Poe’s quixotic quest for justice

In Feb. 2013, Philex Mining Corp. bled P1.034 billion for violation of the Mining Act of 1995. A year later, Philex coughed up an additional P188.6 million to pay for damages wrought on Agno River and Balog Creek from a massive tailings spill – 20 tons of sediments – of the Padcal copper-gold mine in Itogon, Benguet.

Also, Philex had to carry out rehab work and cleanup activities in the mine environs – but untold damage had been done and it may take decades to bring life back to the Agno-Balog waterway that had been a source of drinking water, irrigation for crops, food, and livelihood to several communities along the waterway. Philex lost money; the people lost a way of life that the river, turned “biologically dead,” once bequeathed.