By:
Ronnel W. Domingo - February 18, 2017
The Chamber of Mines of
the Philippines (COMP) on Friday warned the government it could be swamped with
hundreds of millions of dollars in suits from mining companies whose operations
had been ordered shut down by Environment Secretary Gina Lopez.
COMP chair Artemio
Disini told the Inquirer the cancellation of mining contracts meant “lawsuits,
big-time.”
“Many people will probably
have to file losses, including foreign partners whose contracts may have
clauses that entitle them for reimbursement,” Disini said.
The group said there
could be a repeat by “a hundredfold” of the compensation ordered by the Supreme
Court following the fallout from the voided contract to build Terminal 3 of
Ninoy Aquino International Airport by the Philippine International Air
Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco).
The Arroyo
administration had scrapped the Piatco contract due to alleged irregularities
and then expropriated the terminal. The Supreme Court upheld the contract
nullification and the expropriation, but in a final ruling in April 2016 also
ordered the government to give “just compensation” to Piatco, which amounted to
at least $531 million, including interest.
“Some members (of the
chamber) want to go for the attachment of Gina Lopez’s assets, including her
ABS-CBN assets,” he said referring to the Lopez group’s broadcast network.
Attachment involves the
seizure of a person’s property to settle a debt.
Lopez has insisted she
was protecting the environment, which she argued took precedence over corporate
and political interests or the stability of capital markets.
Lopez ordered the
closure of 23 mines, suspended five others and canceled 75 mineral production
sharing agreements (MPSAs)—a total of 103 projects—because they were located in
“functional watersheds.”
Dante R. Bravo,
president of both publicly listed Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. and its
subsidiary, Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC), said on Wednesday Lopez’s
orders amounted to expropriation, takeover, or requisition of investment.
“Under the law, there
is an investment guarantee,” Bravo said. “Congress will have to pass a law to
pay for this damage or for the return of investment for all the mining
companies affected.”
Eventually, such
indemnity “will be collected through taxes (and) it’s going to be the Filipino
people who will shoulder it,” he said.
PGMC, a major nickel
producer, was one of the 23 mines that Lopez ordered closed on Feb. 2 for
operating in watersheds and causing siltation in rivers and coastal waters in
Surigao del Norte.
Bravo said mining
companies would “definitely” seek full reimbursement from the government for
the “loss of wealth,” investment and “damage in reputation.”
Bravo said the mining
companies will exhaust all legal remedies, including appealing directly to
President Duterte or filing cases in court.
“It can be both, it can
be either,” he said.
COMP was backed by the
Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport).
“Secretary Lopez’s
action is posing danger not just to the mining sector, but also to other
sectors in the supply chain including drilling, construction, hauling and
shipping, processing companies, manpower and transportation service providers,”
Philexport president Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said in a statement on Friday.
—WITH A REPORT FROM ROY STEPHEN C. CANIVEL AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
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