http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=77038
By Judy Quiros, Dennis Jay Santos
Inquirer

DAVAO CITY — A delicate balancing act it will be.
Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes the other day said he would decide next week the fate of Lafayette Philippines Inc. in accordance with the government’s policies of encouraging foreign investments in the mining sector, improving the people’s livelihood and protecting the environment.

In a 169-page report to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a fact-finding commission headed by Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes has recommended the closure of the Australian company’s mining operations on Rapu-Rapu Island in Albay province and a review of the 1995 Mining Act.
The Bastes Commission also recommended the cancellation of Lafayette’s environmental compliance certificate, compensation for victims of a waste spillage in October last year and the filing of charges against some environment officials in Albay.

Malacañang has ruled out a repeal of the mining law due to its economic fallout, boosting hopes of foreign miners that the Arroyo administration will stand by them and their investments here in any face-off not only with Bastes but also with the powerful Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

The CBCP earlier this year demanded in a pastoral letter that Ms Arroyo impose a nationwide mining ban, claiming that mining was socially divisive and environmentally disastrous.

Splendid work

“We acknowledge the splendid work of the Bastes Commission. The information it gathered was very valuable … It would be given a lot of weight,” Reyes told reporters on the sidelines of the
Mindanao Congress of the League of Municipalities in Davao City on Wednesday.

At the same time, however, Reyes said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) would use as reference the result of the dialogue that Lafayette held with Rapu-Rapu residents.

In a turnaround, the municipal council passed on May 8 a resolution calling for the resumption of the polymetallic project on the island subject to Lafayette’s compliance with laws on environmental protection and public health.

During a talk with Lafayette officials, Reyes said they informed him the company had poured in at least P400 million for environmental protection.

“We told them to remain steadfast until the department decides on the matter,” Reyes said.
Reyes said mining could improve the quality of life of Filipinos but also pose a hazard to the environment and the people’s safety.

“To ensure that mining will give peace rather than ‘un-peace’ to mining areas, operations should be done on a sustainable and responsible basis,” he said.

In other countries, Reyes said, mining has become “their bridge to their prosperous future.” If the potentials of mining would be fully realized in the Philippines, “it would mean more infrastructures, more markets, more schools, and the quality of life of our people will improve,” he said.

Reyes also said while there were laws on mining safety, “our problem is enforcement.”

Enormous stakes

The stakes in mining are enormous, with officials estimating the industry could generate export earnings of $5-7 billion annually and create thousands of desperately needed jobs.

“There’s a little bit of a pause because of the uncertainty but ultimately the government, we hope, will do the right thing,” John Ridsdel, corporate adviser to TVI Pacific of Canada, said at a recent ceremony to top off a tailings dam in Siocon town, Zamboanga del Norte province.
TVI, anxious to ensure that all the powers are mollified, called on the services of a Subanen tribal priest to sacrifice a squealing pig to sanctify the company’s mining operations.

With world metal prices running at record levels, there is a frenzy of mining activities in the Philippines, which boasts one of the world’s most generous mineral endowments. Mining firms are trying to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars from banks and other sources for some two dozen major projects.

TVI, which is milling 600 tons of gold and silver ore daily two years into its operation, has had the smoothest sailing so far among the eight projects that have reached the production stage.
In contrast, Lafayette has been forced to halt operations on Rapu-Rapu Island, having been hit with fines after a waste spillage last year was blamed by residents and Church officials for fish kills.

The public relations disaster has cost Lafayette’s local managers their jobs. With no cash flow and with overhead costs piling up, the firm’s creditors are also circling.

Manuel Agcaoili, president of Lafayette’s processing unit here, insists the mine has complied with all safeguards but the government is withholding agreement for a test run while it evaluates the results of several independent fact-finding reports.

‘Don’t punish industry’

Regardless of pronouncements by the Arroyo administration in support of mining, industry officials say the real test of its commitment would be what action it takes on the Rapu-Rapu case.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye has said “the Arroyo administration is for the full implementation of the Mining Act but always under strict implementation of environmental safeguards.”

Chamber of Mines of the Philippines president Benjamin Philip Romualdez urged the government to take “specific actions relative to Rapu-Rapu” instead of punishing the entire industry.

“Individual companies have announced that their activities are moving forward,” Romualdez added.

“As long as (investors) know up front what the rules are, then they’ll plan their investments accordingly,” said Canadian Ambassador to Manila Peter Sutherland, gritting his teeth as he watched the animal sacrifice during the TVI ceremony.

“What they don’t want to happen is any major change after they’ve made their investment,” Sutherland added. With a report from Agence France-Presse