By Dan Mariano
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/july/03/yehey/opinion/20060703opi2.html

THE questionable practices of Lafayette Mines in Rapu-Rapu have sparked controversy in the Philippines, but they have also begun to draw public attention in the mining company’s home country.

Oxfam Australia (see background below) has described Lafayatte’s practices as “irresponsible.” The charity organization, which is linked to a highly influential global network, has even called on the Australian government to require Australian companies operating overseas—like Lafayette—to adopt safety and environmental standards that they are compelled to observe in their own country.

In a recent statement forwarded to this column by Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Penny Gorman, acting executive director of Oxfam Australia, said: “Australian companies ought to adopt, as a minimum, Australian environmental and international human-rights standards in all their operations.”

“There is a business case for the Australian government to require our mining companies to adopt minimum standards,” wrote Gorman. “The poor performance of just one Australian mining company can undermine the ability of others to gain access to precious resources.”
Gorman reminded mining companies that they operate under a “social license.” Governments allow them to operate, providing they do so in ways that provide a net benefit to the public.
“A sure way to lose that social license is to try to operate a mine using substandard means—employing methods that simply would not be acceptable in Australia,” the Oxfam official said. “If one mining company employs an irresponsible approach, other Aussie companies will also find it extremely difficult to obtain that social license.”

In mid-June, Secretary Angelo Reyes of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) announced the Philippine government’s decision ruling out a ban on mining. Reyes’s announcement completely reversed the recommendation of a fact-finding committee, which the government itself had created to look into the Rapu-Rapu controversy.

Disregarding the findings of the committee headed by Bishop Arthur Bastes, Reyes gave Lafayette 30 days to prove it can operate in Rapu-Rapu within DENR standards. That “reprieve” runs out in about two weeks.

“Australian mining companies should not seek to fly under the radar of underresourced developing country governments,” Gorman said. “Relying on enforcement of the laws and standards of a host country is not enough to protect the rights of communities affected by mining—Australian mining companies can and must do more in following Australian environment and occupational health and safety requirement standards overseas.”
The Oxfam Australia official emphasized: “The Australian public expects such standards to apply and, certainly, the people of Rapu Rapu deserve nothing less.”

DENR suspended Lafayette’s operations last year following two cyanide spills at its mine site. The spills produced a watery mixture of toxic metals that contaminated waterways and killed marine life. The fear of heavy metal contamination led to a severe drop in fish sales, affecting a reported 80 percent of fish traders in the area. “In addition, some people living within 20 kilometers of the mine reported unusual skin rashes and itchiness directly after the spills occurred,” Oxfam Australia noted.

While Oxfam Australia calls on Lafayette to adopt Australian safety and environment standards in its Rapu-Rapu operations, Rep. Joey Salceda of Albay echoes the sentiment of many of his constituents that their province does not expect anything good from the mining operation.
Salceda is one of the economic advisers of President Arroyo, whose administration has pinned its hopes on mining to help raise the country’s export earnings. Nonetheless, Salceda is the only Albay congressman to openly object to Lafayette’s operations in Rapu-Rapu. Last month he
even took part in a protest demonstration in Legazpi City.

The other two Albay representatives—Edcel Lagman and Carlos Imperial whose districts are closer to Rapu-Rapu—have maintained silence on the matter. Go figure.

A published report had Salceda pointing out that of the P28-billion revenue Lafayette is projected to generate in five years of operation, only 13 percent will go to the Philippines and just one percent to the province of Albay.

“How much is 1 percent compared with the damage it would cause to Rapu-Rapu, a beautiful tiny island?” asked Salceda.

Salceda recalled that foreign mining companies have historically done little for the economies of the provinces they operated in. For decades gold has been mined in Camarine Sur, but it is still one of the poorest provinces in the country. The same is true with Masbate and Zamboanga del Norte where mining for other minerals have left the residents of those provinces poor, if not poorer, as ever.

Oxfam Australia is the Australian affiliate of Oxfam International. Oxfam International, founded in 1995, is a confederation of 12 independent, not-for-profit, secular, community-based aid and development organizations that work with local partners in over 100 countries worldwide to reduce poverty, suffering and injustice.

Besides Australia, the Oxfam organizations are based in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Quebec, Spain and the United States.

Oxfam Australia, which was called Community Aid Abroad for much of its history, merged with Freedom From Hunger in 1991, and later became Oxfam Community Aid Abroad to reflect its closer affiliation with the Oxfam International family. It changed its name to Oxfam Australia in 2005.