02 November 2006-
LEGAZPI CITY—LEADERS OF various antimining groups under the Save Rapu-Rapu Alliance (Sara) alleged that media’s coverage of mining in Albay tended to be biased in favor of Lafayette Philippines Inc. (LPI).
Fr. Fedelino Bugauisan, assistant parish priest of the Sta. Florentina Parish in Rapu-Rapu and spokesperson of the Anti-Lafayette Mining Alliance, accused media in general of bias in their coverage of the mining issue in Rapu-Rapu.
Bugauisan said they felt the media was helping LPI in its propaganda.
Leaders of various antimining groups met on Monday in a forum at the Aquinas University and marched to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources here to mark the first anniversary of the Oct. 31 spill caused by the operation of LPI in Rapu-Rapu, Albay.
Lawyer Howie Calleja, Sara’s legal counsel, said LPI was facing a suit for possible violations of the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) and the Financial Technical Assistance Agreement issued by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.
An MPSA is an agreement wherein the government shares in the production of the contractor, whether in kind or in value, as owner of the minerals, subject to the requirements of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and other existing mineral policies in the country.
The new case will be the second one filed by Sara against LPI this year.
Lawyer Julito Sarmiento, LPI corporate secretary, said he was not aware of the new case that would be filed by the antimining groups, but he said they welcomed all cases filed against them and that it was up to the court to see if there was enough pieces of evidence.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, who was also present in the forum, warned LPI of possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Business Practices Act.
Salceda said that under the act, multinational corporations like LPI should be adhering to the laws of its home country while at the same time not violating the culture, values, and rights of its host-community by the abuse of market power.
Sarmiento, however, said in a mobile phone interview, that LPI, under its new Filipino-Bicolano management, now has a compliance officer.
“It’s good for them to allege those things. It’s one thing to allege but it’s another thing to convict,” he said.
The alliance also urged the DENR and the MGB to produce the results of the test run.
Aquinas Vice Rector for Administration Virgilio Perdigon Jr. said he had received reports that LPI would resume permanent operations on Nov. 8 but he questioned why the results of the test run were still not divulged to the public.
Sarmiento said the 90-day extended test run was yet to end on Nov. 7 and that they were confident they would receive the final lifting order from the DENR that would allow them to resume full operations.
“We are nearing over compliance than mere compliance. We have more redundancies to ensure responsible mining,” he said.
He added the mining company spent P700-800 million for its measures to ensure that its operations would be ecologically safe. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon
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