09 February 2007
The Philippines gave the go-ahead Thursday for Australia’s Lafayette Mining to resume operations at its controversial Rapu-Rapu site, which had been closed for environmental infringements.
“The mining operations of Lafayette can now proceed,” Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes told a news conference as he formally announced the lifting of a “cease and desist” order on Lafayette issued in October last year.
But the firm now faces a wave of protests from the anti-mining community in Bicol.
In a statement sent to the Inquirer yesterday, the Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (PNE), called on the DENR to defer the lifting of the cease and desist order.
PNE called on the government to investigate the cause of reported mysterious deaths at Sitio Acal, 15 kilometers away from the mining site.
Clemente Bautista, Kalikasan-PNE national coordinator, said the reported deaths were initially verified by field reports from DENR-Bicol and the Rapu-Rapu Municipal Health Office, which documented at least four persons dead and two sick.
“We are not inclined to take deaths from local communities lightly, especially if these may be related to environmental problems,” the group said. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon
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