In solidarity with the communities of Mogpog, the people from the municipalities of Boac, Gasan, Buenavista, and Sta. Cruz mobilised themselves to help in the sandbagging operations lead by the Marinduque Council for environmental Concerns (MACEC).  More than a thousand people participated in the activity including the Mayor Senen Livelo of Mogpog and Boac Mayor Meynardo Solomon.

The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Phils. (LRC-KsK/FoE Phils.) attended the event in solidarity with the people of Marinduque and was surprised to see that even the local police and military participated in the event doing the same amount of labour as  other community members, handling shovels and sacks and aligning them to make a temporary dike at the river side.  PENRO Danilo Quirejero lauded the efforts of the community and acknowledged the need to solve the main problem which is the real and continuing threat of the Maguila-guila tailings dam that until today contains millions of cubic meters of toxic tailings.

The movement of the people was overwhelming that the 2,000 available sacks were already filled with sand and arranged as a dike in less than three hours.  A meeting of leaders followed with recommendations to continue the efforts within the identified vulnerable areas in the community along the rivers of Mogpog.

His Excellency Bp. Reynaldo Evangelista provided the inspiration as he paid visit to the activity and blessed all the people who came to participate.  He made an appeal to all those concerned to continue helping the people of Mogpog and Marinduque.  He specifically requested to friends of the people of Marinduque to make donations of sacks for the succeeding sandbagging operations to cover all existing possible source of water spillage and flooding in the community.

One of the highlight of the community meeting is the recognition that ‘the people’ are the most valuable assets this province has.  The unison of the people in this activity inspired everyone and provided the great hope that someday justice will be served to them from the troubles and hardships brought about by large scale mining and Marcopper Mining Corporation.

However, the threat of the dam collapsing again is very real as it is not being maintained well by Marcopper and will definitely be more catastrophic to the communities of Mogpog.  In this regard the people of Mogpog call on the National government to give justice to the people of Mogpog and Marinduque.  The Marcopper mining disaster is also a testimony that large scale mining in island communities should not be tolerated nor given a chance to dig even using a mere shovel.

Marcopper and Placerdome left tons of hazardous wastes together with the unpaid millions of pesos of taxes due to the local government.  They left an impoverished economy and a devastated environment that the people are now trying to rehabilitate by themselves.  They find the present policy of the national government of aggressively promoting mining throughout the country a great insult, as if what happened to the island province of Marinduque was not enough.

Today, more than ever, there is the need for a strong national movement to counter the insanity that is a narrow, dangerous and a disastrous national policy of attracting extractive industries such as mining at the expense of the environment, people’s rights and welfare and national patrimony.

For more inquiries, please contact:

Ronald A. Gregorio, Team Leader, LRC-KsK/FoE Phils, +632 926 4409; +63 917 5481674

Myke Magalang, Executive Director, MACEC, +63 42 3322731

It is not surprising that Oceanagold’s economic problem does not elicit sympathy from the community that has suffered from the mining company’s bad business practice here in the Philippines. OceanaGold’s operations in this year alone displaced more than a hundred indigenous families as a result of their illegal and violent demolition activities in the first quarter. It currently faces several complaints lodged before the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights for these acts.

For the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, this news also means that OceanaGold has lost its legal eligibility to continue the Didipio Gold Copper Project and should withdraw from the agreement, and the government must take the necessary steps to safeguard the indigenous peoples, communities, and natural resources of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino provinces.

The Mining Act of 1995 requires that FTAA holders have the financial, technical and managerial abilities to carry out mineral exploration and utilisation on a large scale. The Didipio Gold Copper Project has been tainted by massive human rights violations, and showed that OceanaGold entered into the agreement hinged on mere financial speculation.

Their own admission that their current financial situation is not conducive to pursue operations shows that it lacks the financial capacity to genuinely carry out the FTAA project.

The global financial crisis is a given, but OceanaGold’s financial and management problems started long before the September 08 crash. Its impending downfall stems from its inability to operate a legitimate mining project even under normal economic conditions, a reality that has long been argued by the indigenous peoples’ of Nueva Viscaya and Quirino.

For more information, contact: Ronald A. Gregorio, (02) 926 4409, (02) 434 4079

“The governor and the province of Nueva Vizcaya will not tolerate any human rights violations,” declared Atty. Galima of the Office of the Governor during a dialogue between the Nueva Vizcaya provincial government and the Didipio community and supporting NGOs.  

The provincial government of Nueva Vizcaya, which only recently withdrew consent for the gold and copper project of OceanaGold Philippines, Inc. through a Sanggunian Panlalawigan (Provincial Council) resolution, committed to backing the complaints of members of Didipio Earth Savers Multipurpose Cooperative (DESAMA) during a dialogue at the provincial capital of Bayombong.

“The provincial government has already filed a case for the declaration of nullity of the OceanaGold’s Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement,” Atty. Galima of the Office of the Governor revealed.

Members of DESAMA welcomed this development, recounting the severe disruption the mining operation has caused in their community. Apart from the human rights violations which include the shooting of Emilio Pumihic in March 2008 and the demolition of almost 200 houses early this year, DESAMA members lashed out against the mining company for destroying their farmlands and roads, preventing them from marketing their produce.

“How are we to live without our land? How can we survive if we cannot sell our products because OceanaGold has destroyed our roads and bridges?” Lorenzo Pulido councilor of Bgy Didipio asked.

Representatives of the provincial government also committed to following up on the various cases filed against OceanaGold and pledged to block the mining company’s applications for water rights in the province as these will prejudice the rights of the communities which rely on local bodies of water.

The community submitted the report of the Fact-Finding Mission conducted in 1-4 April 2008 to bolster their allegations.

The dialogue with Gov. Cuaresma was requested by residents of Bgy. Didipio and members of athe Fact-Finding Mission which investigated reports of human rights violations committed in relation to OceanaGold’s gold and copper project in the area.

For more information contact: Ronald A. Gregorio-Campaigns/ Paralegal (0917-5481674), Rovik Obanil-Communications and Networking Officer (0916-2539622). Legal Rights & Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/ Friends of the Earth Phils.