Mining policy hampers Aquino’s efforts to tread the ‘right path’
By atm.admin - Posted on September 5th, 2010
A group of environmental organizations is urging President Aquino to revoke the government’s mining policy because it weighs down on administration’s efforts to tread on tuwid na daan (right path).
Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) claimed that the mining industry as a whole has failed to deliver on economic benefits it promised.
Moreover, it said, mining ventures in the country have not only triggered conflicts among communities but also posed serious threats to the country’s fragile ecological balance.
During his inaugural speech last June 30, Aquino invited the people to "walk with him on the right path," which refers to a new government where there is no more corruption and injustice, and where transparency and real consultation with the people are of utmost priority in governance.
The present mining policy, embodied in the National Policy Agenda on Revitalizing Mining in the Philippines under Executive Order No. 270-A, and signed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on April 20, 2004, encourages foreign mining companies to exploit the country’s mineral resources.
Earlier, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines even told President Aquino to order a a moratorium on mining.
“If P-Noy [President Noynoy] is really serious in leading the way to his ‘tuwid na daan,’ then he should immediately revoke Executive Order 270-A and stop the misplaced priority of the previous administration in aggressively promoting large-scale mining," ATM National Coordinator Jaybee Garganera told GMANews.TV on Saturday.
The group cited several issues that have been hounding the industry since the “revitalization drive" began six years ago.
The ATM said it has in its possession documented cases of human rights abuses, encroachment on ancestral domains of indigenous peoples, destruction of protected areas and critical watersheds, and even direct potential damage to agricultural lands.
Garganera said, “At a time where climate change and natural disasters endanger the lives and livelihoods of rural poor, an extractive and destructive industry such as large-scale mining should not be a priority of the P-Noy administration."
Moreover, the ATM claimed that mining is clouded with transparency and accountability issues.
“A serious tragedy on the claim of ‘responsible mining’ is the cloak of corporate concealment that prevent communities, and even local government units, to make an informed decision whether to allow mining operations in their area or not," Garganera said.
Most often, he said, companies invoke “trade confidentiality" to evade public scrutiny of important documents, such as mining contracts and other related documents, to effectively force their projects despite the lack of acceptance and consent of communities. [See: Foreign business notes govt’s flip-flopping on mining policies]
Garganera also said the ATM members are now making their voices heard to ensure that the mining policy is revoked.
“This is the only way we know to make the President listen to his ‘bosses’," he said, referring to Aquino’s inaugural speech saying the people are his “bosses."
In May, a Mindanao-based legal-environmental group pushed for the passage of the alternative mining bill (AMB) to address what it considers flaws in the 14-year-old Mining Act of 1995.
The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center – Kasama sa Kalikasan – Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC/KsK-FoE Phils) stressed the need for a law to protect mineral resources.
The ATM is an alliance of mining-affected communities and their support groups of non-government organizations/people’s organizations (NGOs/POs) and other civil society organizations who are opposing the aggressive promotion of large-scale mining in the Philippines. ATM is convened by HARIBON Foundation, LRC-KsK/FOEI, and the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA). — Jerbert Briola/LBG, GMANews.TV
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Investigation Team and Intex Resources Inc ECC-CO-0904-007-2721
To my knowledge as per DENR Special Order No. 2010-557, dated July 27, 2010, signed by Acting DENR Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje, the Secretary is still designating members of the investigation team to verify issues and allegations attendant to the Environmental Compliance Certificate No. ECC-CO-0904-007-2721 dated October 14, 2009 issued by the Department in favour of Intex Resources for the Nickel Mining Project in the Provinces of Oriental and Occidental Mindoro.
Furthermore a list of an investigation team as per DENR Special Order No. 2010-236 included representa-tives from the DENR and from alleged pro-mining IP organizations. This pro-mining group was selected by then DENR Secretary Horacio Ramos and this investigation team was the body entrusted by the DENR to complete a thorough and impartial investigation that would validate all the allegations.
It seems that the recent development of designating Civil Society organizations and local government units of both Oriental and Occidental Mindoro to be part of the investigating team, which was part of the DENR Special Order, No. 2009-921, dated November 27, 2009 signed by then Secretary Joselito Atienza, is a return to the original order for the creation of Investigation Team.
Due to the lack of publication of all the above-mentioned Special Orders in the public domain many ques-tions arise concerning the conduct and the seriousness of the proposed Inquiry
When is the Investigation Team supposed to meet?
What is the budget for the Investigation Team?
Is there a time-scale for the deposition of documentary/supporting evidence?
Should it be assumed that the Environmental and Management Bureau (EMB) is tasked with the oversight of the whole investigatory process?
Is there a schedule of meetings?
Are the meetings “closed door” or open to the public?
How is the Investigation Team supposed to work in practice?
Have any guidelines been drawn up?
Can additional members still be added to the Investigation Team?
How can documents be submitted to the Inquiry?
These are only a few pertinent questions which require answers if the closing words of Secretary Paje on transparency, openness, dialogue and bridge-building espoused at the end of the La Niña Summit on Tuesday, 24th of August are to have any meaning.
Many Thanks for your kind collaboration.
Fr. Archie Casey SX
Xaverian Missionary
Justice Peace and Integrity
of Creation Commission of the
Association of Major Religious
Superiors in the Philippines
(JPICC-AMRSP)
Umoe Largest Shareholder of Intex Resources Inc Sells Out
Umoe Largest Shareholder of Intex Resources Inc Sells Out at A Loss
Does anyone know what is happening at Intex Resources Inc and their
alleged $3 billion dollar project which lacks an ECC? The news is that
a Russian Company has bought out Umoe (who sold at a loss)
and is making a voluntary offer of USD $21.9 million for the whole company.
Is this perhaps not the occasion for the DENR/MGB/EMB to cut their
losses and cancel outright the suspended ECC, hence following
the wishes of the Mangyans and peoples of Mindoro Island?
Issuer Intex Resources ASA
Date/time 14.09.2010 08:53
IssuerID ITX
Category DISCLOSURE OF LARGE SHAREHOLDINGS
Title Disclosure of shareholding
Text Oslo, September 14, 2010 - Umoe AS announces that it has sold 18,480,000 shares in Intex Re-sources ASA at a price of NOK 3.90 per share.
After the sale, Umoe AS owns 0 shares in Intex
Resources ASA.
http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/search.do?messageId=267231
Severstal subsidiary acquires shares in Intex Resources ASA
From September 2010
15.09.2010
OAO Severstal (“Severstal”) (LSE: SVST; RTS: CHMF), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and mining companies, announces that it has acquired via its subsidiary Lybica Holding B.V. (“Lybica”) 19,504,500 shares in Intex Resources ASA (“Intex Resources”) at a share price of NOK 3.90 per share. As a result of the acquisition, Severstal controls approximately 21.71% of the shares and votes of Intex Resources.
Following the acquisition, Lybica aslo announces its intention to make a voluntary offer (the “Offer”) for all of the shares of Intex Resources not currently owned by Lybica at the Offer price of NOK 3.90 per share, subject to the Oslo Stock Exchange’s approval of the Offer. The complete details of the Offer, including all terms and conditions, will be contained in an Offer Document which will be sent to Intex Resources’ shareholders following review and approval by the Oslo Stock Exchange. Lybica’s official announcement on the Oslo Stock Exchange can be found at:
http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/search.do?messageId=267233.
Boris Granovsky, Head of Strategy and Business Development at Severstal Resources, OAO Severstal’s mining division, commented: “The acquisition of the stake in Intex Resources ASA is part of our diversification strategy into new commodities”.
Intex Resources ASA is a public mining and exploration company listed on Oslo Stock Exchange with its headquarters also in Oslo, Norway. Intex’s main asset is the Mindoro Nickel Project — a substantial nickel laterite deposit in the Philippines. In addition, Intex has two molybdenum assets in Norway, as well as Maniitsoq, a diamond province in Greenland.
http://www.severstal.com/eng/media/news/document4020.phtml
Fr. Archie Casey SX
Xaverian Missionary
Justice Peace and Integrity
of Creation Commission of the
Association of Major Religious
Superiors in the Philippines
(JPICC-AMRSP)
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