come to this?
“Man’s untrammeled greed,” stresses Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, known for his staunch anti-logging fight when he was bishop of Bukidnon, has brought us to this state of decay and destruction. We have failed to see ourselves as intricately part of a web of life, environmental lawyer Tony Oposa reminds us.
As ecologists bewail a “tragedy of the commons,” they challenge us to take to task a system that has failed to incorporate ecology in the calculus of national development. The mandate of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, sadly, remains two-faced: the utilization of natural resources (now with an undersecretary of mining to boot) on one hand, and the regulation of such practices on the other.
We forget that ours is still an ecology-dependent economy, Lory Tan of the World Wide Fund for Nature underscores. Forty million people are directly tied to agriculture, to irrigation and watersheds for rice and corn production. Thirty million rely on fisheries and coastal resources for sustenance and livelihood. The environment is the only social security system of our country’s vast numbers of poor, but it is the first casualty in the drive for so-called material progress.
Notice how some sectors are salivating over the prospects of opening the bowels of our mineral-rich islands following the restoration of the Mining Act, while using the oxymoron of “sustainable mining” even in the face of ecological disasters like Marcopper’s Marinduque, Lafayette’s Rapu-Rapu, or Diwalwal in Mindanao. Or how long-dormant or canceled Timber License Agreements in ecologically threatened areas like Samar and Southern Mindanao are surreptitiously revived via official edicts.
Yet, despite this dismal state of affairs -- or perhaps because of it -- we have one of the most committed civil-society environmental movements in Asia. The work of passionate environmentalists in communities, with novel initiatives all over the country, serves to inspire and educate.
Against a mixed backdrop of widespread despoliation and glimmers of hope and action, it behooves those of us in policymaking to revisit our priorities, move beyond lip-service and ensure that our laws have the corresponding teeth of enforcement and oversight. We need to proactively engage with business to ensure that it becomes integrally part of the larger search for solutions.
While job creation and economic development preoccupy our national trajectories, we cannot forge ahead at the expense of the very life-support systems -- Keats’ poetry of land, air and water that Providence has bestowed on this land -- that alone will guarantee our country’s future and sustainability.
Nereus Acosta is a member of the House of Representatives and former chair of the committee on ecology. He was the principal author of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Solid Waste Management Acts.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Bulacan mining firm loses license
First posted 10:43pm (Mla time) June 29, 2006
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=7312
Editor's Note: Published on Page A18 of the June 30, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
CITY OF MALOLOS—Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes has cancelled the mining lease contract of a mining firm operating in Doña Remedios Trinidad (DRT) town after it was found to have illegally cut trees.
Angel Bravo, director of the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) in Central Luzon, said the Matatag Mining Corp. (MMC) was ordered by Reyes to pay more than P2.5 million in forest charges for cutting trees and damaging the 9-hectare quarry site of Oro Development Corp. (Odeco) in Barangay Camachin in DRT.
Odeco was earlier allowed to operate in Barangay Camachin under a mines operating agreement with MMC.
But Reyes ordered the cancellation of the MOA after residents complained that the MMC had been cutting down trees and poaching timber.
Bravo said the trees were cut by MMC during its mining operations within the Odeco mining site in Camachin last year.
This was confirmed by environment officers assigned to the area, he said.
Reyes also lifted the suspension of the mining lease contract of Odeco but asked the firm to rehabilitate the areas damaged by the MMC mining operations.
The campaign to protect the environment has become deadly for some officials of the DENR.
In Cotabato City, unidentified men waylaid the service vehicle of Maguindanao environment officer Kahal Kedtag late Wednesday, police said yesterday.
Kedtag remains in critical condition at a hospital here following the attack that occurred in front of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) building outside the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) complex.
Senior Insp. Samson Obatay, city police spokesperson, said Kedtag’s relative, Abdulatip Kedtag, who was driving the official’s Honda CRV, died in the ambush.
Obatay said aside from the environment official, two civilians—9-year-old Mariel Catangay, and Dexter Cahayag, 18—were also injured in the attack.
“Kedtag was the main target of the gunmen. We believe they were guns for hire,” he said. Carmela Reyes, PDI Central Luzon Desk and Edwin Fernandez and Charlie Señase with a report from Julie Alipala, PDI Mindanao Bureau
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=7312
Editor's Note: Published on Page A18 of the June 30, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
CITY OF MALOLOS—Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes has cancelled the mining lease contract of a mining firm operating in Doña Remedios Trinidad (DRT) town after it was found to have illegally cut trees.
Angel Bravo, director of the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) in Central Luzon, said the Matatag Mining Corp. (MMC) was ordered by Reyes to pay more than P2.5 million in forest charges for cutting trees and damaging the 9-hectare quarry site of Oro Development Corp. (Odeco) in Barangay Camachin in DRT.
Odeco was earlier allowed to operate in Barangay Camachin under a mines operating agreement with MMC.
But Reyes ordered the cancellation of the MOA after residents complained that the MMC had been cutting down trees and poaching timber.
Bravo said the trees were cut by MMC during its mining operations within the Odeco mining site in Camachin last year.
This was confirmed by environment officers assigned to the area, he said.
Reyes also lifted the suspension of the mining lease contract of Odeco but asked the firm to rehabilitate the areas damaged by the MMC mining operations.
The campaign to protect the environment has become deadly for some officials of the DENR.
In Cotabato City, unidentified men waylaid the service vehicle of Maguindanao environment officer Kahal Kedtag late Wednesday, police said yesterday.
Kedtag remains in critical condition at a hospital here following the attack that occurred in front of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) building outside the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) complex.
Senior Insp. Samson Obatay, city police spokesperson, said Kedtag’s relative, Abdulatip Kedtag, who was driving the official’s Honda CRV, died in the ambush.
Obatay said aside from the environment official, two civilians—9-year-old Mariel Catangay, and Dexter Cahayag, 18—were also injured in the attack.
“Kedtag was the main target of the gunmen. We believe they were guns for hire,” he said. Carmela Reyes, PDI Central Luzon Desk and Edwin Fernandez and Charlie Señase with a report from Julie Alipala, PDI Mindanao Bureau
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
SC upholds Palace authority over Diwalwal mines
First posted 06:58am (Mla time) June 27, 2006
By Leila Salaverria
Inquirer, INQ7.net
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=6830
THE SUPREME COURT has ruled that the executive branch has full control of the mining operations in the Diwalwal Mineral Reservation Area.
Several mining corporations had staked a claim on the area, but the high court said these claims were rendered moot with the issuance of Proclamation 297 in 2002, which declared 8,100 hectares in Monkayo town, Compostela Valley province, as a mineral reservation and an environmentally critical area.
After the proclamation was issued, the environment secretary declared an emergency in the Diwalwal gold rush area and had mining operations stopped.
“The issue on who has priority right over the disputed area is deemed overtaken by the above subsequent developments,” the Supreme Court said in its 32-page decision authored by Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario. “It is now up to the executive department whether to take the first option, i.e., to undertake directly the mining operations of the Diwalwal Gold Rush Area.”
The high tribunal also said that the state could not be stopped from directly taking over the mines “if it is the only plausible remedy in sight to the gnawing complexities generated by the gold rush.”
The government could also award the mining operations to private entities, including Apex Mining Company and the Balite Communal Portal Mining Cooperative that earlier said they had rights over the area, the Supreme Court ruled. “The exercise of this prerogative lies with the Executive Department over which courts will not interfere.”
Apex said it had rights over the Diwalwal gold rush area over Marcopper Mining Corporation (MMC) or its subsidiary, Southeast Mindanao Gold Mining Corporation (SEM), since Apex was the first to record mining claims in the area.
Nevertheless, MMC had been granted an exploration permit for the area.
Balite, on the other hand, said its presence in the small-scale mining areas had entitled it to file a mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA). It added that its application for an MPSA should be given preference over that of SEM.
Meanwhile, the high tribunal partially reversed a decision of the Court of Appeals in March 13, 2002, which voided the transfer of the MMC’s Exploration Permit No. 133 in Mt. Diwalwal to SEM in February 1994.
The transfer was void because the permit was for the exclusive use of MMC or its duly authorized agents. The high court said SEM had not proven that it was MMC’s duly authorized agent.
“SEM did not claim nor submit proof that it is the designated agent of MMC to represent the latter in its business dealings or undertakings. SEM cannot, therefore, be considered as an agent of MMC which can use EP 133 and benefit from it,” the decision read.
The Supreme Court also said the exploration permit had expired on July 1994 and could not be renewed.
But the high tribunal upheld the appellate court’s finding that the Department Administrative Order (DAO) 66 issued in 1991 by former Environment Secretary Fulgencio Factoran Jr., declaring 729 hectares of the Agusan-Davao-Surigao Forest Reserve as open to small-scale mining, was illegal.
“The power to withdraw lands from forest reserves and to declare the same as an open area for mining operations resides in the President,” the Supreme Court said.
With a report from Tetch Torres, INQ7.net
By Leila Salaverria
Inquirer, INQ7.net
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=6830
THE SUPREME COURT has ruled that the executive branch has full control of the mining operations in the Diwalwal Mineral Reservation Area.
Several mining corporations had staked a claim on the area, but the high court said these claims were rendered moot with the issuance of Proclamation 297 in 2002, which declared 8,100 hectares in Monkayo town, Compostela Valley province, as a mineral reservation and an environmentally critical area.
After the proclamation was issued, the environment secretary declared an emergency in the Diwalwal gold rush area and had mining operations stopped.
“The issue on who has priority right over the disputed area is deemed overtaken by the above subsequent developments,” the Supreme Court said in its 32-page decision authored by Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario. “It is now up to the executive department whether to take the first option, i.e., to undertake directly the mining operations of the Diwalwal Gold Rush Area.”
The high tribunal also said that the state could not be stopped from directly taking over the mines “if it is the only plausible remedy in sight to the gnawing complexities generated by the gold rush.”
The government could also award the mining operations to private entities, including Apex Mining Company and the Balite Communal Portal Mining Cooperative that earlier said they had rights over the area, the Supreme Court ruled. “The exercise of this prerogative lies with the Executive Department over which courts will not interfere.”
Apex said it had rights over the Diwalwal gold rush area over Marcopper Mining Corporation (MMC) or its subsidiary, Southeast Mindanao Gold Mining Corporation (SEM), since Apex was the first to record mining claims in the area.
Nevertheless, MMC had been granted an exploration permit for the area.
Balite, on the other hand, said its presence in the small-scale mining areas had entitled it to file a mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA). It added that its application for an MPSA should be given preference over that of SEM.
Meanwhile, the high tribunal partially reversed a decision of the Court of Appeals in March 13, 2002, which voided the transfer of the MMC’s Exploration Permit No. 133 in Mt. Diwalwal to SEM in February 1994.
The transfer was void because the permit was for the exclusive use of MMC or its duly authorized agents. The high court said SEM had not proven that it was MMC’s duly authorized agent.
“SEM did not claim nor submit proof that it is the designated agent of MMC to represent the latter in its business dealings or undertakings. SEM cannot, therefore, be considered as an agent of MMC which can use EP 133 and benefit from it,” the decision read.
The Supreme Court also said the exploration permit had expired on July 1994 and could not be renewed.
But the high tribunal upheld the appellate court’s finding that the Department Administrative Order (DAO) 66 issued in 1991 by former Environment Secretary Fulgencio Factoran Jr., declaring 729 hectares of the Agusan-Davao-Surigao Forest Reserve as open to small-scale mining, was illegal.
“The power to withdraw lands from forest reserves and to declare the same as an open area for mining operations resides in the President,” the Supreme Court said.
With a report from Tetch Torres, INQ7.net
FROM 29,035 FEET TO 525 FEET‘Ain’t no mountain low enough’
First posted 05:54am (Mla time) June 27, 2006
By Carmela Reyes
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=6829
Editor's Note: Published on page A2 of the June 27, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
DOÑA REMEDIOS TRINIDAD, Bulacan -- Contrary to the popular song, for Mount Everest conquerors Leo Oracion and Erwin Emata there “ain’t no mountain low enough.”
The two, who conquered the world’s highest peak at 29,035 feet last month, joined 100 Bulacan officials and environmentalists in an easy trek up 525-foot Mt. Manalmon in the Biak-na-Bato mountain range here on Monday.
It took Oracion and Emata 35 minutes to summit Manalmon, while it took the other trekkers one-and-a-half hours. It had taken the two several days to summit Everest and months before that to acclimatize themselves to the severe weather conditions.
Oracion, who climbed Biak-na-Bato for the third time, said the group was concerned about the environment and the protection of the country’s mountain ranges.
“Our world is the mountain. Our life revolves around it. Biak-na-Bato is not a simple mountain but a historical landmark,” he said.
“Perhaps if Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, who encamped here during the revolution, were alive today he would be very angry at the quarrying operations,” he said, referring to the controversial operations of Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. on Mt. Nabio, another peak in the Biak-na-Bato mountain range.
At the end of the climb, the participants signed a declaration to protect the Biak-na-Bato national park and to put a stop to the mining activities in the area.
Marble quarrying operations at Biak-na-Bato had been ordered stopped by the courts for several years now.
On Saturday, Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes said he was simply carrying out a status quo order on Rosemoor’s quarrying operations when he allowed the firm to transport the marble previously carved from the mountain out of the park for export.
The status quo order would be in effect while government experts studied the legal aspects of Rosemoor’s marble quarrying operations at the park.
Reyes said the order did not nullify the ore transport permit of Rosemoor that covered the hauling of almost 800 cubic meters of marble boulders.
By Carmela Reyes
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=6829
Editor's Note: Published on page A2 of the June 27, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
DOÑA REMEDIOS TRINIDAD, Bulacan -- Contrary to the popular song, for Mount Everest conquerors Leo Oracion and Erwin Emata there “ain’t no mountain low enough.”
The two, who conquered the world’s highest peak at 29,035 feet last month, joined 100 Bulacan officials and environmentalists in an easy trek up 525-foot Mt. Manalmon in the Biak-na-Bato mountain range here on Monday.
It took Oracion and Emata 35 minutes to summit Manalmon, while it took the other trekkers one-and-a-half hours. It had taken the two several days to summit Everest and months before that to acclimatize themselves to the severe weather conditions.
Oracion, who climbed Biak-na-Bato for the third time, said the group was concerned about the environment and the protection of the country’s mountain ranges.
“Our world is the mountain. Our life revolves around it. Biak-na-Bato is not a simple mountain but a historical landmark,” he said.
“Perhaps if Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, who encamped here during the revolution, were alive today he would be very angry at the quarrying operations,” he said, referring to the controversial operations of Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. on Mt. Nabio, another peak in the Biak-na-Bato mountain range.
At the end of the climb, the participants signed a declaration to protect the Biak-na-Bato national park and to put a stop to the mining activities in the area.
Marble quarrying operations at Biak-na-Bato had been ordered stopped by the courts for several years now.
On Saturday, Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes said he was simply carrying out a status quo order on Rosemoor’s quarrying operations when he allowed the firm to transport the marble previously carved from the mountain out of the park for export.
The status quo order would be in effect while government experts studied the legal aspects of Rosemoor’s marble quarrying operations at the park.
Reyes said the order did not nullify the ore transport permit of Rosemoor that covered the hauling of almost 800 cubic meters of marble boulders.
Gov’t Asked to Adopt UN Declaration on IP Rights
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' WATCH
As tribes denounce killings of 72 indigenous peoples
http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-27/6-27-iprights_printer.html
What could be the reasons for the Philippine government’s refusal to vote for the adoption of the draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples last June?
BY JHONG DELA CRUZBulatlat
In an August 3 letter addressed to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) questioned two provisions of the UN’s draft declaration on indigenous peoples’ rights.
On the right to self-determination (Art. 3), the OSG said that there is a need to consider “the peculiar crisis that the Philippines is facing within its own territory,” referring to attempts by rebel forces in Mindanao to separate the territory and form an independent Muslim state.
“There is a strong possibility that the provision…could be subjected to untrammeled interpretations by secessionist groups like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which, since the enactment of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), has been clamoring for recognition as indigenous peoples,” the letter read.
It then proposed the article to read, “Nothing in this Declaration shall be construed as authorizing or encouraging any action which would dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and Independent States…”
At the same time, the OSG clarified that it does not intend to “dilute or redefine the said rights of indigenous peoples to self-determination.”
The OSG also questioned Art. 26 which seeks the recognition of the indigenous peoples’ right “to own, use, develop and control the lands, territories and resources they possess by reason of traditional ownership.”
Abstention due to OSG opinion Sec. 57 of the IPRA provided that indigenous peoples, “shall have priority rights in the harvesting, extraction, development or exploitation of any natural resources within ancestral domains.” The OSG said that this provision “does not speak of ownership of natural resources,” but merely “priority rights.”
“It is strongly recommended that the right of ownership be limited only to lands and domains,” the letter further stated.
Chairman Janette Cansing Serrano of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) noted that the OSG’s legal opinion on September 12, 2002 became the basis of the government’s abstention during the high-level session of the UN.
Other members of the Philippine mission to New York and Geneva, were caught by surprise when they learned of the government’s stand.
During the session UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York, the Philippine mission clearly expressed support to the declaration.
However, the government later held back during the Geneva high-level session of the UN’s Human Rights Council on June 22
“The government abstained based on the September 2002 opinion of the OSG, which had undergone several [revisions],” Serrano said. NCIP was not been furnished a copy of the document even if it worked hard for the adoption of the declaration. “The Philippine mission should have been consistent with foreign policies. We wonder why they changed it based on the 2002 legal opinion of OSG. When we discovered it, it was too late.”
Serrano vowed to work for the adoption of the declaration at the 61st UN General Assembly in October.
OSG rebuked
“We find it ironic that the Philippine government always crows about how it fully supports indigenous peoples’ rights as evidenced by the IPRA,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the head of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
In a roundtable dialogue last August 1, Commission on Human Rights Chair Purificacion Quisumbing rebuked the OSG for its opinion on ownership and self-determination. The commission has supported the adoption of the declaration.
NCIP has issued an en banc resolution, officially endorsing the adoption of the draft declaration.
Corpuz stressed that indigenous groups have the right to own the lands and resources within their ancestral domains, claiming ownership was inherent even before local and international measures supporting this came to life.
She also criticized the OSG for speculating that the MILF would use the declaration to separate Mindanao, saying the MILF has not declared itself as an indigenous group.
In a statement hailing the UN adoption, MILF said the measure would bolster the struggle of the Bangsamoro people.
For her part, Serrano said that the inter-agency committee tasked to discuss the declaration could reach a consensus by mid-September. She expressed optimism that the committee will move for a “yes” vote in time for the UN 61st General Assembly in October.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), along with the OSG, also recommended further study of the declaration which they said should be consistent with the Constitution.
72 indigenous peoples killed
In a related development, indigenous groups expressed alarm over the wave of killings against activists that victimized at least 72 indigenous peoples, according to the records of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Watch.
In their annual celebration of the Indigenous Peoples Week, groups belonging to the Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP, National Federation of Indigenous Peoples Organizations in the Philippines) denounced the all-out war policy of the Arroyo administration.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared in June her plan to wipe out the insurgency in the country with the release of additional funding for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) amounting to P1 billion ($19.5 million, based on an exchange rate of P51.25 per US dollar).
According to KAMP, 42 of the 72 killed were Lumads from Mindanao; 14 belonged to Dumagat/Remontado and Mangyans from Southern Tagalog; 10 were Igorots from the Cordillera; and six were Aetas from Central Luzon.
The latest victim is Alice Omengan-Claver, 42, who belonged to the Kankana-ey. She was the wife of Dr. Chandu Claver, chair of the Kalinga chapter of the party-list group Bayan Muna (People First).
Corpuz who is also executive director of indigenous center Tebtebba Foundation said that the international concern generated by the killings and abductions has put the government in a defensive position. She said that the government’s dismal human rights record tarnished its moral authority to promote human rights.
Baguio-based Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) said that an independent body should investigate the violations. Militant groups have denounced the government-led Task Force Usig which they said practically absolved the violators of the killings and abductions like Major General Jovito Palparan.
Meanwhile, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has recommended the formation of a tripartite committee to oversee the implementation of the program of the 2nd International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People from 2005 to 2015.
The program, which will also be adopted during the 61st UN General Assembly, stresses the need for a worldwide mechanism to monitor the situation of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and in danger of extinction. Bulatlat
© 2006 Bulatlat ■ Alipato Media Center
As tribes denounce killings of 72 indigenous peoples
http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-27/6-27-iprights_printer.html
What could be the reasons for the Philippine government’s refusal to vote for the adoption of the draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples last June?
BY JHONG DELA CRUZBulatlat
In an August 3 letter addressed to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) questioned two provisions of the UN’s draft declaration on indigenous peoples’ rights.
On the right to self-determination (Art. 3), the OSG said that there is a need to consider “the peculiar crisis that the Philippines is facing within its own territory,” referring to attempts by rebel forces in Mindanao to separate the territory and form an independent Muslim state.
“There is a strong possibility that the provision…could be subjected to untrammeled interpretations by secessionist groups like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which, since the enactment of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), has been clamoring for recognition as indigenous peoples,” the letter read.
It then proposed the article to read, “Nothing in this Declaration shall be construed as authorizing or encouraging any action which would dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and Independent States…”
At the same time, the OSG clarified that it does not intend to “dilute or redefine the said rights of indigenous peoples to self-determination.”
The OSG also questioned Art. 26 which seeks the recognition of the indigenous peoples’ right “to own, use, develop and control the lands, territories and resources they possess by reason of traditional ownership.”
Abstention due to OSG opinion Sec. 57 of the IPRA provided that indigenous peoples, “shall have priority rights in the harvesting, extraction, development or exploitation of any natural resources within ancestral domains.” The OSG said that this provision “does not speak of ownership of natural resources,” but merely “priority rights.”
“It is strongly recommended that the right of ownership be limited only to lands and domains,” the letter further stated.
Chairman Janette Cansing Serrano of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) noted that the OSG’s legal opinion on September 12, 2002 became the basis of the government’s abstention during the high-level session of the UN.
Other members of the Philippine mission to New York and Geneva, were caught by surprise when they learned of the government’s stand.
During the session UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York, the Philippine mission clearly expressed support to the declaration.
However, the government later held back during the Geneva high-level session of the UN’s Human Rights Council on June 22
“The government abstained based on the September 2002 opinion of the OSG, which had undergone several [revisions],” Serrano said. NCIP was not been furnished a copy of the document even if it worked hard for the adoption of the declaration. “The Philippine mission should have been consistent with foreign policies. We wonder why they changed it based on the 2002 legal opinion of OSG. When we discovered it, it was too late.”
Serrano vowed to work for the adoption of the declaration at the 61st UN General Assembly in October.
OSG rebuked
“We find it ironic that the Philippine government always crows about how it fully supports indigenous peoples’ rights as evidenced by the IPRA,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the head of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
In a roundtable dialogue last August 1, Commission on Human Rights Chair Purificacion Quisumbing rebuked the OSG for its opinion on ownership and self-determination. The commission has supported the adoption of the declaration.
NCIP has issued an en banc resolution, officially endorsing the adoption of the draft declaration.
Corpuz stressed that indigenous groups have the right to own the lands and resources within their ancestral domains, claiming ownership was inherent even before local and international measures supporting this came to life.
She also criticized the OSG for speculating that the MILF would use the declaration to separate Mindanao, saying the MILF has not declared itself as an indigenous group.
In a statement hailing the UN adoption, MILF said the measure would bolster the struggle of the Bangsamoro people.
For her part, Serrano said that the inter-agency committee tasked to discuss the declaration could reach a consensus by mid-September. She expressed optimism that the committee will move for a “yes” vote in time for the UN 61st General Assembly in October.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), along with the OSG, also recommended further study of the declaration which they said should be consistent with the Constitution.
72 indigenous peoples killed
In a related development, indigenous groups expressed alarm over the wave of killings against activists that victimized at least 72 indigenous peoples, according to the records of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Watch.
In their annual celebration of the Indigenous Peoples Week, groups belonging to the Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP, National Federation of Indigenous Peoples Organizations in the Philippines) denounced the all-out war policy of the Arroyo administration.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared in June her plan to wipe out the insurgency in the country with the release of additional funding for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) amounting to P1 billion ($19.5 million, based on an exchange rate of P51.25 per US dollar).
According to KAMP, 42 of the 72 killed were Lumads from Mindanao; 14 belonged to Dumagat/Remontado and Mangyans from Southern Tagalog; 10 were Igorots from the Cordillera; and six were Aetas from Central Luzon.
The latest victim is Alice Omengan-Claver, 42, who belonged to the Kankana-ey. She was the wife of Dr. Chandu Claver, chair of the Kalinga chapter of the party-list group Bayan Muna (People First).
Corpuz who is also executive director of indigenous center Tebtebba Foundation said that the international concern generated by the killings and abductions has put the government in a defensive position. She said that the government’s dismal human rights record tarnished its moral authority to promote human rights.
Baguio-based Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) said that an independent body should investigate the violations. Militant groups have denounced the government-led Task Force Usig which they said practically absolved the violators of the killings and abductions like Major General Jovito Palparan.
Meanwhile, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has recommended the formation of a tripartite committee to oversee the implementation of the program of the 2nd International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People from 2005 to 2015.
The program, which will also be adopted during the 61st UN General Assembly, stresses the need for a worldwide mechanism to monitor the situation of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and in danger of extinction. Bulatlat
© 2006 Bulatlat ■ Alipato Media Center
Friday, June 23, 2006
Biak-na-Bato mining put to a halt
First posted 02:31am (Mla time) June 23, 2006
By Blanche Rivera
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=6126
Editor's Note: Published on Page A15 of the June 23, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE government has again suspended the transport of ore from the Biak-na-Bato National Park in Bulacan where marble quarrying is being opposed by the provincial government and environmentalists.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau would not issue a new ore transport permit (OTP) to Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. (RMDC) until the case lodged by Bulacan officials and antiquarrying groups is resolved, MGB regional director Angel Bravo said.
“It’s suspended until the resolution of the case. We have to respect our superior,” Bravo said in an interview after a forum at the Manila Pavilion yesterday.
Environment Secretary Angelo T. Reyes has created a committee to investigate allegations that the RMDC did not have an environmental compliance certificate for its quarrying operations and that the acquisition of the firm’s Mineral Production Sharing Agreement was anomalous.
The committee, led by MGB executive director Jeremias Dolino, held its first hearing with the representatives of RMDC, Bulacan local government and environmental groups two weeks ago.
Dolino said the committee would finish its review of the allegations next week and would submit its recommendations to Reyes, who will eventually decide whether or not to cancel the permits given to RMDC.
“We can make do with what we have to come up with a decision,” Dolino said.
Dolino said there has been no activity inside Biak an Bato for the past two weeks, or since the investigation started.
The MGB also did not renew the OTP that allowed RMDC to transport 400 cubic meters of ore last month.
The Bulacan government also wants the DENR to recommend the restoration of the roughly 3,000-ha Biak na Bato to its previous status as a national park.
Only about 658 ha of Biak na Bato were declared a national park in 1989. Another 938 ha were declared a watershed forest reserve, 480 ha a forest reserve and 953 ha a mineral reservation.
The MPSA awarded by the DENR under former Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez to the RMDC allows the company to extract marble from a 330-ha area within the mineral reservation.
Reyes belied the accusation of Bulacan Gov. Josefina de la Cruz that he has become the “blatant enemy of the Filipino people” for allegedly failing to protect the Biak na Bato.”
Reyes told the Inquirer on Wednesday that if there is one individual who truly protects our environment and natural resources, it was him. “You cannot find anyone more concern in the protection of our environment more determined and serious than me,” he said.
With a report from Carmela Reyes, PDI Central Luzon Desk
By Blanche Rivera
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=6126
Editor's Note: Published on Page A15 of the June 23, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE government has again suspended the transport of ore from the Biak-na-Bato National Park in Bulacan where marble quarrying is being opposed by the provincial government and environmentalists.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau would not issue a new ore transport permit (OTP) to Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. (RMDC) until the case lodged by Bulacan officials and antiquarrying groups is resolved, MGB regional director Angel Bravo said.
“It’s suspended until the resolution of the case. We have to respect our superior,” Bravo said in an interview after a forum at the Manila Pavilion yesterday.
Environment Secretary Angelo T. Reyes has created a committee to investigate allegations that the RMDC did not have an environmental compliance certificate for its quarrying operations and that the acquisition of the firm’s Mineral Production Sharing Agreement was anomalous.
The committee, led by MGB executive director Jeremias Dolino, held its first hearing with the representatives of RMDC, Bulacan local government and environmental groups two weeks ago.
Dolino said the committee would finish its review of the allegations next week and would submit its recommendations to Reyes, who will eventually decide whether or not to cancel the permits given to RMDC.
“We can make do with what we have to come up with a decision,” Dolino said.
Dolino said there has been no activity inside Biak an Bato for the past two weeks, or since the investigation started.
The MGB also did not renew the OTP that allowed RMDC to transport 400 cubic meters of ore last month.
The Bulacan government also wants the DENR to recommend the restoration of the roughly 3,000-ha Biak na Bato to its previous status as a national park.
Only about 658 ha of Biak na Bato were declared a national park in 1989. Another 938 ha were declared a watershed forest reserve, 480 ha a forest reserve and 953 ha a mineral reservation.
The MPSA awarded by the DENR under former Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez to the RMDC allows the company to extract marble from a 330-ha area within the mineral reservation.
Reyes belied the accusation of Bulacan Gov. Josefina de la Cruz that he has become the “blatant enemy of the Filipino people” for allegedly failing to protect the Biak na Bato.”
Reyes told the Inquirer on Wednesday that if there is one individual who truly protects our environment and natural resources, it was him. “You cannot find anyone more concern in the protection of our environment more determined and serious than me,” he said.
With a report from Carmela Reyes, PDI Central Luzon Desk
Special fiscal incentives eyed for mining
First posted 01:39am (Mla time) June 23, 2006
By Michelle Remo
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=6117
THE mining sector, which the government says is expected to attract as much as $7 billion worth of investments annually, is likely to get special privileges under the government’s program to rationalize the grant of financial incentives for investments.
The Senate ways and means committee headed by Senator Ralph Recto plans to file a bill that will withdraw tax and duty breaks that are deemed unnecessary. But a government official said Recto had asked the Department of Finance, Department of Energy and Department of Environment and Natural Resources to assist the committee in doing a study to determine the appropriate incentives for the mining sector.
Recto’s bill will be aimed at limiting the grant of financial incentives to exporters, effectively removing all tax- and duty-free privileges given to domestic-oriented investments.
But the senator said mining companies not engaged in exports could be given incentives, such as reduced income tax rate and application of net operating loss carryover (nolco), the source said.
The ways and means committee is considering a 15-percent income tax on mining companies, compared with the 35 percent imposed on corporate income taxpayers.
Nolco allows preferred companies to deduct previous years’ losses from taxable incomes for the current year, thereby reducing their tax liabilities.
Under the Senate committee’s plan, only mining companies operating in the 20 poorest provinces would qualify for the special incentives.
The Department of Finance is gathering data on local government incomes to identify the provinces that would be covered.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) estimates that the mining sector can generate investments of $5-$7 billion annually in the medium term. It says the Philippines has $840 billion to $1 trillion worth of untapped mineral resources, and developing these would let the government collect an additional P17-P23 billion in taxes every year.
The Senate committee is concerned that removing financial incentives from mining investments might derail investment plans.
With INQ7.net
By Michelle Remo
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=6117
THE mining sector, which the government says is expected to attract as much as $7 billion worth of investments annually, is likely to get special privileges under the government’s program to rationalize the grant of financial incentives for investments.
The Senate ways and means committee headed by Senator Ralph Recto plans to file a bill that will withdraw tax and duty breaks that are deemed unnecessary. But a government official said Recto had asked the Department of Finance, Department of Energy and Department of Environment and Natural Resources to assist the committee in doing a study to determine the appropriate incentives for the mining sector.
Recto’s bill will be aimed at limiting the grant of financial incentives to exporters, effectively removing all tax- and duty-free privileges given to domestic-oriented investments.
But the senator said mining companies not engaged in exports could be given incentives, such as reduced income tax rate and application of net operating loss carryover (nolco), the source said.
The ways and means committee is considering a 15-percent income tax on mining companies, compared with the 35 percent imposed on corporate income taxpayers.
Nolco allows preferred companies to deduct previous years’ losses from taxable incomes for the current year, thereby reducing their tax liabilities.
Under the Senate committee’s plan, only mining companies operating in the 20 poorest provinces would qualify for the special incentives.
The Department of Finance is gathering data on local government incomes to identify the provinces that would be covered.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) estimates that the mining sector can generate investments of $5-$7 billion annually in the medium term. It says the Philippines has $840 billion to $1 trillion worth of untapped mineral resources, and developing these would let the government collect an additional P17-P23 billion in taxes every year.
The Senate committee is concerned that removing financial incentives from mining investments might derail investment plans.
With INQ7.net
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
New mountain to scale for Everest climbers
First posted 05:23am (Mla time) June 21, 2006
By Blanche Rivera
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=5801
Editor's Note: Published on Page A1 of the June 21, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
FROM MOUNT Everest to Biak-na-Bato.
Leo Oracion and Erwin Emata, the first Filipinos to reach the world’s highest peak, have come a long way to save the national park in San Miguel town, Bulacan province.
The members of the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition (FPMEE) team will join the Trek to Save Biak-na-Bato next week to stop quarrying operations that are destroying the national park. FPMEE leader Arturo Valdez, Oracion, the first to reach the summit on May 17, and Emata, who followed a few hours later, had pledged to help the Bulacan provincial government and environmental groups stop marble quarrying in the historical and protected site.
Destruction of history
“I hope every Filipino supports this as well because it’s our history that’s being destroyed here,” Oracion said in Filipino during a press conference in Quezon City yesterday.
Recalling the first time he went to Biak-na-Bato five years ago and his last trek there last year, Oracion noted that the water level of the rivers had declined and trash was left by visitors in the park.
“I was really happy when I went there for the first time. If we destroy it, what will be left for us?” he said.
In a hearing two weeks ago, the Bulacan provincial government and environmentalists had asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to cancel the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) granted to Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. (RMDC) in December 2002.
The Bulacan provincial government and the environmentalists were still waiting for the decision of the DENR.Permit since 2002
The MPSA was given to RMDC despite a proclamation in 1989 which declared portions of Biak-na-Bato as protected areas. About 658 hectares had been declared a national park, 938 hectares a watershed forest reserve, 480 hectares a forest reserve and 953 hectares a mineral reservation.
The MPSA was granted in 2002 by former Environment Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez who gave RMDC a permit to extract marble in a 330-hectare area within the mineral reservation.
“As people were interested in our climb to Mt. Everest, we hope they will also be interested in Biak-na-Bato. We are wiping out a national patrimony here, and that is a powerful message,” Valdez said. “This is not just about the desecration of a national heritage but of the environment as well,” he added.
Florentino Narciso, another FPMEE member and a University of the Philippines Mountaineer, said his group often took high school and college students to Biak-na-Bato for their first trek because it was the best place for hiking near Metro Manila.
“As we say, protect nature and nature will protect us. We’re here to support the campaign to save Biak-na-Bato for the future generations,” Emata said.Because of its historical significance, Biak-na-Bato was declared a national park by President Manuel L. Quezon on Nov. 16, 1937.
The mountain that extends all the way to San Miguel, Bulacan, served as a base for Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and his 500 men who escaped from Spanish troops in Batangas province.
Deep into mountain
According to local lore, there was a marble slab in one of the stalactite-filled caves that served as the table on which Aguinaldo signed the historic peace pact with the Spaniards.Quarrying operations, however, had been moved deeper into the mountains despite strong anti-quarrying lobbying by Bulacan government officials. This was because the regional director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the DENR continued to issue ore transport permits to RMDC.
By Blanche Rivera
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=5801
Editor's Note: Published on Page A1 of the June 21, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
FROM MOUNT Everest to Biak-na-Bato.
Leo Oracion and Erwin Emata, the first Filipinos to reach the world’s highest peak, have come a long way to save the national park in San Miguel town, Bulacan province.
The members of the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition (FPMEE) team will join the Trek to Save Biak-na-Bato next week to stop quarrying operations that are destroying the national park. FPMEE leader Arturo Valdez, Oracion, the first to reach the summit on May 17, and Emata, who followed a few hours later, had pledged to help the Bulacan provincial government and environmental groups stop marble quarrying in the historical and protected site.
Destruction of history
“I hope every Filipino supports this as well because it’s our history that’s being destroyed here,” Oracion said in Filipino during a press conference in Quezon City yesterday.
Recalling the first time he went to Biak-na-Bato five years ago and his last trek there last year, Oracion noted that the water level of the rivers had declined and trash was left by visitors in the park.
“I was really happy when I went there for the first time. If we destroy it, what will be left for us?” he said.
In a hearing two weeks ago, the Bulacan provincial government and environmentalists had asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to cancel the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) granted to Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. (RMDC) in December 2002.
The Bulacan provincial government and the environmentalists were still waiting for the decision of the DENR.Permit since 2002
The MPSA was given to RMDC despite a proclamation in 1989 which declared portions of Biak-na-Bato as protected areas. About 658 hectares had been declared a national park, 938 hectares a watershed forest reserve, 480 hectares a forest reserve and 953 hectares a mineral reservation.
The MPSA was granted in 2002 by former Environment Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez who gave RMDC a permit to extract marble in a 330-hectare area within the mineral reservation.
“As people were interested in our climb to Mt. Everest, we hope they will also be interested in Biak-na-Bato. We are wiping out a national patrimony here, and that is a powerful message,” Valdez said. “This is not just about the desecration of a national heritage but of the environment as well,” he added.
Florentino Narciso, another FPMEE member and a University of the Philippines Mountaineer, said his group often took high school and college students to Biak-na-Bato for their first trek because it was the best place for hiking near Metro Manila.
“As we say, protect nature and nature will protect us. We’re here to support the campaign to save Biak-na-Bato for the future generations,” Emata said.Because of its historical significance, Biak-na-Bato was declared a national park by President Manuel L. Quezon on Nov. 16, 1937.
The mountain that extends all the way to San Miguel, Bulacan, served as a base for Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and his 500 men who escaped from Spanish troops in Batangas province.
Deep into mountain
According to local lore, there was a marble slab in one of the stalactite-filled caves that served as the table on which Aguinaldo signed the historic peace pact with the Spaniards.Quarrying operations, however, had been moved deeper into the mountains despite strong anti-quarrying lobbying by Bulacan government officials. This was because the regional director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the DENR continued to issue ore transport permits to RMDC.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Firm praised for efforts to protect environment
First posted 09:13am (Mla time) June 19, 2006
By Vicente Labro
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=5446
Editor's Note: Published on page B2-3 of the June 19, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
TACLOBAN CITY--THE PHILIPPINE Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. does more than just refine copper and export it to the world market.
Based in Isabel town in Leyte, about 160 kilometers from here, Pasar maintains a fish sanctuary, recycles its effluents so that waste will not pollute the sea and spends money on reforestation. It also has an acid plant facility that allows it to collect sulfuric acid produced by its plant, instead of releasing it into the air.
For its efforts, Pasar has been recognized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as one of its environmental partners in the region.
Mirardo C. Malazarte Jr., Pasar senior vice president for operations and production, said he was happy that Pasar's effort to protect the environment was recognized. He stressed, however, that Pasar does not invest in environmental protection measures just to win an award.
"It is important for us because we stay here," he said.
Pasar, the country's lone copper smelting and refining firm, spends millions of dollars on making its plants more environment friendly, while striving to increase production.
Malazarte said Pasar would spend about $8 million for a new Dore plant to replace its existing 22-year-old facility.
He said the new Dore plant, which would be completed by December this year, "has higher recoveries and uses very clean technology."
Pasar wants to raise production to take advantage of the good market price for its products.
Pasar produces high quality electrolytic copper cathodes, the raw materials for the manufacture of various kinds of electric cables, telecommunication wires, copper shapes and copper-alloy products.
It also produces refined copper anode as well as by-products such as dore, sulfuric acid, selenium, slag, iron concentrates and gypsum, and copper residues.
Main buyers of Pasar products, according to Malazarte, are China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Malazarte said that Pasar has completed the expansion of the smelter that increased production by 20 percent, or an output capacity of about 720,000 tons of copper concentrates a year.
He added that they are in the process of upgrading their refinery at a cost of about $27 million, and once completed in June next year it would give the company a cathode output capacity of about 215,000 tons a year.
The Pasar port, which is currently undergoing expansion at a cost of about $7 million, could already handle 50,000 tons of vessels when completed in November 2006, he said.
By Vicente Labro
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=5446
Editor's Note: Published on page B2-3 of the June 19, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
TACLOBAN CITY--THE PHILIPPINE Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. does more than just refine copper and export it to the world market.
Based in Isabel town in Leyte, about 160 kilometers from here, Pasar maintains a fish sanctuary, recycles its effluents so that waste will not pollute the sea and spends money on reforestation. It also has an acid plant facility that allows it to collect sulfuric acid produced by its plant, instead of releasing it into the air.
For its efforts, Pasar has been recognized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as one of its environmental partners in the region.
Mirardo C. Malazarte Jr., Pasar senior vice president for operations and production, said he was happy that Pasar's effort to protect the environment was recognized. He stressed, however, that Pasar does not invest in environmental protection measures just to win an award.
"It is important for us because we stay here," he said.
Pasar, the country's lone copper smelting and refining firm, spends millions of dollars on making its plants more environment friendly, while striving to increase production.
Malazarte said Pasar would spend about $8 million for a new Dore plant to replace its existing 22-year-old facility.
He said the new Dore plant, which would be completed by December this year, "has higher recoveries and uses very clean technology."
Pasar wants to raise production to take advantage of the good market price for its products.
Pasar produces high quality electrolytic copper cathodes, the raw materials for the manufacture of various kinds of electric cables, telecommunication wires, copper shapes and copper-alloy products.
It also produces refined copper anode as well as by-products such as dore, sulfuric acid, selenium, slag, iron concentrates and gypsum, and copper residues.
Main buyers of Pasar products, according to Malazarte, are China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Malazarte said that Pasar has completed the expansion of the smelter that increased production by 20 percent, or an output capacity of about 720,000 tons of copper concentrates a year.
He added that they are in the process of upgrading their refinery at a cost of about $27 million, and once completed in June next year it would give the company a cathode output capacity of about 215,000 tons a year.
The Pasar port, which is currently undergoing expansion at a cost of about $7 million, could already handle 50,000 tons of vessels when completed in November 2006, he said.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Fair review of incentives sought Mining firms react to planned DENR study on grant
First posted 03:02am (Mla time) June 15, 2006
By Christine A. Gaylican
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=4939
Editor's Note: Published on page B3 of the June 14, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE LOCAL mining industry is seeking a balanced and fair review of incentives granted to local mining companies.
The industry made the call in reaction to the plan of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to commission a study that will recommend ways to integrate and rationalize the granting of investment incentives to mining firms.
The DENR’s final report on Lafayette Mining Philippines Inc. indicated that there may have been “excessive incentives” given to mining firms that were unfavorable to the Philippine government.
Lafayette Mining Philippines obtained an economic zone status from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and has been exempted from corporate and excise taxes for five years.
The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, which groups medium and large-scale mining firms, on the other hand, said the fiscal incentives were necessary to attract foreign investors.
“The government must be careful in this aspect because the fiscal regime is part of what makes it attractive to investors,” Chamber of Mines president Benjamin Philip G. Romualdez said in an interview.
The independent organization Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA), on the other hand, said that there might be a need to review the incentives granted to mining companies to avoid the confusion with the tax credits given by the national and provincial and municipal governments.
PMSEA president Ernesto C. Rodriguez said in a separate interview that the incentives and the tax requirements by local government units must be harmonized.
By Christine A. Gaylican
Inquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=4939
Editor's Note: Published on page B3 of the June 14, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE LOCAL mining industry is seeking a balanced and fair review of incentives granted to local mining companies.
The industry made the call in reaction to the plan of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to commission a study that will recommend ways to integrate and rationalize the granting of investment incentives to mining firms.
The DENR’s final report on Lafayette Mining Philippines Inc. indicated that there may have been “excessive incentives” given to mining firms that were unfavorable to the Philippine government.
Lafayette Mining Philippines obtained an economic zone status from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and has been exempted from corporate and excise taxes for five years.
The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, which groups medium and large-scale mining firms, on the other hand, said the fiscal incentives were necessary to attract foreign investors.
“The government must be careful in this aspect because the fiscal regime is part of what makes it attractive to investors,” Chamber of Mines president Benjamin Philip G. Romualdez said in an interview.
The independent organization Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA), on the other hand, said that there might be a need to review the incentives granted to mining companies to avoid the confusion with the tax credits given by the national and provincial and municipal governments.
PMSEA president Ernesto C. Rodriguez said in a separate interview that the incentives and the tax requirements by local government units must be harmonized.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Senator Cayetano inclined to revise RP mining act
First posted 12:59pm (Mla time) June 13, 2006
By Veronica Uy
INQ7.net
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=4718
(UPDATE) SENATOR Pia Cayetano, head of the committee on environment and natural resources and health and demography, indicated on Tuesday that she was more inclined to revise, not repeal, the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.
“The basic law provides the general parameter, the problem is with the implementation...Let's not be hasty in repealing the law because even the proponents of the repeal are clearly not for exploiting our natural resources for economic gain without balancing social and environmental impact,” Cayetano said after a hearing on the bills for repeal filed by Senators Ana Consuelo Madrigal and Sergio Osmeña III.
“Mining can be acceptable...We cannot live without mining unless we want to be completely dependent on the importation of key minerals,” said Cayetano who filed a bill to amend and revise the law.
Cayetano’s committee is currently hearing the different measures calling for a review, repeal, or amendment of the mining law.
Joyce Palacol of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) proposed strengthening the scoping process, which measures the social acceptability of a mining activity in an area.
“In the granting of environmental impact assessments, mining companies submit only attendance sheets, not actual agreements from the residents of the place,” Palacol said.
Palacol also proposed that government officials who would violate the law be sanctioned and that tax incentives be reviewed.
Jocelyn Villanueva, executive director of Legal Rights and Natural Resource Center, proposed that minerals to be extracted would be those that we need: iron and copper.
Dr. Lyn Panganiban, head of the National Poison Control Information Service of the University of the Philippines, noted that abandoned and existing mines not covered by the law continued to create “havoc” among the people in the mining communities. She cited an abandoned mine in Palawan province, which has caused developmental problems for kids as young as six months.
Dr. Carlos Primo David, associate professor at the National Institute for Geological Sciences of UP, recommended that safeguards “during and after” the mining activities be instituted. He said that the present mining law only required safeguards before the mining activities.
Earlier on Tuesday, Nelia Halcon, executive vice president of the ASEAN Federation of Mining Association, said the Philippine mining law was better in terms of environmental protection compared to the UK mining law, in indigenous peoples' protection compared to the US, in corporate social responsibility compared to Canada, and in control of environmental resources compared to Australia.
Halcon however was quick to point out that the problem with the Philippine mining law was in its implementation.
“May problema talaga sa implementation [There is really a problem in implementation]. While the people at the DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] and the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau are efficient, the budget is really small. They cannot go and monitor mining violations as in Rapu-rapu because there's a cost to going there,” she said.
By Veronica Uy
INQ7.net
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=4718
(UPDATE) SENATOR Pia Cayetano, head of the committee on environment and natural resources and health and demography, indicated on Tuesday that she was more inclined to revise, not repeal, the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.
“The basic law provides the general parameter, the problem is with the implementation...Let's not be hasty in repealing the law because even the proponents of the repeal are clearly not for exploiting our natural resources for economic gain without balancing social and environmental impact,” Cayetano said after a hearing on the bills for repeal filed by Senators Ana Consuelo Madrigal and Sergio Osmeña III.
“Mining can be acceptable...We cannot live without mining unless we want to be completely dependent on the importation of key minerals,” said Cayetano who filed a bill to amend and revise the law.
Cayetano’s committee is currently hearing the different measures calling for a review, repeal, or amendment of the mining law.
Joyce Palacol of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) proposed strengthening the scoping process, which measures the social acceptability of a mining activity in an area.
“In the granting of environmental impact assessments, mining companies submit only attendance sheets, not actual agreements from the residents of the place,” Palacol said.
Palacol also proposed that government officials who would violate the law be sanctioned and that tax incentives be reviewed.
Jocelyn Villanueva, executive director of Legal Rights and Natural Resource Center, proposed that minerals to be extracted would be those that we need: iron and copper.
Dr. Lyn Panganiban, head of the National Poison Control Information Service of the University of the Philippines, noted that abandoned and existing mines not covered by the law continued to create “havoc” among the people in the mining communities. She cited an abandoned mine in Palawan province, which has caused developmental problems for kids as young as six months.
Dr. Carlos Primo David, associate professor at the National Institute for Geological Sciences of UP, recommended that safeguards “during and after” the mining activities be instituted. He said that the present mining law only required safeguards before the mining activities.
Earlier on Tuesday, Nelia Halcon, executive vice president of the ASEAN Federation of Mining Association, said the Philippine mining law was better in terms of environmental protection compared to the UK mining law, in indigenous peoples' protection compared to the US, in corporate social responsibility compared to Canada, and in control of environmental resources compared to Australia.
Halcon however was quick to point out that the problem with the Philippine mining law was in its implementation.
“May problema talaga sa implementation [There is really a problem in implementation]. While the people at the DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] and the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau are efficient, the budget is really small. They cannot go and monitor mining violations as in Rapu-rapu because there's a cost to going there,” she said.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Mindoreños fight to protect their forests
http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=995
Avigail Olarte on 9 June 2006 at 8:29 pm
pcij blogsite
IN 1994, Mindoro experienced its worst flooding in years. Heavy flash floods left many people dead, thousands were rendered homeless, and around P1.2 billion worth of goods and properties were damaged.
Mindoreños blamed the disaster on logging activities on the island. At that time, residents already raised fears over the island’s fast diminishing forest cover and the damage it will cause in the future.
True enough, when a series of flash floods hit Oriental Mindoro late last year, many of the villages were flooded. Again, thousands of people were displaced and P150-million worth of agricultural products were wasted. The massive flooding was partly due to the collapse of a dike in the town of Naujan, which consequently affected nearby towns; but the damage brought by the heavy rains would have been mitigated had the island’s forest and soils been better preserved.
In the 1950s, Mindoro had 967,400 hectares of forest. Today, the forest cover has diminished to 50,000 hectares, or a huge forest loss of 95 percent, according to the Alliance Against Mining (ALAMIN), a broad coalition of Mindoreños opposed to mining.
ALAMIN, along with other civic groups, Church leaders and the local government of Oriental Mindoro, are now waging a serious campaign against the entry of large-scale mining companies in their province.
Mining, they say, will further destroy their island, which is already “severely deforested” due to past logging and slash-and-burn practices.
“Because of deforestation, the farmers have already experienced droughts in summer and destructive floods in the rainy season. There is fear that the siltation of rivers, and consequently, flooding, would be made worse by strip mining, and that any floods would carry mine wastes into lowland communities,” the London-based Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links said in a report on Mindoro.
Just last month, ALAMIN sent a team on a lobbying mission across Europe. They spoke to members of the UK Parliament, investors, journalists, and nongovernmental organizations, discussing their opposition to mining, and in particular, the entry into Mindoro of a UK-based mining company.
“Considering the critical condition of Mindoro’s environment, the prospect of an environmental disaster in the island is not difficult to imagine,” ALAMIN said. “The deluge of large-scale mining applications in the province is very alarming.”
Mining is one of the top causes of massive deforestation, according to environment experts. In the Philippines, the Haribon Foundation has reported that “the largest and most direct causes of deforestation” are mining, large-scale logging, and land conversions.
The destruction of the country’s forests has also been described as the “most rapid and most massive in the world.”
As of last year, 35 national conservation priority areas are being threatened by mining tenements, and 32 other protected areas overlap with existing mining tenements, Haribon said.
It is estimated that the country’s forests will be reduced to 320,000 hectares of primary forest by 2010, if the present rate of deforestation continues.
Following the passage of the Philippine Mining Act in 1995, Mindoro saw a deluge of mining applications. The applications covered 367,796 hectares or 36% of the island territory; mostly in the ancestral lands of the Mangyans, where critical watershed areas and wildlife habitat are located.
This is precisely why the local government, along with several sectoral groups, have been campaigning against the entry of Crew Gold Corp.
Crew, through the locally registered Aglubang Mining Corp. Inc., intends to develop a large-scale nickel-cobalt mining project in an area straddling the Oriental and Occidental Mindoro.
The current concession area consists of 9,720 hectares and mining activities will mainly be concentrated in the town of Victoria.
Called the Mindoro Nickel project, it is listed among the government’s 24 priority mining projects. The Philippine Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines also sees the project as “one of the country’s five potentially major international-class mines,” and is expected “to produce amongst the cheapest nickel in the world.”
But for the people of Mindoro, the estimated $1-billion worth of potential investments the project will bring will not compensate for the destruction of their forests, the loss of biodiversity, diminished agricultural productivity, sedimentation of river waterways, and the flooding and erosion.
“The Mindoro Nickel Project is incompatible with the sustainable development agenda of the provincial government which is anchored on food security, eco-tourism and agro-industrial development,” the local government said in a resolution.
“Mining corporations should refrain from imposing their profit-driven agenda and in manipulating the national government’s bureaucracy, which have become too accommodating in promoting the plunder of our environment in exchange for investments,” it added.
It also doesn’t help that Crew proposes to dump its tailings on the sea bed through a process called submarine mine tailings disposal or STD. This is said to be a highly controversial process and is “effectively banned in Canada and the USA.”
The original exploration permit for the Mindoro project was issued in 1997 and renewed in 1999. It was said to be the first permit to be renewed in the Philippines under the mining law.
In 2000, the Aglubang Mining Corp. obtained its Minerals Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) for a certain portion of the concession area. The MPSA secured them rights “to develop and exploit the resource” over a 25-year period.
There were petitions, letters of protests, rallies and demonstrations, and at least 25,000 signatures were collected against the mining project. In 2001, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, through Secretary Heherson Alvarez, revoked the MPSA. On November that year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo upheld the department’s decision.
The local government of Mindoro and the Mangyans considered this a victory. The provincial board of Oriental Mindoro even passed in 2002 a 25-year Mining Moratorium. This prohibited any person or business entity from engaging in “land clearing, prospecting, exploration, drilling, excavation, mining, transport of mineral ores,” in the area.
But in 2004, Arroyo revoked the order of cancellation and reinstated the MPSA. Arroyo, at that time, announced what she called her “10-point legacy agenda,” which, among others, promises the creation of 10 million jobs before she steps down in 2010. The revitalization of the mining industry, she said, will allow her to achieve this target.
Following the three consecutive floods that hit Oriental Mindoro in December 2005, the Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan issued a pastoral statement calling on Arroyo to respect “the overwhelming opposition of the people of Oriental Mindoro against the proposed mining operation.”
“The large-scale mining will result to more floods and disasters,” the letter reiterated, and warned that legal actions will be taken should Crew Gold continue with its operations. Crew has so far managed to complete 1,200 drill holes and test pits in Victoria, as part of the exploration stage of the project.
Crew, according to ALAMIN, has temporarily vacated the area following a large protest rally in January. Fr. Edwin Gariguez of ALAMIN says the company will definitely come back, as Crew fully intends to proceed with its operations in Mindoro.
But the local communities will not allow this to happen, and that is why both local and international groups are stepping up their campaigns against Crew, and all large-scale mining activities, in general.
Meanwhile, the Mangyan communities in Victoria are continuing their reforestation program. Banana and rambutan trees now cover a portion of the mining area and lanzones seedlings are now being planted
Avigail Olarte on 9 June 2006 at 8:29 pm
pcij blogsite
IN 1994, Mindoro experienced its worst flooding in years. Heavy flash floods left many people dead, thousands were rendered homeless, and around P1.2 billion worth of goods and properties were damaged.
Mindoreños blamed the disaster on logging activities on the island. At that time, residents already raised fears over the island’s fast diminishing forest cover and the damage it will cause in the future.
True enough, when a series of flash floods hit Oriental Mindoro late last year, many of the villages were flooded. Again, thousands of people were displaced and P150-million worth of agricultural products were wasted. The massive flooding was partly due to the collapse of a dike in the town of Naujan, which consequently affected nearby towns; but the damage brought by the heavy rains would have been mitigated had the island’s forest and soils been better preserved.
In the 1950s, Mindoro had 967,400 hectares of forest. Today, the forest cover has diminished to 50,000 hectares, or a huge forest loss of 95 percent, according to the Alliance Against Mining (ALAMIN), a broad coalition of Mindoreños opposed to mining.
ALAMIN, along with other civic groups, Church leaders and the local government of Oriental Mindoro, are now waging a serious campaign against the entry of large-scale mining companies in their province.
Mining, they say, will further destroy their island, which is already “severely deforested” due to past logging and slash-and-burn practices.
“Because of deforestation, the farmers have already experienced droughts in summer and destructive floods in the rainy season. There is fear that the siltation of rivers, and consequently, flooding, would be made worse by strip mining, and that any floods would carry mine wastes into lowland communities,” the London-based Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links said in a report on Mindoro.
Just last month, ALAMIN sent a team on a lobbying mission across Europe. They spoke to members of the UK Parliament, investors, journalists, and nongovernmental organizations, discussing their opposition to mining, and in particular, the entry into Mindoro of a UK-based mining company.
“Considering the critical condition of Mindoro’s environment, the prospect of an environmental disaster in the island is not difficult to imagine,” ALAMIN said. “The deluge of large-scale mining applications in the province is very alarming.”
Mining is one of the top causes of massive deforestation, according to environment experts. In the Philippines, the Haribon Foundation has reported that “the largest and most direct causes of deforestation” are mining, large-scale logging, and land conversions.
The destruction of the country’s forests has also been described as the “most rapid and most massive in the world.”
As of last year, 35 national conservation priority areas are being threatened by mining tenements, and 32 other protected areas overlap with existing mining tenements, Haribon said.
It is estimated that the country’s forests will be reduced to 320,000 hectares of primary forest by 2010, if the present rate of deforestation continues.
Following the passage of the Philippine Mining Act in 1995, Mindoro saw a deluge of mining applications. The applications covered 367,796 hectares or 36% of the island territory; mostly in the ancestral lands of the Mangyans, where critical watershed areas and wildlife habitat are located.
This is precisely why the local government, along with several sectoral groups, have been campaigning against the entry of Crew Gold Corp.
Crew, through the locally registered Aglubang Mining Corp. Inc., intends to develop a large-scale nickel-cobalt mining project in an area straddling the Oriental and Occidental Mindoro.
The current concession area consists of 9,720 hectares and mining activities will mainly be concentrated in the town of Victoria.
Called the Mindoro Nickel project, it is listed among the government’s 24 priority mining projects. The Philippine Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines also sees the project as “one of the country’s five potentially major international-class mines,” and is expected “to produce amongst the cheapest nickel in the world.”
But for the people of Mindoro, the estimated $1-billion worth of potential investments the project will bring will not compensate for the destruction of their forests, the loss of biodiversity, diminished agricultural productivity, sedimentation of river waterways, and the flooding and erosion.
“The Mindoro Nickel Project is incompatible with the sustainable development agenda of the provincial government which is anchored on food security, eco-tourism and agro-industrial development,” the local government said in a resolution.
“Mining corporations should refrain from imposing their profit-driven agenda and in manipulating the national government’s bureaucracy, which have become too accommodating in promoting the plunder of our environment in exchange for investments,” it added.
It also doesn’t help that Crew proposes to dump its tailings on the sea bed through a process called submarine mine tailings disposal or STD. This is said to be a highly controversial process and is “effectively banned in Canada and the USA.”
The original exploration permit for the Mindoro project was issued in 1997 and renewed in 1999. It was said to be the first permit to be renewed in the Philippines under the mining law.
In 2000, the Aglubang Mining Corp. obtained its Minerals Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) for a certain portion of the concession area. The MPSA secured them rights “to develop and exploit the resource” over a 25-year period.
There were petitions, letters of protests, rallies and demonstrations, and at least 25,000 signatures were collected against the mining project. In 2001, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, through Secretary Heherson Alvarez, revoked the MPSA. On November that year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo upheld the department’s decision.
The local government of Mindoro and the Mangyans considered this a victory. The provincial board of Oriental Mindoro even passed in 2002 a 25-year Mining Moratorium. This prohibited any person or business entity from engaging in “land clearing, prospecting, exploration, drilling, excavation, mining, transport of mineral ores,” in the area.
But in 2004, Arroyo revoked the order of cancellation and reinstated the MPSA. Arroyo, at that time, announced what she called her “10-point legacy agenda,” which, among others, promises the creation of 10 million jobs before she steps down in 2010. The revitalization of the mining industry, she said, will allow her to achieve this target.
Following the three consecutive floods that hit Oriental Mindoro in December 2005, the Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan issued a pastoral statement calling on Arroyo to respect “the overwhelming opposition of the people of Oriental Mindoro against the proposed mining operation.”
“The large-scale mining will result to more floods and disasters,” the letter reiterated, and warned that legal actions will be taken should Crew Gold continue with its operations. Crew has so far managed to complete 1,200 drill holes and test pits in Victoria, as part of the exploration stage of the project.
Crew, according to ALAMIN, has temporarily vacated the area following a large protest rally in January. Fr. Edwin Gariguez of ALAMIN says the company will definitely come back, as Crew fully intends to proceed with its operations in Mindoro.
But the local communities will not allow this to happen, and that is why both local and international groups are stepping up their campaigns against Crew, and all large-scale mining activities, in general.
Meanwhile, the Mangyan communities in Victoria are continuing their reforestation program. Banana and rambutan trees now cover a portion of the mining area and lanzones seedlings are now being planted
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Mining beckons, Gloria tells Chinese traders
By Joyce Pangco Pañares
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics04_june06_2006
PresidenT Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has urged Chinese businessmen to take position in the local mining sector and benefit from its resurgence.
Speaking before a 300-strong Chinese delegation led by Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai, Mrs. Arroyo said the local mining industry is booming. “The Philippines is well poised as far as mining is concerned. We have a $1 trillion mineral wealth and the Philippines is one of the world’s top five source countries for deposits of copper, gold, iron and nickel.” The President spoke at the closing ceremony of the two-day Philippines-China Economic Forum held at the Manila Hotel yesterday, with 200 company executives from the biggest companies in China among the audience.
One of the companies is Jin Chuan Shanghai Non-Ferrous Metals Corp., a major investor in the $1 billion rehabilitation and reopening of the Nonoc Nickel Mines in Surigao.
Mrs. Arroyo’s statement came as an assurance to multinational mining firms that the government remains committed to the full implementation of the 1995 Mining Law.
For his part, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo will not seek the revision of the mining law, which allows foreign mining companies to operate on a large scale.
The government expects the mining industry to generate $5 billion to $7 billion annually in foreign exchange as well as create a quarter of a million jobs over the next six years.
Mining industry leaders have warned that a total ban will send the wrong signal to potential investors hoping to cash in on the country’s $1 trillion mineral wealth, adding that a balanced policy that will protect the environment while promoting a good business climate is needed.
President Arroyo has earlier urged foreign mining firms to spend at least 3 to 5 percent of direct mining and milling costs on the government’s environmental programs annually and to devote at least 10 percent of their capital expenditures to fund environmental projects.
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics04_june06_2006
PresidenT Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has urged Chinese businessmen to take position in the local mining sector and benefit from its resurgence.
Speaking before a 300-strong Chinese delegation led by Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai, Mrs. Arroyo said the local mining industry is booming. “The Philippines is well poised as far as mining is concerned. We have a $1 trillion mineral wealth and the Philippines is one of the world’s top five source countries for deposits of copper, gold, iron and nickel.” The President spoke at the closing ceremony of the two-day Philippines-China Economic Forum held at the Manila Hotel yesterday, with 200 company executives from the biggest companies in China among the audience.
One of the companies is Jin Chuan Shanghai Non-Ferrous Metals Corp., a major investor in the $1 billion rehabilitation and reopening of the Nonoc Nickel Mines in Surigao.
Mrs. Arroyo’s statement came as an assurance to multinational mining firms that the government remains committed to the full implementation of the 1995 Mining Law.
For his part, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo will not seek the revision of the mining law, which allows foreign mining companies to operate on a large scale.
The government expects the mining industry to generate $5 billion to $7 billion annually in foreign exchange as well as create a quarter of a million jobs over the next six years.
Mining industry leaders have warned that a total ban will send the wrong signal to potential investors hoping to cash in on the country’s $1 trillion mineral wealth, adding that a balanced policy that will protect the environment while promoting a good business climate is needed.
President Arroyo has earlier urged foreign mining firms to spend at least 3 to 5 percent of direct mining and milling costs on the government’s environmental programs annually and to devote at least 10 percent of their capital expenditures to fund environmental projects.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Laoag flood control
DPWH reports completion of Laoag flood control project
by Cristina Arzadon
PIA Press Release 06/05/2006
http://www.pia.gov.ph/news.asp?fi=p060605.htm&no=51
by Cristina Arzadon
PIA Press Release 06/05/2006
http://www.pia.gov.ph/news.asp?fi=p060605.htm&no=51
LAOAG CITY (5 June) -- The Department of Public Works and Highways said residents in this capital city and nearby San Nicolas town can expect to be flood-free during the typhoon period with the completion of a floodwall system along the Laoag River.
The floodwall, stretching from barangay Nalbo here to nearby San Nicolas, is part of a dike structure that the DPWH had started constructing along the Laoag River last year.
Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo identified the three-year Laoag river basin flood control and sabo dam project as a priority by tapping the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to fund the program. The project is expected to be completed in 2008.
Ryuichiro Yamazaki, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines, made a two-day visit to this capital city last week to check the status of the flood control project and other infrastructures built under the Official Development Assistance program.
Arroyo has declared July 23 as Philippine-Japan Friendship Day while this year marks the 50th commemoration of the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries after second World War.
Yamazaki met briefly with Laoag Mayor Michael Fariñas and Ilocos Norte Vice Gov. Windell Chua last Friday before motoring to the different project sites around the province.
Fariñas is hopeful that the river control structure will be the answer to frequent flooding problems in three villages north of the Laoag River here.
“This project is not only a solution to our flooding problems. It can also serve as another tourist attraction similar to the Baywalk (along Roxas Boulevard in Manila), Fariñas said.
Inspired by Manila’s Baywalk attraction, the city government had developed a mini park locally known as the Laoag boulevard along the northern section of the Laoag river dike.
The river control projects, consisting of two packages, involve the construction of five sabo dams in four Ilocos Norte towns worth P850 million and dike construction including river improvement works worth P2.2 billion spanning the towns of Dingras, Solsona, Marcos, Banna, Nueva Era including this city.
The dike system will span a total of 87 kilometers covering five towns and this city.
The DPWH has tapped Japanese contractors, Toyo Construction Corp. and Hanjin Heavy Industries Construction Corp. to build the projects.
Engr. Glen Reyes, of the DPWH flood control and sabo dam project, said floodwaters coming from the Laoag River spill over to low-lying areas on opposite sections of the river and, in the process, submerging houses, farmlands including San Nicolas town’s business area.
“There are no more gaps in those areas because we have sealed the dike. Instead, of spilling over to the communities, floodwaters will flow directly to the Laoag river,” he said.
Reyes said two of the five sabo dams are near completion while the rest are 50 percent completed.
The dams are being built in the towns of Carasi, Solsona, Dingras and Nueva Era where major rivers are located.
Reyes said the project is a solution to river sedimentation problems that had caused rives to swell easily resulting to flooding in the province. (PIA)
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Water bottle caused mining incident
How lowly water bottle caused big mining incident
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. Philippine Daily Inquirer June 4, 2006
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=0&index=1&story_id=78013
WHO would have thought an insignificant water bottle would cause the most talked-about mining incident in the post-Mining Act era?
Based on the report of the Rapu-Rapu Fact-Finding Commission led by Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes, “an empty bottle of mineral water was found sucked by the main pump believed to be the cause of its malfunction.”
With the main pump down and the second pump under repair—after malfunctioning several times prior to the incident—there was no other backup pump available. This led to the overflow of the tailings pond into Rapu-Rapu island’s water system, which led to a fish kill and loss of the residents’ main source of livelihood.
Rapu-Rapu commission vice chair Charlie Avila told the Inquirer that the water bottle glaringly showed the ineptitude and laxity of Lafayette Mining Ltd.’s management team on the island.
Inexplicable, inexcusable
“It (the water bottle) should have been in a trash can but somehow, it found its way into the pumping system. That is inexplicable and inexcusable, it should have not happened had management been more responsible of its role in protecting the environment,” Avila said.
In an interview, spokesperson Bayani Agabin admitted that the previous management was not that “concerned,” which was why the water bottle found its way into the main pump.
But Agabin said the water bottle should not be blamed for setting off the chain reaction that led to the mine spill because it was only one of several factors that contributed to the pond overflow.
In a forum sponsored by the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA) last Tuesday, Lafayette officials conceded that management should have been more “hands-on” in running the polymetal mine. They said this was the reason the Australian firm replaced the foreigners in the team with Filipino executives to ensure that critical management would always be on-site and that they would be more dedicated in their jobs.
PMSEA treasurer Patrick Caoile said the forum was significant because it was one of the few times the Bastes commission and Lafayette attended a neutral forum to clear the issues on Rapu-Rapu that had brought the entire mining industry under harsh criticism.
The forum moderator, Ennoble Management Consulting Corp. director Blaine N. Lee, said it would be a “miracle” if the two groups reached an understanding and moved on after the incident.
During the forum, Avila clarified that the Bastes commission report should not be seen as an antimining paper as perceived in some media reports.
Moratorium
Avila said the commission recommended a moratorium and not a ban on mining on Rapu-Rapu island until all the safety precautions had been taken. He said the commission also did not call for a repeal of the Mining Act which allows foreign investors to take a controlling stake in major exploration ventures.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Shangri-la warned on water extraction
http://www.malaya.com.ph/jun12/envi2.html
Malaya June 1, 2006
The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) has issued a warning against Makati Shangri-La Hotel for extracting more groundwater that it is permitted in violation of the Water Code.
NWRB Executive Director Ramon Alikpala said the establishment is permitted to extract water from the underground aquifer by only 0.1 liters per second (LPS) or around 260 cubic meters per month.
But an inspection by NWRB showed that the well used by the hotel is drawing 13.12 LPS of groundwater or 131 times its allowable rate.
This equates to around 34,620 cubic meters per month, which is enough to service some 1,200 households in Metro Manila with a month’s worth of water supply.
Alikpala, in a letter to Makati Shangri-La, ordered the hotel to immediately limit its groundwater extraction to the allowable limits based on its permit issued by the NWRB.
He said appropriate fines and charges will be assessed against the establishment later this week.
NWRB has been saying that over-extraction of water from aquifers has contributed to cause over half of Metro Manila’s water sources to be contaminated with disease-causing bacteria.
To address the rampant extraction of groundwater, NWRB has been coordinating with local government units and water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad to identify deep well extractors in the metropolis.
Since 2004, the board has issued over 122 cease and desist orders to commercial establishments in Metro Manila that have been illegally extracting water or those drawing groundwater above the allowable limits of existing permits.
Malaya June 1, 2006
The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) has issued a warning against Makati Shangri-La Hotel for extracting more groundwater that it is permitted in violation of the Water Code.
NWRB Executive Director Ramon Alikpala said the establishment is permitted to extract water from the underground aquifer by only 0.1 liters per second (LPS) or around 260 cubic meters per month.
But an inspection by NWRB showed that the well used by the hotel is drawing 13.12 LPS of groundwater or 131 times its allowable rate.
This equates to around 34,620 cubic meters per month, which is enough to service some 1,200 households in Metro Manila with a month’s worth of water supply.
Alikpala, in a letter to Makati Shangri-La, ordered the hotel to immediately limit its groundwater extraction to the allowable limits based on its permit issued by the NWRB.
He said appropriate fines and charges will be assessed against the establishment later this week.
NWRB has been saying that over-extraction of water from aquifers has contributed to cause over half of Metro Manila’s water sources to be contaminated with disease-causing bacteria.
To address the rampant extraction of groundwater, NWRB has been coordinating with local government units and water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad to identify deep well extractors in the metropolis.
Since 2004, the board has issued over 122 cease and desist orders to commercial establishments in Metro Manila that have been illegally extracting water or those drawing groundwater above the allowable limits of existing permits.
European community funds forestpreservation in four provinces
http://www.malaya.com.ph/jun01/envi1.html
Malaya June 1, 2006
FOUR remote provinces in the Philippines harbor biologically diverse, yet highly endangered forests. Through the GOLDEN Forests, a five-year project grant awarded by the European Community to the Haribon Foundation, there is hope to breathe life back to these forests.
On December 21, 2005, the European Community (EC) awarded a five-year project grant of P1,439,269 to the Haribon Foundation. The project, Governance and Local Development for Endangered Forests or GOLDEN Forests.
Bringing life back to Mt. Irid Angilo in the provinces of Quezon, Aurora, Bulacan and Rizal; Mt. Hilong-Hilong and Diwata in Agusan, and Surigao; and Zambales mountains in Zambales is the project aim. Economic support for the poor and marginalized communities living in these areas is also part of the assistance package.
The GOLDEN Forest areas have been selected based on their biological importance quantified in terms of species richness and watershed functions, as well as the extent of threats they are facing. Except for the Zambales Mountains, all the project sites are habitats of the Philippine Eagle, the country’s national bird and a flagship species for conservation.
The GOLDEN Forests is the second EC project grant to Haribon. The first one, implemented in 2001 to 2004, was the Integration of Forest Management with Local Governance (IFCLGP) in Mindoro, Antique and Surigao del Sur provinces.
Projects like IFCLGP and GOLDEN guide the local communities and local government consider forest conservation in their planning and decision-making for development, said Noel Resurreccion, Haribon Site Conservation Department Manager. He also cited that the implementation of the GOLDEN Forests is very timely and relevant as the Foundation gears up for its nationwide campaign to restore one million hectares of denuded forests by year 2020.
Restoring the remaining forests is of outmost importance because as cited by a Filipino scientist, Dr. Sajise, an archipelago like the Philippines needs 54 percent forest cover to be able to adequately perform its ecological functions, Resurreccion said.
Malaya June 1, 2006
FOUR remote provinces in the Philippines harbor biologically diverse, yet highly endangered forests. Through the GOLDEN Forests, a five-year project grant awarded by the European Community to the Haribon Foundation, there is hope to breathe life back to these forests.
On December 21, 2005, the European Community (EC) awarded a five-year project grant of P1,439,269 to the Haribon Foundation. The project, Governance and Local Development for Endangered Forests or GOLDEN Forests.
Bringing life back to Mt. Irid Angilo in the provinces of Quezon, Aurora, Bulacan and Rizal; Mt. Hilong-Hilong and Diwata in Agusan, and Surigao; and Zambales mountains in Zambales is the project aim. Economic support for the poor and marginalized communities living in these areas is also part of the assistance package.
The GOLDEN Forest areas have been selected based on their biological importance quantified in terms of species richness and watershed functions, as well as the extent of threats they are facing. Except for the Zambales Mountains, all the project sites are habitats of the Philippine Eagle, the country’s national bird and a flagship species for conservation.
The GOLDEN Forests is the second EC project grant to Haribon. The first one, implemented in 2001 to 2004, was the Integration of Forest Management with Local Governance (IFCLGP) in Mindoro, Antique and Surigao del Sur provinces.
Projects like IFCLGP and GOLDEN guide the local communities and local government consider forest conservation in their planning and decision-making for development, said Noel Resurreccion, Haribon Site Conservation Department Manager. He also cited that the implementation of the GOLDEN Forests is very timely and relevant as the Foundation gears up for its nationwide campaign to restore one million hectares of denuded forests by year 2020.
Restoring the remaining forests is of outmost importance because as cited by a Filipino scientist, Dr. Sajise, an archipelago like the Philippines needs 54 percent forest cover to be able to adequately perform its ecological functions, Resurreccion said.
Pro Lafayette prayer rally
Prayer rally supports mining in Rapu-Rapu
By Ephraim Aguilar, Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer June 01, 2006
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=0&index=1&story_id=77703
AS ENVIRONMENT Secretary Angelo Reyes ponders the fate of its Rapu-Rapu operations, Lafayette Philippines Inc. says its mining project in Albay province deserves a second chance despite hefty fines and rehabilitation costs from two 2005 spills that forced the company to suspend operations.
Reyes yesterday held a dialogue with representatives of a fact-finding commission, Lafayette officials, environmental groups and technical experts at the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City. He is expected to issue a ruling next week at the latest.
Lafayette officials and consultants laid out the case for the resumption of the company’s Rapu-Rapu mining operations to a generally hostile audience of students, academics and environmental groups who showed their disapproval at some of the company’s statements.
On Tuesday, some 15,000 people from various sectors and communities attended a Lafayette-sponsored prayer rally at the Albay Astrodome in Legazpi City. Their battle cry: “It is better to light a candle for responsible mining than just to curse darkness for past environmental sins.”
People from different communities in Albay and Sorsogon provinces, as well as nongovernment and religious organizations, attended the rally. Doves and 1,000 prayer-laden balloons were released.
“I think everybody who has done a mistake deserves a second chance, as long as the mistake is not something that has caused the world to collapse or has caused death,” said Julito Sarmiento, Lafayette director and corporate secretary.
Fr. Noe delos Santos, rector of the Mater Salutis Seminary in Daraga, Albay, led the prayer and reflection during the rally, but Bishop Lucilo Quiambao of Legazpi said the Catholic Church had nothing to do with the show of support for the mining project.
The Rapu-Rapu Fact Finding Commission (RRFC) headed by Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes has recommended to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo the closure of the Rapu-Rapu mine, as well as a review of the 1995 Mining Act. Ms Arroyo has rejected a call to review the mining law, while Environment Secretary Reyes said he would hear all sides first before ruling on Lafayette’s bid to resume operations.
Still viable
Carmelita Pacis, Rapu-Rapu Minerals Inc. environmental management chief, told Agence France Presse the company had spent about P400 million to rehabilitate the open-pit polymetallic mine, on top of paying record fines.
There has been concern in the mining industry about the viability of the project, operations of which have been suspended for seven months, as regulators barred its reopening pending compliance with a tough set of remedial measures.
The Lafayette incident is seen as a test case of the Arroyo administration’s commitment to mining investments, as well as enforcement of environmental safeguards.
“Of course, we still are (viable),” Pacis said on the sidelines of the public forum on the Rapu-Rapu case, adding: “Otherwise we would not be here.”
Pacis said the company had essentially completed compliance with 21 conditions imposed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the reopening of the mine, which suffered a spill at its mill site on Oct. 11, 2005 and on its tailings dam on Oct. 31, 2005. Mine opponents alleged the spills killed fish.
“We feel that our company has complied with all 21 conditions,” Pacis told the forum.
The Australian parent firm puts Rapu-Rapu’s proven ore reserve at 5.85 million tons of 2.5 grams per ton of gold, 28.1 grams per ton of silver, 1.2 percent copper and 2.1 percent zinc.
Dissenter
The lone dissenter to the report of the RRFC wants the government to allow the test run of the P1.4-billion polymetallic project to settle once and for all the issues surrounding the Lafayette mining operations.
“I wish to stress that, for lack of any specific data or clear factual basis, I am not prepared to condemn Lafayette or the project. In the same manner, I am also not prepared to completely exonerate it for the incidents,” RRFC member Greg Tabuena said in his dissenting report.
Tabuena, a former forester, has served as consultant to several firms and has participated in environmental impact assessment studies.
In his report, copies of which were distributed among members of the media at the DENR dialogue with commission members and Lafayette representatives, Tabuena voiced his misgivings about the conduct of the fact-finding study.
He said the Bastes Commission “appeared to be prosecutorial” while conducting the investigation.
“The foregoing discussion only shows that further data gathering, which should be reliable and unbiased, should be conducted by credible organizations who are proven experts in the area,” Tabuena said.
“It would not be amiss for me to recommend further that Lafayette’s request for a test run for its operations, under strict scrutiny and observation by the proper authorities and private experts, be granted by the DENR.”
Not fair enough
Tabuena said the function of the commission was to determine facts based on accurate and scientific data in an objective and impartial manner.
The commission was tasked to investigate the effects of the mining operation on people’s health and environmental safety in the municipality of Rapu-Rapu in Albay, and the towns of Prieto Diaz, Gubat, Barcelona, Bulusan and Bacon in Sorsogon.
“I, therefore, cannot affix my signature and stake my name and professional reputation in the said report. I cannot, with a clear conscience, conclude that the commission has been fair to all interested parties and that the report was indeed an impartial and objective one,” Tabuena said.
Tabuena said no connection had been established between the Rapu-Rapu mining spills and the fishkill in Sorsogon.
By Ephraim Aguilar, Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer June 01, 2006
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=0&index=1&story_id=77703
AS ENVIRONMENT Secretary Angelo Reyes ponders the fate of its Rapu-Rapu operations, Lafayette Philippines Inc. says its mining project in Albay province deserves a second chance despite hefty fines and rehabilitation costs from two 2005 spills that forced the company to suspend operations.
Reyes yesterday held a dialogue with representatives of a fact-finding commission, Lafayette officials, environmental groups and technical experts at the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City. He is expected to issue a ruling next week at the latest.
Lafayette officials and consultants laid out the case for the resumption of the company’s Rapu-Rapu mining operations to a generally hostile audience of students, academics and environmental groups who showed their disapproval at some of the company’s statements.
On Tuesday, some 15,000 people from various sectors and communities attended a Lafayette-sponsored prayer rally at the Albay Astrodome in Legazpi City. Their battle cry: “It is better to light a candle for responsible mining than just to curse darkness for past environmental sins.”
People from different communities in Albay and Sorsogon provinces, as well as nongovernment and religious organizations, attended the rally. Doves and 1,000 prayer-laden balloons were released.
“I think everybody who has done a mistake deserves a second chance, as long as the mistake is not something that has caused the world to collapse or has caused death,” said Julito Sarmiento, Lafayette director and corporate secretary.
Fr. Noe delos Santos, rector of the Mater Salutis Seminary in Daraga, Albay, led the prayer and reflection during the rally, but Bishop Lucilo Quiambao of Legazpi said the Catholic Church had nothing to do with the show of support for the mining project.
The Rapu-Rapu Fact Finding Commission (RRFC) headed by Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes has recommended to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo the closure of the Rapu-Rapu mine, as well as a review of the 1995 Mining Act. Ms Arroyo has rejected a call to review the mining law, while Environment Secretary Reyes said he would hear all sides first before ruling on Lafayette’s bid to resume operations.
Still viable
Carmelita Pacis, Rapu-Rapu Minerals Inc. environmental management chief, told Agence France Presse the company had spent about P400 million to rehabilitate the open-pit polymetallic mine, on top of paying record fines.
There has been concern in the mining industry about the viability of the project, operations of which have been suspended for seven months, as regulators barred its reopening pending compliance with a tough set of remedial measures.
The Lafayette incident is seen as a test case of the Arroyo administration’s commitment to mining investments, as well as enforcement of environmental safeguards.
“Of course, we still are (viable),” Pacis said on the sidelines of the public forum on the Rapu-Rapu case, adding: “Otherwise we would not be here.”
Pacis said the company had essentially completed compliance with 21 conditions imposed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the reopening of the mine, which suffered a spill at its mill site on Oct. 11, 2005 and on its tailings dam on Oct. 31, 2005. Mine opponents alleged the spills killed fish.
“We feel that our company has complied with all 21 conditions,” Pacis told the forum.
The Australian parent firm puts Rapu-Rapu’s proven ore reserve at 5.85 million tons of 2.5 grams per ton of gold, 28.1 grams per ton of silver, 1.2 percent copper and 2.1 percent zinc.
Dissenter
The lone dissenter to the report of the RRFC wants the government to allow the test run of the P1.4-billion polymetallic project to settle once and for all the issues surrounding the Lafayette mining operations.
“I wish to stress that, for lack of any specific data or clear factual basis, I am not prepared to condemn Lafayette or the project. In the same manner, I am also not prepared to completely exonerate it for the incidents,” RRFC member Greg Tabuena said in his dissenting report.
Tabuena, a former forester, has served as consultant to several firms and has participated in environmental impact assessment studies.
In his report, copies of which were distributed among members of the media at the DENR dialogue with commission members and Lafayette representatives, Tabuena voiced his misgivings about the conduct of the fact-finding study.
He said the Bastes Commission “appeared to be prosecutorial” while conducting the investigation.
“The foregoing discussion only shows that further data gathering, which should be reliable and unbiased, should be conducted by credible organizations who are proven experts in the area,” Tabuena said.
“It would not be amiss for me to recommend further that Lafayette’s request for a test run for its operations, under strict scrutiny and observation by the proper authorities and private experts, be granted by the DENR.”
Not fair enough
Tabuena said the function of the commission was to determine facts based on accurate and scientific data in an objective and impartial manner.
The commission was tasked to investigate the effects of the mining operation on people’s health and environmental safety in the municipality of Rapu-Rapu in Albay, and the towns of Prieto Diaz, Gubat, Barcelona, Bulusan and Bacon in Sorsogon.
“I, therefore, cannot affix my signature and stake my name and professional reputation in the said report. I cannot, with a clear conscience, conclude that the commission has been fair to all interested parties and that the report was indeed an impartial and objective one,” Tabuena said.
Tabuena said no connection had been established between the Rapu-Rapu mining spills and the fishkill in Sorsogon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
