The Alyansa Tigil Mina Blog

Two big headlines today: Lafayette may shut down $259-M project and Rapu-Rapu closure looms should stir up things, though not in the way we may expect.

While this should be heartening, we should be wary that this constitutes the beginning of a campaign of pressure tactics on the part of Lafayette aimed to sway the administration to their side.

Of note is the fact that the official report of the Rapu Rapu Commission has yet to be released - its release date was in fact pushed back from May 5 to May 19. Comments to that effect are found in both articles:

On March 10, 2006, Executive Order (EO) 145 was issued to create the Rapu-Rapu Fact Finding Commission (RRFFC) which was tasked to “evaluate all the facts and circumstances surrounding the alleged threat to people’s health and environmental safety,” and was asked to submit its report by April 10, 2006.

But RRFFC failed to complete its report as mandated by EO 145 and has sought several extensions. RRFFC has even made public pronouncements that the government should not allow a restart of the Project until it has completed its report, Agcoili added.

We know that the administration wants mining to succeed no matter what and that Lafayette is the flagship site, meant to be the display of state of the art mining processes and environmental mitigation. We also know this is patently untrue, and thanks to the Commission’s fact finding work, there is ample proof to back this up. Yet with their report still not submitted, there remains an opening for Lafayette to slide through, using the arguments the government finds most compelling - profit and investor confidence. By pre-empting the release of the report with this declaration, Lafayette has shifted itself from the culpable party in the spill into the aggrieved defendant whose business has been ruined.

Already there’s talk of lifting the ban on mining operations from none other than the House Committee on the Environment. The reason given? To check whether Lafayette has indeed complied with the conditions set by the MGB. Why a return to operations would be preferable over a visit by investigators is something only the minds of the Philippine Congress can answer.

More updates will be forthcoming.

Colet Mines Presents ‘Clear and Present Danger,’ Mining Engineer Says

Contrary to its statement two weeks ago, Colet Mining and Development Corp. (CMDC) exploration and eventual mining operations present a “clear and present danger” to communities and the environment of Sipalay, Negros Occidental, asserts Efren Fabila, a long-time mining engineer and convenor of Defend Patrimony, a broad alliance against large-scale mining.
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Fabila explained that the water from these two creeks registers a high acidity pH of 3.2. The upstream water of Sipalay River on the other hand where the two creeks meet registers a basic pH of 8. These waters flow along the same rich mineral area, yet there is a big difference in the pH reading. Fabila said it is because Mantuboy and Caiwanan Creeks are active depository sites of CMDC’s drillings.

Mining museum to rise for Baguio centennial

Philippine Ambassador to Germany Delia Albert is linking Baguio’s centennial celebration in 2009 to the mining industry by constructing a museum that would call attention to the country’s oldest mines that surround the city.

Citing the writings of the late diplomat and educator Salvador P. Lopez, Baguio-born Albert said American-led mining operations helped nurture what was once the “vast wilderness” of Benguet province into a “bustling metropolis.”
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A former Philippine foreign secretary and Malacañang’s envoy for mining, Albert noted that diplomacy had become mining’s new frontier because of the need to disclose to the global industry the Supreme Court decision that declared constitutional the 1995 Philippine Mining Act.
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Loreto Ann Tamayo, an environmentalist, said the facility should provide details on how old-school mining ended up despoiling Benguet lands.