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BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya: Gov. Luisa Lloren Cuaresma ordered an
Australian-owned mining firm “to cease and desist” its quarrying
activities in the remote Didipio village of Kasibu town.
Gov. Cuaresma in her order told Australian-owned
Oceana Gold Philippines, one of the nationally sanctioned foreign
firms conducting mining explorations in the province, to immediately
stop quarrying activities until the province decides they could be
resumed.
The order that was dated April 9 but implemented
only on Wednesday, April 30, stemmed from the alleged failure of
Oceana Gold to pay taxes for its quarrying activities.
But Oceana Gold or Delta Corp. which has an
existing Financial Technical Assistance Agreement with the national
government to explore the area and conduct other activities that
would eventually lead to commercial mining operations if the said
activities proved lucrative, said the quarrying activity was part
and parcel of their construction phase in preparation for full
commercial operations.
The order only became effective on Tuesday, or
some 20 days overdue because Oceana Gold refused to receive a copy
of the order. The governor had ordered the province’s Environment
and Natural Resources Office and the police to ensure that the order
was served.
Meanwhile, Vice Gov. Jose Gambito said the
provincial government was not questioning the mining activities of
Oceana Gold per se, but only the non-remittance of payment for the
quarrying operations.
“Quarrying is one of the activities taxable by
the provincial government and the governor’s move was only right
following the Local Government Code,” said Gambito, also a lawyer.
Oceana Gold said the so-called quarrying
activity was integral in their shift from exploration to commercial
mining, and characterized the so-called construction phase as
preparation for what would be the region’s first large-scale
mining project.
When sought for comments, officials from the
Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the
governor had no right making the cease and desist order since such
matters involved a large-scale mining operation.
“Under the Mining Act, all questions on
large-scale mining operations are addressed by the national
government. All violations must be taken in the context of the
Mining Act, which is the national law on all mining activities,”
DENR Cagayan Valley Regional Executive Director Clarence Baguilat
said.
Located along the boundaries between Nueva
Vizcaya and Quirino provinces, the Didipio Gold-Copper Project of
Oceana Gold is projected to generate in its 15-year period of
operations some P30 billion in taxes for the national government
besides the local taxes and jobs it could generate that should
translate to more millions of pesos.
-- Francis C. Hidalgo Jr.
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