December 14, 2005
SUBANON PEOPLE PROTEST TVI OPERATION
TROUBLEMAKER!
This is how Timuay Anoy, leader of the Subanon group described the operation of Toronto Ventures Inc., a Canadian-owned mining firm in today’s inquiry conducted by the House Committee on National Cultural Communities.
Anoy is one of the resource speakers of the group that came from Mt. Canatuan, Siocon, Za mboanga del Norte. Along with him are Subanen tribesmen Nanding Mundai and Onsino Mato, Rev. Beltran Pacatang and Godofredo Galos of Save Siocon Paradise Movement.
The investigation was initiated by Bayan Muna Representative Joel Virador based on House Resolution 426 directing the committee to probe the plight of the indigenous Subanen people in relation to the alleged encroachment and illegal operation of TVI in the area.
Rampant rights violation and alleged unscrupulous operation of the TVI prompt the militant solon to probe the Canadian mining firm.
“The Subanen people of Siocon stiffly oppose the mining operation of TVI since day 1 mainly because the mining company will only cause dislocation and division among them. The TVI mining operation likewise caused immense environmental destruction thereby destroying their sources of livelihood,” Virador said.
He added: “The subanon people’s economy is mainly agricultural. Their source of livelihood came from the seeds they plant. They don’t need gold because they cannot plant and harvest gold. So there’s no real sustainable development in mining in Siocon,” Virador said.
During the inquiry, Galos claimed that TVI’s mining operation caused more harm in the lives of the Subanen people because the mine already polluted the river Zamboanga.
“Since the operation started naging brown na ang tubig sa ilog. Napuno na ito ng putik. At isa sa mga pinagkukunan ng kabuhayan ng mga Subanen ay ang pangingisda. This is also their source of water,” Galos said.
Galos likewise accused the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of being negligent in monitoring the mining activities of the TVI.
“We fear that TVI would cause more destruction than development in Siocon. We don’t feel safe because the DENR has lot of lapses. We really cannot feel if they are doing their best in monitoring the activities of TVI,” Galos said.
Anoy on the other hand bared that TVI forbids him from entering his home in Siocon. He said that he is often barred by TVI’s Special Civilian Armed Auxilliary (SCAA) members every time he went home to see his family.
“2004 pa ako hindi nakakauwi. Hindi ako pwedeng pumasok sa sarili kong lupa dahil
ayaw ng TVI,” Anoy said.#
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Monday, December 05, 2005
Calamity victims in Quezon and Aurora
Manila Times
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Calamity victims hit govt for neglect
By Ronnie E. Calumpita, Reporter
A YEAR after a series of landslides and flash floods hit Quezon and Aurora, thousands of displaced residents are kept waiting for the logs promised by the government to build their houses.
Melicio Rotaquio, a Dumagat leader of the Tulay Ugnayan ng Organisasyon Katutubo sa Sierra Madre-Quezon, said other lucky people are benefiting from logs that had been recovered from the floods.
“The ones who are benefiting are only the rich and logging concessionaires who own sawmills where the logs are processed,” he said in an interview.
He added: “Until now we don’t have our own houses. The government failed to provide us resettlement areas and livelihood assistance.”
Rotaquio, from Barangay San Marcelino, General Nakar, Quezon, along with 80 other calamity victims, held a rally at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources premises Tuesday to oppose the reopening of logging in Quezon and Aurora.
Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of the Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment, said at least nine holders of integrated forest management agreements in Quezon and Aurora were allowed to conduct logging in the two provinces.
Last year’s landslides and flash floods claimed at least 1,600 lives and displaced more than 53,000 families. Among those who died were Rotaquio’s brother, Victorio, his wife and two children.
Environment Secretary Michael Defensor had said that his department would donate the logs to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the calamity victims.
Defensor said the DENR had authorized sawmills to process the logs before turning them over to the DSWD to build houses for the calamity victims.
He said logs that had been retrieved were accounted for.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Calamity victims hit govt for neglect
By Ronnie E. Calumpita, Reporter
A YEAR after a series of landslides and flash floods hit Quezon and Aurora, thousands of displaced residents are kept waiting for the logs promised by the government to build their houses.
Melicio Rotaquio, a Dumagat leader of the Tulay Ugnayan ng Organisasyon Katutubo sa Sierra Madre-Quezon, said other lucky people are benefiting from logs that had been recovered from the floods.
“The ones who are benefiting are only the rich and logging concessionaires who own sawmills where the logs are processed,” he said in an interview.
He added: “Until now we don’t have our own houses. The government failed to provide us resettlement areas and livelihood assistance.”
Rotaquio, from Barangay San Marcelino, General Nakar, Quezon, along with 80 other calamity victims, held a rally at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources premises Tuesday to oppose the reopening of logging in Quezon and Aurora.
Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of the Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment, said at least nine holders of integrated forest management agreements in Quezon and Aurora were allowed to conduct logging in the two provinces.
Last year’s landslides and flash floods claimed at least 1,600 lives and displaced more than 53,000 families. Among those who died were Rotaquio’s brother, Victorio, his wife and two children.
Environment Secretary Michael Defensor had said that his department would donate the logs to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the calamity victims.
Defensor said the DENR had authorized sawmills to process the logs before turning them over to the DSWD to build houses for the calamity victims.
He said logs that had been retrieved were accounted for.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Justice for Quezon and Aurora!
Kalikasan-PNE
PRESS STATEMENT
November 29, 2005
JUSTICE FOR QUEZON AND AURORA NOW!
Stop government policies on continued forest destruction!
One year after the Quezon and Aurora tragedies, the need for justice to its victims has not only been forgotten by the Arroyo government but worst of all has brought more injustices to the people.
The Arroyo government bloodied itself for its culpability in the deaths and human sufferings in Quezon and Aurora last year, yet it is risking further human lives with policies that continue the destruction of the forest.
Large-scale legalized logging is enjoying a resurgence. Corporate legal loggers formed a beeline to Malacanang and they have been amply rewarded, courtesy of a government that awards plunder and immorality, the same jaded values that motivate the Arroyo government.
The resumed logging contract of Sen. Enrile's San Jose Timber Corp., a recent most celebrated case showing this government's utter lack of sensibility and respect for the environment and people's lives, is only the tip of the iceberg. In Gen. Nakar, Quezon, Timberland Forest Products, Inc., a logging company with a cancelled Industrial Forest Management Agreement (IFMA), was reinstated by no less than Malacanang.
Nationwide, even in the landslide devastated areas of Quezon and Aurora, logging companies are back in business. Even before Environment Secretary Michael Defensor lifted a bogus logging moratorium in Aurora-Quezon and other provinces, massive logging by licensed legal and corporate illegal loggers has continued.
Kalikasan-PNE believes the continuing lack of justice in Quezon and Aurora, as well as to all other victims of continuing forest destruction and the disasters this cause, is rooted in forestry policies and practices that regard the forest as sources of government largesse and patronage politics. We believe justice can only be had through the following calls which we vow to fight for:
We are well aware, however, that these calls and demands cannot possibly come to fruition under the immoral, illegitimate and anti-people, anti-environment leadership of the Arroyo government.
We therefore vow even more to wage activities and mass actions to hasten the departure of the Arroyo government.
Only then can we have justice. Only then can the people initiate most urgently needed reforms in the forestry and other environmental sectors.
PRESS STATEMENT
November 29, 2005
JUSTICE FOR QUEZON AND AURORA NOW!
Stop government policies on continued forest destruction!
One year after the Quezon and Aurora tragedies, the need for justice to its victims has not only been forgotten by the Arroyo government but worst of all has brought more injustices to the people.
The Arroyo government bloodied itself for its culpability in the deaths and human sufferings in Quezon and Aurora last year, yet it is risking further human lives with policies that continue the destruction of the forest.
Large-scale legalized logging is enjoying a resurgence. Corporate legal loggers formed a beeline to Malacanang and they have been amply rewarded, courtesy of a government that awards plunder and immorality, the same jaded values that motivate the Arroyo government.
The resumed logging contract of Sen. Enrile's San Jose Timber Corp., a recent most celebrated case showing this government's utter lack of sensibility and respect for the environment and people's lives, is only the tip of the iceberg. In Gen. Nakar, Quezon, Timberland Forest Products, Inc., a logging company with a cancelled Industrial Forest Management Agreement (IFMA), was reinstated by no less than Malacanang.
Nationwide, even in the landslide devastated areas of Quezon and Aurora, logging companies are back in business. Even before Environment Secretary Michael Defensor lifted a bogus logging moratorium in Aurora-Quezon and other provinces, massive logging by licensed legal and corporate illegal loggers has continued.
Kalikasan-PNE believes the continuing lack of justice in Quezon and Aurora, as well as to all other victims of continuing forest destruction and the disasters this cause, is rooted in forestry policies and practices that regard the forest as sources of government largesse and patronage politics. We believe justice can only be had through the following calls which we vow to fight for:
- Implement a forestry policy and program that upholds the national patrimony and protect the democratic rights of the people and their access to natural resources.
- Cancel all large-scale logging concessions granted to corporations and individuals, such as TLA, IFMA, SIFMA, ITPA, SLUA.
- Stop the issuance of new logging concessions and licenses, most especially in old growth forests and critical ecosystems. Immediately rehabilitate degraded/denuded forests.
- Provide immediate settlement and livelihood alternatives to families displaced by landslides and flashfloods. Implement rehabilitation of landslide-flashflood affected areas and secure the communities from geohazards.
- Justice to all victims of the landslide-flashflood tragedies. Conduct investigation on the disbursement of calamity funds and donations to disaster areas.
- Junk forestry policies that cause untrammeled plunder and destruction of our forest resources.
We are well aware, however, that these calls and demands cannot possibly come to fruition under the immoral, illegitimate and anti-people, anti-environment leadership of the Arroyo government.
We therefore vow even more to wage activities and mass actions to hasten the departure of the Arroyo government.
Only then can we have justice. Only then can the people initiate most urgently needed reforms in the forestry and other environmental sectors.
Forest destruction in Quezon and Aurora
November 29, 2005
Landslide victims, environmental activists denounce Arroyo, big loggers for continued forest destruction
In commemoration of the 2004 landslide in Quezon and Aurora provinces, more than 150 environmental activists and victims of the tragedy staged a human chain in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. They denounced the grave failure of the Arroyo government in stopping large-scale logging operations in the area and in providing much needed rehabilitation services and livelihood support to affected communities.
“Nananatiling mas malala pa sa isang kahig, isang tuka ang aming buhay sa Quezon,” said Ka Miling Rotaquio, a Dumagat leader of Tulay Ugnayan ng Organisasyong Katutubo sa Sierra Madre-Quezon (Tunod-Quezon).
“Pinabayaan kami ng gobyerno. Kahit singkong duling ay walang ibinigay ang gobyerno upang magkaroon kami ng kabuhayan. Karamihan sa aming mga katutubo ay hindi makapagsaka at walang permanenteng hanapbuhay. Natabunan at nasira ang aming mga bukirin at taniman dahil sa landslide.”
Ka Miling did not only lose a house but also his brother and the latter’s wife and two children in the tragedy. He is one of the victims denied of resettlement area and livelihood assistance by the government.
Last year’s landslide and flashfloods in Eastern Luzon claimed more than 1,600 lives and displaced more than 53,000 families. Until now, no significant reforestation and rehabilitation efforts have been implemented in the affected provinces as promised by the government. The government earmarked Php 60 million to reforest 5.4 million hectares of denuded forest land, a pittance of Php11.10 per hectare.
Meanwhile, Marieta Corpuz, Secretary General of the Samahan ng mga Katutubo sa Sierra Madre , accused the government and big logging corporations for perpetuating massive deforestation in their province. Corpuz is an Alta, one of the indigenous peoples in Aurora affected by the landslide.
Corpuz claimed that just a few months after the disaster, the Industries Development Corp and Inter-Pacific Forest Resources Corp. resumed their large-scale logging operations in Aurora. Instead of prosecuting them, President Arroyo and DENR Sec. Mike Defensor connived with big-time loggers as they continued to plunder our forest and pillage our other resources. They also used force through militarization to silence us in our opposition to large-scale logging. The 48th IB Philippine Army conducts military operations in the area to protect the operations of big time loggers under the guise of pursuing the New People’s Army we have often been hastily linked with.”.
This month, DENR Sec. Defensor lifted the logging moratorium in Aurora and other provinces in the country. He said the logging moratorium affected forest-dependent communities throughout the country comprising holders of some 200 Integrated Forestry Management Agreements (IFMAs), 3,000 Socialized Forestry Management Agreement (SFMAs), and 5,000 Community-Based Forest Management Agreements (CBFMAs).
But according to Clemente Bautista, National Coordinator of KALIKASAN People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE), “the resumption of corporate logging, together with the revitalization of large-scale mining, has become a political concession and revenue-generating scheme of the embattled and cash-strapped Arroyo regime to gain support from the elite families with interests in such extractive industries.
In Aurora and Quezon alone, 141,560 hectares of forest owned by nine logging companies are under IFMAs. Industries Development Corporation has the biggest logging concession covering 58,343 hectares. There are 703,158 hectares of forest under IFMAs and another 543,939 hectares under 12 Timber Licensing Agreements (TLA) nationwide.
“These are actually neither owned nor managed by local communities but by the big businesses and powerful political families in the country,” said Bautista.
“It is pure hog wash for the government to proclaim that the lifting of log ban is meant to provide livelihood for the people and victims of the tragedy. The government’s rhetoric of helping the people will only be relevant if it exercises political will to cancel all large-scale logging agreements and operations, impose moratorium on new logging concessions, and provide land to be tilled by and livelihood support for upland dwellers and indigenous peoples. These are the real needs and demands on the ground that will provide the people sustainable livelihood and enable them to judiciously implement management of our forests.”
But we are doubtful whether the beleaguered Arroyo administration can sincerely demonstrate such will. Only a pro-environment and pro-people government that should replace hers can pave the way for the realization of these important reforms our environment in crisis badly needs.” Bautista ended. ###
Reference: Kalikasan-People's Network for the Environment
Landslide victims, environmental activists denounce Arroyo, big loggers for continued forest destruction
In commemoration of the 2004 landslide in Quezon and Aurora provinces, more than 150 environmental activists and victims of the tragedy staged a human chain in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. They denounced the grave failure of the Arroyo government in stopping large-scale logging operations in the area and in providing much needed rehabilitation services and livelihood support to affected communities.
“Nananatiling mas malala pa sa isang kahig, isang tuka ang aming buhay sa Quezon,” said Ka Miling Rotaquio, a Dumagat leader of Tulay Ugnayan ng Organisasyong Katutubo sa Sierra Madre-Quezon (Tunod-Quezon).
“Pinabayaan kami ng gobyerno. Kahit singkong duling ay walang ibinigay ang gobyerno upang magkaroon kami ng kabuhayan. Karamihan sa aming mga katutubo ay hindi makapagsaka at walang permanenteng hanapbuhay. Natabunan at nasira ang aming mga bukirin at taniman dahil sa landslide.”
Ka Miling did not only lose a house but also his brother and the latter’s wife and two children in the tragedy. He is one of the victims denied of resettlement area and livelihood assistance by the government.
Last year’s landslide and flashfloods in Eastern Luzon claimed more than 1,600 lives and displaced more than 53,000 families. Until now, no significant reforestation and rehabilitation efforts have been implemented in the affected provinces as promised by the government. The government earmarked Php 60 million to reforest 5.4 million hectares of denuded forest land, a pittance of Php11.10 per hectare.
Meanwhile, Marieta Corpuz, Secretary General of the Samahan ng mga Katutubo sa Sierra Madre , accused the government and big logging corporations for perpetuating massive deforestation in their province. Corpuz is an Alta, one of the indigenous peoples in Aurora affected by the landslide.
Corpuz claimed that just a few months after the disaster, the Industries Development Corp and Inter-Pacific Forest Resources Corp. resumed their large-scale logging operations in Aurora. Instead of prosecuting them, President Arroyo and DENR Sec. Mike Defensor connived with big-time loggers as they continued to plunder our forest and pillage our other resources. They also used force through militarization to silence us in our opposition to large-scale logging. The 48th IB Philippine Army conducts military operations in the area to protect the operations of big time loggers under the guise of pursuing the New People’s Army we have often been hastily linked with.”.
This month, DENR Sec. Defensor lifted the logging moratorium in Aurora and other provinces in the country. He said the logging moratorium affected forest-dependent communities throughout the country comprising holders of some 200 Integrated Forestry Management Agreements (IFMAs), 3,000 Socialized Forestry Management Agreement (SFMAs), and 5,000 Community-Based Forest Management Agreements (CBFMAs).
But according to Clemente Bautista, National Coordinator of KALIKASAN People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE), “the resumption of corporate logging, together with the revitalization of large-scale mining, has become a political concession and revenue-generating scheme of the embattled and cash-strapped Arroyo regime to gain support from the elite families with interests in such extractive industries.
In Aurora and Quezon alone, 141,560 hectares of forest owned by nine logging companies are under IFMAs. Industries Development Corporation has the biggest logging concession covering 58,343 hectares. There are 703,158 hectares of forest under IFMAs and another 543,939 hectares under 12 Timber Licensing Agreements (TLA) nationwide.
“These are actually neither owned nor managed by local communities but by the big businesses and powerful political families in the country,” said Bautista.
“It is pure hog wash for the government to proclaim that the lifting of log ban is meant to provide livelihood for the people and victims of the tragedy. The government’s rhetoric of helping the people will only be relevant if it exercises political will to cancel all large-scale logging agreements and operations, impose moratorium on new logging concessions, and provide land to be tilled by and livelihood support for upland dwellers and indigenous peoples. These are the real needs and demands on the ground that will provide the people sustainable livelihood and enable them to judiciously implement management of our forests.”
But we are doubtful whether the beleaguered Arroyo administration can sincerely demonstrate such will. Only a pro-environment and pro-people government that should replace hers can pave the way for the realization of these important reforms our environment in crisis badly needs.” Bautista ended. ###
Reference: Kalikasan-People's Network for the Environment
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Logging in Aurora
1 year after, logging back in Aurora
By Katherine Adraneda
The Philippine Star 11/29/2005
A year after flashfloods and landslides washed out communities in the provinces of Quezon and Aurora, illegal logging continues.
Residents of the provinces, who lost their loved ones in the tragedy attributed to unabated illegal logging, cannot help but feel insulted by what they perceive to be the disregard of authorities who have failed to limit logging operations.
Just three months ago, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) allowed more logging concessionaires to cut trees and transport logs.
The DENR has reportedly issued six permits allowing eight holders of industrial forest management agreements (IFMAs) and a holder of timber license agreement (TLA) to operate.
"This adds insult to the fresh injury that we, victim’s of last year’s flashfloods and landslides, endure until now," said Marieta Corpuz of the Samahan ng Katutubo sa Sierra Madre (SKSM).
"Our cry for justice has not been heeded by Mrs. Arroyo, who has been busy attending to the demands of her patrons, including logging and mining companies," she added.
Corpuz said the government’s promise of assistance to affected communities remains unfulfilled.
Instead of implementing the much-needed rehabilitation, the government has focused on lifting the ban on logging operations in the provinces, she said.
Despite the supposed moratorium on logging operations in the provinces, Corpuz claimed tree cutting in the provinces goes on unabated.
"Before, the people managed to live without logging," Corpuz said.
"(The claim that) people there do not have a livelihood without logging is only being used as a reason by logging companies and even the government to advance their interests," she added.
Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of the KALIKASAN-People’s Network, said that among the beneficiaries of the memoranda issued by the DENR is Industries Development Corp. (IDC). Its logging permit covers a total of 53,343 hectares of land in Aurora province.
Bautista said other IFMA holders in Aurora and Quezon provinces also include RCC Timber Corp. and International Hardwood and Vinyl Corp. of the Philippines.
Last August, the DENR also allowed the San Jose Timber Corp., a logging company said to be owned by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, to cut trees within a forest reserve and nature park in Samar.
Another logging firm, the Top Lite Inc. is pushing for the resumption of its operations in Aurora.
Bautista said a total of 223,254 hectares of lands in Quezon and Aurora are covered with IFMAs and TLAs of big logging companies.
"No reforestation effort in these provinces has ever been done since the tragedy in order to prevent future recurrence of the flashfloods and landslides," Bautista pointed out.
"Justice remains elusive for the victims while the big-time loggers continue to operate," he said.
To commemorate the first anniversary of the tragedy, at least 200 survivors and volunteers plan to form a human chain along Katipunan Avenue today.
Over two thousand people were killed and thousands more were left homeless in the typhoon-induced flashfloods and landslides that struck the two provinces on Nov. 29, 2004.
The survivors of the tragedy are scheduled to hold a rally at the DENR head office in Diliman, Quezon City to demand the immediate cancellation of all logging concessions and agreements nationwide.
They also called for an efficient management of the country’s denuding forests.
The victims called on the government to fulfill its promise of compensation. They also called for an audit of the P50-million rehabilitation fund.
Bautista claimed some irregularity in the disbursement of the supposed calamity fund since not all victims received compensation.
He cited reports that local officials had diverted some of the funds.
The group also demanded the revocation of the Forestry Code of 1975.
"This law is the reason for all these rampant and wanton logging operations in the country. It should be scrapped," Bautista said.
By Katherine Adraneda
The Philippine Star 11/29/2005
A year after flashfloods and landslides washed out communities in the provinces of Quezon and Aurora, illegal logging continues.
Residents of the provinces, who lost their loved ones in the tragedy attributed to unabated illegal logging, cannot help but feel insulted by what they perceive to be the disregard of authorities who have failed to limit logging operations.
Just three months ago, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) allowed more logging concessionaires to cut trees and transport logs.
The DENR has reportedly issued six permits allowing eight holders of industrial forest management agreements (IFMAs) and a holder of timber license agreement (TLA) to operate.
"This adds insult to the fresh injury that we, victim’s of last year’s flashfloods and landslides, endure until now," said Marieta Corpuz of the Samahan ng Katutubo sa Sierra Madre (SKSM).
"Our cry for justice has not been heeded by Mrs. Arroyo, who has been busy attending to the demands of her patrons, including logging and mining companies," she added.
Corpuz said the government’s promise of assistance to affected communities remains unfulfilled.
Instead of implementing the much-needed rehabilitation, the government has focused on lifting the ban on logging operations in the provinces, she said.
Despite the supposed moratorium on logging operations in the provinces, Corpuz claimed tree cutting in the provinces goes on unabated.
"Before, the people managed to live without logging," Corpuz said.
"(The claim that) people there do not have a livelihood without logging is only being used as a reason by logging companies and even the government to advance their interests," she added.
Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of the KALIKASAN-People’s Network, said that among the beneficiaries of the memoranda issued by the DENR is Industries Development Corp. (IDC). Its logging permit covers a total of 53,343 hectares of land in Aurora province.
Bautista said other IFMA holders in Aurora and Quezon provinces also include RCC Timber Corp. and International Hardwood and Vinyl Corp. of the Philippines.
Last August, the DENR also allowed the San Jose Timber Corp., a logging company said to be owned by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, to cut trees within a forest reserve and nature park in Samar.
Another logging firm, the Top Lite Inc. is pushing for the resumption of its operations in Aurora.
Bautista said a total of 223,254 hectares of lands in Quezon and Aurora are covered with IFMAs and TLAs of big logging companies.
"No reforestation effort in these provinces has ever been done since the tragedy in order to prevent future recurrence of the flashfloods and landslides," Bautista pointed out.
"Justice remains elusive for the victims while the big-time loggers continue to operate," he said.
To commemorate the first anniversary of the tragedy, at least 200 survivors and volunteers plan to form a human chain along Katipunan Avenue today.
Over two thousand people were killed and thousands more were left homeless in the typhoon-induced flashfloods and landslides that struck the two provinces on Nov. 29, 2004.
The survivors of the tragedy are scheduled to hold a rally at the DENR head office in Diliman, Quezon City to demand the immediate cancellation of all logging concessions and agreements nationwide.
They also called for an efficient management of the country’s denuding forests.
The victims called on the government to fulfill its promise of compensation. They also called for an audit of the P50-million rehabilitation fund.
Bautista claimed some irregularity in the disbursement of the supposed calamity fund since not all victims received compensation.
He cited reports that local officials had diverted some of the funds.
The group also demanded the revocation of the Forestry Code of 1975.
"This law is the reason for all these rampant and wanton logging operations in the country. It should be scrapped," Bautista said.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Mining in Rapu-rapu, Albay
BUSINESS WORLD Vol. XIX, No. 85
Tuesday, November 22, 2005 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
The Nation
Lafayette ban stays pending compliance to bureau’s directive
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) office in Region 5 has effectively formalized the stoppage in the operations of Lafayette Mining Ltd. in Rapu-Rapu, Albay after suspending the company’s wastewater discharge permit and its chemical control order following the recent mine spill at the Australian firm’s gold plant.
The permit suspension order directs Lafayette to "suspend any use of cyanide in any processing in the project" and prevented it from discharging tailings from the project.
The order says the suspensions are in effect until such time as the EMB finds that the tailings management and disposal system are capable of containing the tailings and that the cyanide detoxification plant is capable of reducing cyanide levels.
A Lafayette official confirmed receipt of the permit suspension order, saying the company saw "no issue as this is what we have been working through with the EMB to resolve quickly."
He did not, however, indicate a time line within which it would be able to comply with the EMB order, and did not say how it would affect the roughly 500 personnel who work for the plant.
Reynulfo Juan, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Bicol regional director, said the suspension of the permits will temporarily disallow Lafayette’s use of its tailings ponds and its use of the chemical cyanide in its operations.
He explained this will necessarily affect Lafayette’s operations with its base metals plant because the same equipment will be affected and the same chemicals will be used as well.
"So titigil ang lahat ng operations nila [they will have to stop all operations]," Mr. Juan said, "because they will still use the same system even with the base metals plant."
Lafayette, in a statement earlier, said it had commenced the commissioning phase of its base metals flotation treatment plant at the Rapu-Rapu project in Albay. This meant the decommissioning of its gold plant.
"Changeover to base metals production will see the curtailment of gold production from the oxide resource. Significantly, during operations it has been identified that more gold oxide resource exists than was originally modeled and this will be scheduled for processing at the end of the base metal production," Lafayette had said.
In the permit suspension orders, the EMB said Lafayette was found to have violated its wastewater discharge permit which specified that no overflows would be discharged from its pond. A discharged of effluent which is not at a par to DENR standards is a ground for a revocation of the permit.
The order also stated that Lafayette was also found to have violated the chemical control order conditions which stipulated that no cyanide could be discharged to the environment without prior approval from the department.
The MGB has asked Lafayette also to revise the rehabilitation plan it has submitted to the bureau two days after the mine spill incident.
The Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic project is one of the government’s flagship mining projects with the recent revitalization of the mining industry. It is one of the 23 priority mining projects and has one of the largest foreign capital infusions among the 23.
As the first foreign-funded mining project in 30 years, the Rapu-Rapu project is expected to boost the government’s planned revitalization of the local mining industry and invite more foreign investors into the sector. -- Beverly T. Natividad
Tuesday, November 22, 2005 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
The Nation
Lafayette ban stays pending compliance to bureau’s directive
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) office in Region 5 has effectively formalized the stoppage in the operations of Lafayette Mining Ltd. in Rapu-Rapu, Albay after suspending the company’s wastewater discharge permit and its chemical control order following the recent mine spill at the Australian firm’s gold plant.
The permit suspension order directs Lafayette to "suspend any use of cyanide in any processing in the project" and prevented it from discharging tailings from the project.
The order says the suspensions are in effect until such time as the EMB finds that the tailings management and disposal system are capable of containing the tailings and that the cyanide detoxification plant is capable of reducing cyanide levels.
A Lafayette official confirmed receipt of the permit suspension order, saying the company saw "no issue as this is what we have been working through with the EMB to resolve quickly."
He did not, however, indicate a time line within which it would be able to comply with the EMB order, and did not say how it would affect the roughly 500 personnel who work for the plant.
Reynulfo Juan, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Bicol regional director, said the suspension of the permits will temporarily disallow Lafayette’s use of its tailings ponds and its use of the chemical cyanide in its operations.
He explained this will necessarily affect Lafayette’s operations with its base metals plant because the same equipment will be affected and the same chemicals will be used as well.
"So titigil ang lahat ng operations nila [they will have to stop all operations]," Mr. Juan said, "because they will still use the same system even with the base metals plant."
Lafayette, in a statement earlier, said it had commenced the commissioning phase of its base metals flotation treatment plant at the Rapu-Rapu project in Albay. This meant the decommissioning of its gold plant.
"Changeover to base metals production will see the curtailment of gold production from the oxide resource. Significantly, during operations it has been identified that more gold oxide resource exists than was originally modeled and this will be scheduled for processing at the end of the base metal production," Lafayette had said.
In the permit suspension orders, the EMB said Lafayette was found to have violated its wastewater discharge permit which specified that no overflows would be discharged from its pond. A discharged of effluent which is not at a par to DENR standards is a ground for a revocation of the permit.
The order also stated that Lafayette was also found to have violated the chemical control order conditions which stipulated that no cyanide could be discharged to the environment without prior approval from the department.
The MGB has asked Lafayette also to revise the rehabilitation plan it has submitted to the bureau two days after the mine spill incident.
The Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic project is one of the government’s flagship mining projects with the recent revitalization of the mining industry. It is one of the 23 priority mining projects and has one of the largest foreign capital infusions among the 23.
As the first foreign-funded mining project in 30 years, the Rapu-Rapu project is expected to boost the government’s planned revitalization of the local mining industry and invite more foreign investors into the sector. -- Beverly T. Natividad
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Mining in Rapu-rapu, Albay
Mine spill no accident, workers tell probe team
First posted 10:27pm (Mla time) Nov 15, 2005
By Blanche Rivera
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on Page Page A17 of the November 16, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
AN INDEPENDENT TEAM INVESTIGATING the spill of wastes from the Lafayette Philippines Inc.’s mining site in Rapu-Rapu, Albay received testimony from the mining firm’s workers that the spill was not an accident.
Workers of Lafayette told the team that they were ordered to release the mine waste from the tailings pond into the sea, disputing an official report that the Oct. 31 mine spill was an accident.
The fact-finding mission, led by the Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC), yesterday announced it had gathered testimony from more than seven workers who claimed they were instructed to redirect the pipes from the tailings ponds to the creeks, which lead to the Albay Gulf.
“Contrary to reports, Lafayette Philippine’s tailings dam was not the site of an accident last Oct. 31 that caused cyanide leakage, fish kills and health problems,” CEC’s Januar Ong, leader of the fact-finding team, said in a press conference in Quezon City yesterday.
“There was no damage to the dam. Testimonies reveal that mine tailings were released from the main tailings dam to a smaller overfill dam which caused the leakage. This is the truth that the mining company is deliberately concealing in an effort to shield itself from its culpability in the disaster,” he said.
Ong showed a video of a worker in the tailings dam. The worker was drawing the location of the tailings ponds and the pipes that supposedly channeled the mine waste and effluent to the sea instead of the polishing pond.
The polishing pond would direct the effluent to the processing station where the water would be recycled.
Ong said the workers refused to be identified but they admitted that one Saturday before the Oct. 31 mine spill, they were told to bring down the pipes so that these would lead directly to the sea.
“They knew that their dam could not hold the water during heavy rains, so instead of having the dam break, they directed the mine waste to the sea,” Fr. Felino Bugauisan, a member of Sagip Isla, said.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau, however, disputed the CEC’s claim, saying there were no structures or pipes that could be moved to redirect the flow of tailings or effluents.
Reynulfo Juan, MGB regional director, said the workers’ claim that they had to channel the pipes from the tailings ponds to the sea was nearly impossible because the pipes were very heavy structures that could not be easily moved.
“That’s not something they can do in just a matter of days,” Juan said in an interview at the MGB central office in Quezon City.
Michael Cabalda, MGB mining and environmental safety chief, said Lafayette would need an entire pipeline system to do what the workers claimed they were instructed to do during the heavy downpour that led to the overflow of the tailings pond.
The MGB showed photos of Lafayette’s system, which included a main tailings pond, a lower tailings pond, two settlings ponds and a polishing pond. These structures show the route of the mine tailings from the detoxification plant.
First posted 10:27pm (Mla time) Nov 15, 2005
By Blanche Rivera
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on Page Page A17 of the November 16, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
AN INDEPENDENT TEAM INVESTIGATING the spill of wastes from the Lafayette Philippines Inc.’s mining site in Rapu-Rapu, Albay received testimony from the mining firm’s workers that the spill was not an accident.
Workers of Lafayette told the team that they were ordered to release the mine waste from the tailings pond into the sea, disputing an official report that the Oct. 31 mine spill was an accident.
The fact-finding mission, led by the Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC), yesterday announced it had gathered testimony from more than seven workers who claimed they were instructed to redirect the pipes from the tailings ponds to the creeks, which lead to the Albay Gulf.
“Contrary to reports, Lafayette Philippine’s tailings dam was not the site of an accident last Oct. 31 that caused cyanide leakage, fish kills and health problems,” CEC’s Januar Ong, leader of the fact-finding team, said in a press conference in Quezon City yesterday.
“There was no damage to the dam. Testimonies reveal that mine tailings were released from the main tailings dam to a smaller overfill dam which caused the leakage. This is the truth that the mining company is deliberately concealing in an effort to shield itself from its culpability in the disaster,” he said.
Ong showed a video of a worker in the tailings dam. The worker was drawing the location of the tailings ponds and the pipes that supposedly channeled the mine waste and effluent to the sea instead of the polishing pond.
The polishing pond would direct the effluent to the processing station where the water would be recycled.
Ong said the workers refused to be identified but they admitted that one Saturday before the Oct. 31 mine spill, they were told to bring down the pipes so that these would lead directly to the sea.
“They knew that their dam could not hold the water during heavy rains, so instead of having the dam break, they directed the mine waste to the sea,” Fr. Felino Bugauisan, a member of Sagip Isla, said.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau, however, disputed the CEC’s claim, saying there were no structures or pipes that could be moved to redirect the flow of tailings or effluents.
Reynulfo Juan, MGB regional director, said the workers’ claim that they had to channel the pipes from the tailings ponds to the sea was nearly impossible because the pipes were very heavy structures that could not be easily moved.
“That’s not something they can do in just a matter of days,” Juan said in an interview at the MGB central office in Quezon City.
Michael Cabalda, MGB mining and environmental safety chief, said Lafayette would need an entire pipeline system to do what the workers claimed they were instructed to do during the heavy downpour that led to the overflow of the tailings pond.
The MGB showed photos of Lafayette’s system, which included a main tailings pond, a lower tailings pond, two settlings ponds and a polishing pond. These structures show the route of the mine tailings from the detoxification plant.
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