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Secretary Angelo Reyes of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources was grinning ear-to-ear last week.
The reason for the uncharacteristic facial expression of the usually
taciturn ex-defense chief was a DENR report on “exciting”
developments in the mining industry.
“The major players are now
here,” said Reyes, “and their investments indicate increased
confidence of global mining investors in the Philippines.”
He cited two companies,
Anglo-American Plc and Xstrata Copper, which have both staked
millions of dollars in mining projects in the country.
Reyes recently approved the
exploration permit of Manila Mining Corp. on the information that
Anglo-American was finalizing a joint venture agreement with MMC for
the exploration of the Bayugo Copper Gold Project in Anislagan,
Placer, Surigao del Norte.
The London-based Anglo-American
has reportedly committed to outlay an initial $10 million for
exploration works in the next two years in the project.
World-class project
The Bayugo copper-gold prospect
is similar to the adjacent Boyungan Copper-Gold Porphyry Deposit
that Anglo-American is exploring under a separate venture with
Philex Mining Corp.
“Together, Bayugo and Boyungan
would make another world-class gold-copper project that should
further firm up the Philippines’ place in the world mining map,”
Reyes said.
Last month Swiss mining giant
Xstrata Copper acquired 62.5 percent of the Tampakan copper-gold
deposit in South Cotabato from Indophil Resources. The management
handover of the project is due for completion in March.
Xstrata’s move came in the wake
of encouraging results of a pre-feasibility study commissioned by
Indophil on its Tampakan property.
The Tampakan deposit is one of
the largest undeveloped copper deposits in Southeast Asia estimated
to contain 11.6 million metric tons of copper and 14.6 million
ounces of gold. The project will need $2 billion to get into
commercial operation.
Aside from Anglo-American and
Xstrata, Reyes also cited three more multinational mining
firms—Chemical Vapor Metal Refinery Co. (CVMR), Phelps Dodge and
BHP-Billiton—which will “firm up their position” in the mining
industry.
So elated was Reyes by these and
other developments that he predicted a boom for the local mining
industry next year. “We are now on the verge of takeoff for that
long-anticipated boom,” the DENR chief was quoted saying.
The government seeks to revive
the minerals industry, which it sees would serve as catalyst for
economic growth, especially in the countryside, DENR said. The
industry is projected to bring in about $6.5 billion in investments
in the medium term, and create over 200,000 additional jobs.
Looking the other way
But as Reyes waxed enthusiastic
about the mining industry’s bright prospects, a team of Filipino,
Irish and British activists scored the Philippine government for
tolerating mining companies that violate safety and environmental
regulations.
Antimining advocates bared last
week the results of a mission conducted by the Missionary Society of
St. Columban, Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social
Policy, Irish Center for Human Rights, Triocaire, Philippine
Indigenous Peoples Links and ATM.
The 66-page report, “Mining in
the Philippines: Concerns and Conflicts,” was written by a team
from the United Kingdom and Ireland, led by Clare Short, a member of
the British Parliament and former UK development minister. (See
www.iucn.org).
Team members said they visited
three mining sites in Mindanao. They also interviewed
representatives of local governments and civil society from four
other mining sites—including the controversial Rapu-Rapu, Albay,
site under the Australian company Lafayette.
The report tells of several cases
where the government relaxed its enforcement of national and
international mining standards in its bid to lure foreign investors.
In July and August last year the
team visited three communities affected by mining: Midsalip,
Zamboanga del Sur; Mount Canatuan, Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte; and
Barangay Libay in Sibutad, Zamboangal del Norte.
Tribes bypassed
According to tribal leaders in
Midsalip and Mount Cana-tuan, mining permit applicants routinely
bypass local tribesmen in violation of the Indigenous Peoples Rights
Act and the Mining Act.
“Mount Canatuan is our
ancestral domain and our sacred mountain,” said Subanen leader
Timuay Jose Boy Anoy. “We do not need the development promised by
mining. We need peace. We need our land to continue our way of
life.”
In Mount Canatuan, Canadian
mining company TVI reportedly evicted families despite their
ancestral domain certificates. Area farmers and fishermen also
reported damage to their livelihood and health, which they traced to
pollution caused by mining.
In Barangay Libay, the site for
large-scale mining in 1997-2002 by the Canadian company Philex Gold,
the land and people have still not recovered from tailing dam
overflows and mudslides destroyed rice fields, mangroves and corals.
“I was deeply shocked by the
negative impact of mining in the Philippines. During our visit we
found scant evidence of mining benefiting the local people of the
country’s economy,” published reports quoted British MP Short as
saying.
DENR Secretary Reyes may have
cause to be happy, but who is he happy for?
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