Gov says Sorsogon victim of mining foes
http://news.inq7.net/regions/index.php?index=1&story_id=74350
First posted 00:21am (Mla time) May 02, 2006
By Bobby Labalan
Inquirer
SORSOGON CITY—Gov. Raul Lee has urged the national government to allow the resumption of mining operations in Rapu-Rapu, Albay as, he said, it would be the only way to prove if “it is a responsible and safe industry.” (more…)
3 Central Mindanao bishops unite against open-pit operations
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/mnlastd/ContentLoader?page=regions03_may01_2006
By Joseph Jubelag
GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Catholic bishops in Central Mindanao are gearing to fight the mining operation of an Australian-owned firm in Tampakan, South Cotabato.
Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of the Diocese of Marbel, South Cotabato; Bishop Jimmy Afable of the Diocese of Digos, Davao del Sur, and Bishop Ronaldo Valles of the Diocese of Kidapawan, North Cotabato, have joined forces to stop the open-pit copper and gold mining operation of Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) at the boundary of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur provinces. (more…)
With the Rapu Rapu Commissin report due in a few days (May 5), the discussion heats up as points are made, clarified and in some cases - muddled.
Gov says Sorsogon victim of mining foes
SORSOGON CITY—Gov. Raul Lee has urged the national government to allow the resumption of mining operations in Rapu-Rapu, Albay as, he said, it would be the only way to prove if “it is a responsible and safe industry.”
Lee dared mining critics to show scientific data that the mining operations would destroy the environment and threaten the interest of the people.
He said he was apprehensive that the creation of the presidential commission to look into the Lafayette polymetallic project in Rapu-Rapu had given the Left and antimining groups a say in government and was scaring away foreign investors in the process.
The good governor seems to take an above-normal interest in mining interests and investors despite the fact that Rapu Rapu is part of Albay and not Sorsogon.
UP professor denies statement on heavy metals
SORSOGON CITY—The head of the University of the Philippines-Manila (UP-Manila) Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology denied telling the independent commission investigating the effects of mining operation at Rapu-Rapu, Albay that the results of the department’s study were conclusive, especially on the question of heavy metals in the body of the respondents.
In a phone interview, Nelia Cortez-Maramba told the Inquirer that what she told the commission was that they had to collect new blood and urine samples from the residents of the target areas so they could be sent to Minamata, Japan for a more thorough and accurate examination.
Maramba said the only reliable results they had were that of the fish samples but she did not reveal it before the commission but instead gave it to Sorsogon City Mayor Sally Lee for submission to Gov. Raul Lee.
The UP professor was criticized by Governor Lee after she was quoted in an Inquirer article as telling the commission that residents in four towns in Sorsogon had heavy metals in their bodies.
