Water Warriors Press for Moratorium on Water Permits

Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC-KsK) –  Luzon
April 21, 2010 

Water Warriors Press for Moratorium on Water Permits 

In line with the Global Earth Week celebration, Ifugao leaders of the province of Nueva Vizcaya and a 100-strong contingent of water advocates troop the National Water Regulatory Board (NWRB) in Quezon City to urge the regulatory board to freeze the issuance of water permits for mining projects that exacerbate water crisis and climate change, uphold peoples’ basic right to water, and address the proper management and conservation of our fresh water resources, primarily to secure community and agricultural use. 

Highlighting the protest action, Ifugao leaders filed Motions to Resolve the Didipio water cases at the NWRB, urging the institution to reject the water permit applications of North Luzon Sustainable Development Corporation (NLSDC), a subsidiary of OceanaGold (an Australian mining company). NLSDC and OceanaGold intend to use the waters of Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya for mining operations and deny the community of these waters for their domestic and agricultural needs. These waters have been used by the indigenous community in their agriculture for four (4) decades.    

According to Manong Lorenzo Pulido, a leader of Didipio Earth Savers Multi-purpose Association (DESAMA is an Ifugao community organization resisting the OceanaGold mining project in their community) and a village official in Brgy. Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya “Our province has been feeling the devastating effects of El Nino. This condition is further worsened by the mining projects in our province which have been approved by national government, as these projects compete with our domestic and agricultural fresh water needs.” 

Nueva Vizcaya is host to two mining projects under Financial and Technical Assistance Agreements (FTAA) by the national government with foreign mining companies –  OceanaGold Philippines Inc. and FCF-MTL Metals Mining Corporation – with a total land area of 18,880.54 ha. It is also subject to numerous mining explorations with a total land area of 25, 171.73. 

“A clear picture of this situation can be seen in our village. OceanaGold Philippines Inc. wants to utilise big volumes of water for their operation and deny our community with our fresh water needs. We have been using these waters for forty years, long before the mining company came into our village. These waters have been our source for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing, and watering our vegetables and other crops.” Manong Pulido adds.  

“That is why we have travelled all the way from our village to urge the NWRB to heed the call of the people that the institution should put the interest and rights of the people to adequate and clean water first before foreign mining corporations like Oceanagold.” asserts Manong Pulido.   

Gerry Arances, Campaigns Paralegal of Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC-KsK) –  Luzon Regional Office likewise asserts that “the NWRB should freeze issuing water permits that will exacerbate the water crisis like those applied by Oceanagold and NLSDC for mining purposes. Mining is a water-intensive operation that will inevitably deny communities, like Didipio, of their freshwater needs.” 

“Based on our studies, 32,054 liters of freshwater is needed just to produce a single ounce of gold or 773,000 liters of freshwater to produce a kilo of gold. According to OceanaGold, they intend to produce a total of 120,000 ounces of gold and 15,000 tons of copper annually for 10 years. This would mean that OceanaGold would need 3.8 billion liters of freshwater every year in producing its gold production targets. This volume of freshwater is sufficient to produce 1,538,592 kilograms of rice (or 30,771.84 cavans of rice).” Arances adds. 

“You could just imagine the volume of water needed for mining operations that have been approved by the national governments. A total of 569.026.65 hectares are currently under Financial Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) and Mineral Processing and Sharing Agreement (MPSA), which according to our computation based on the Didipio case, would approximately need a total of 138.65 billion liters of freshwaters every year. This volume would already be sufficient to approximately produce 55.45 millions of kilograms of rice!” Arances further asserts. 

Milo Tanchuling, Secretary General of Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) and lead convenor of Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) also affirms that “These mining projects and all other projects that aggravate the effects of climate change and impair the adaptive capacity of our people should be stopped immediately. The devastating effects of El Nino and last year’s Typhoon Ondoy are just a taste of what climate change brings. The government should act without delay and we should be vigilant as time is ticking against all of us.” 

“Likewise, discharged contaminated water from the mine processing plants will adversely affect the quality of water in the rivers if not eventually kill these rivers. Experience proves that mine waste effectively destroys every single life form it touches. In fact, OceanaGold has recently pleaded guilty of polluting a stream on the west coast of New Zealand when it discharged sediments into waterways near its Reefton gold mine in that country.” Arances clarifies. 

 “Water is Life, and water as a natural resource should be allocated in the interest and beneficial use of the greatest number of people. In times of water crisis and worsening effects of climate change, as seen in the on-going effects of El Nino wherein more than 14 provinces have already been declared as under state of calamity, it is of utmost urgency that the government through the NWRB, freeze the issuance of water permits to mining companies. To allow the likes of OceanaGold to use water for its mine operations in mining projects such as in Didipio will certainly deprive communities of adequate water supply and lead to the contamination and pollution of the water, in violation of the people’s vested right to the beneficial use of the water resources – domestic and agricultural needs. Arances concludes.

For further information feel free to contact Gerry Arances at 09392415575 or email at gerry.arances@lrcksk.org