01 June 2006
By Ephraim Aguilar, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau, and Norman Bordadora
AS ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY ANGELO REYES ponders the fate of its Rapu-Rapu operations, Australia’s Lafayette Mining says its project in Albay 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 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 battlecry: “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, 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.
A fact-finding commission headed by Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes has recommended to President 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 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 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 Rapu-Rapu Fact Finding Commission 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 Department of Environment and Natural Resources 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. With AFP report
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