By: Ronnel W. Domingo - 12:09 AM
February 15, 2017
For Environment Secretary Gina
Lopez, it was a “gift of love” to the Filipino people on Valentine’s Day. But
for the mining industry, it was a Valentine’s Day massacre.
Lopez on Tuesday ordered the
cancellation of 75 mining contracts, stepping up her campaign to stop
extraction of resources in sensitive areas after earlier shutting more than
half of the Philippines’ operating mines.
The contracts—known as mineral
production sharing agreements, or MPSAs—are all in watershed zones, with many
in the exploration stage.
They cover projects not yet in
production and the latest action by Lopez suggests she will not allow them to
be developed further.
“You kill watersheds, you kill
life,” Lopez told a news briefing.
“In this country, all open-pit
mining operations are being done in a watershed,” she said. “This should never
be allowed.”
Sanctity of contracts
The Chamber of Mines of the
Philippines (COMP) said in a statement that with Lopez’s unilateral action, the
controversy was “no longer a question of whether a handful of companies really
violated environmental laws” but “whether we still uphold the sanctity of
contracts.”
Suggesting the affected miners were
preparing to take legal action, COMP said the matter had “now become a question
of due process” and “fairness and justice that applies to all.”
COMP lawyer Ronald Recidoro
said Lopez’s latest action was “absurd” and ignored due process given MPSAs
were contracts between the government and the mining companies.
“You cannot just unilaterally cancel
contracts, especially if there are no specific grounds,” Recidoro said.
Mining law allowed operations in
watersheds, except those declared protected by the government, he added.
The American Chamber of Commerce of
the Philippines called the cancellation of the mining contracts
“irresponsible.”
“We do not understand why these
permits—which are only to explore but not to produce—are harming watersheds.
Responsible government agencies reviewed the permits, and there are dispute
resolution provisions that should be followed,” John D. Forbes, senior adviser
to the chamber, said in a text message to the Inquirer.
“Cancellation without due process is
as irresponsible as operating a mine without following environmental rules and
laws,” he said.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce
and Industry agreed. “There should be due process for the mining firms,” its
president, George T. Barcelon, said in a phone interview.
But Lopez said it was within her
discretion “to decide on the resources of the country.”
Duterte ally
The canceled contracts include the
$2-billion Kingking gold and copper project in Davao del Norte province, the
holder of which is the group of former Sen. Manuel Villar, an ally of President
Duterte.
Five of the scrapped contracts
involve the Philex group led by Manny V. Pangilinan, who figured in a verbal tussle
with Lopez when she spoke against mining during an industry forum in 2012.
A longtime environmentalist, Lopez
ordered the closure of 23 of the Philippines’ 41 mines on Feb. 2 for allegedly
damaging watersheds and for siltation of coastal waters and farmlands.
Another five mines were suspended,
causing an outcry from the industry.
Protesting Lopez’s action, COMP on
Monday filed its opposition to her nomination in the Commission on
Appointments.
COMP said Lopez’s orders would
affect 1.2 million people.
Legal action
The industry plans to appeal Lopez’s
orders to President Duterte, although some miners facing a shutdown of their
operations have threatened legal action, with some miners saying on Tuesday
they had received a formal closure order from the DENR.
Top Philippine nickel ore producer
Nickel Asia Corp. said it would “pursue all legal remedies to overturn [the]
order because of due process violations and the absence of any basis” that
would warrant a suspension or closure of operations of its unit Hinatuan Mining
Corp.
Hinatuan was told that its operation
had “impaired the functions of the watershed in the area,” according to a copy
of the closure order.
Lopez said on Tuesday that courts
could not halt her orders.
“There is no TRO (temporary restraining
order) that holds function in the case of environment enforcement,” she said.
“You can’t have a TRO. We are
protecting the environment and you can’t stop us from protecting the
environment,” she added.
The contracts she ordered canceled
on Tuesday include the $5.9-billion Tampakan copper-gold project in South
Cotabato province, the biggest stalled mining venture in the Philippines.
“The contract here covers four
provinces—South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur—and six
rivers and the food basket of Mindanao,” Lopez said.
“We’re canceling this as a gift of
love to the people of Cotabato,” Lopez said.
7 days to comment
The mining companies that would
receive cancellation orders would have seven days to comment and “show why we
shouldn’t cancel their MPSAs,” she said.
Four of the five Philex contracts
canceled on Tuesday were assigned to Philex Gold Philippines Inc. and involved
projects in Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte and Negros
Occidental provinces.
The fifth MPSA was assigned to
Silangan Mindanao Mining Co. Inc. in Surigao del Norte, where Philex hopes to
develop a $2-billion copper-gold project that would replace the group’s biggest
revenue source—Philex Mining Corp.’s Padcal mine in Benguet province, whose
production life is expected to expire in 2022.
The decision to close or suspend
existing mine operations followed a months-long audit of the mines, although a
government team that reviewed the audit recommended only suspensions and
fines. —With Reports From Jaymee T. Gamil, Ben O. De Vera, Roy
Stephen C. Canivel And The Wires
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