Php 70.00 Vol. 45 No. 7 • JULY 2011

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By Alyansa Tigil Mina and Save Palawan Move-ment

After the example of Gerry, let us say No to Mining! And, for Gerry, let us individually affix our signature to 10 Mil-lion Signature Campaign for a No to Mining In Palawan advocacy. Gerry has made us see the evil of mining, not only in extracting minerals in the depths of the earth but also in the unmasking of the truth in the depths of a person’s heart. Let us carry on his fight to make it our own.” (Bishop Pedro Arigo, DD, Vicar Apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa)

Palawan is a biodiversity hotspot in the Philippines. Few places on earth can match the distinction of the prov-ince, home to seven protected areas, a declared “Game

Refuge and Bird Sanctuary” since 1967, and a “Mangrove Reserve” since 1981. UNESCO declared the whole Province a Man and Biosphere Reserve in 1990. Included are two World Heritage Sites: The Tubbataha Reef Marine Park and the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park.

Palawan A clash between mining

and biodiversity The expansive reserves of metal ores particularly nickel

and chromite, which lay underneath old growth forests, at-tracts mining investments into the province. The 354 approved mining applications all over Palawan constitute a major threat to Palawan with extensive remaining forest cover and related biodiversity.

Palaweños fears that damage to Palawan’s biodiversity will become irreparable if mining increases the threat to the ecosystem and to a booming eco-tourism industry of the province. Many feel that the costs of mining far outweigh its benefits.

Dr. Gerry Ortega, an environmental advocate and broadcast journalist who was very vocal against mining in Palawan was killed on January 24, 2011 after his morning radio broadcast. He has been receiving death threats due to his strong opposition to mining and exposed bribery in the government in endorsing of mining through his radio program “Ramatak” over DWAR, a local affiliate of Radyo Mo nationwide.

The Philippines has suffered many disastrous environ-mental impacts from mining including the Marinduque/Boac River mining disaster in 1996, recurrent pollution problems

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caused by the Atlas mine in Toledo City, Cebu, and the Rapu-rapu mine tailings spills in Albay in 2005 were among the many tragedies which offer lessons of the enormous human and environmental costs brought by mining.

These factors should require the Philippine government to exercise extreme caution in authorizing mining operations in Palawan. Social awareness of this problem is widespread and government actions to prevent damage to the environment have led to the enactment of laws such as the Republic Act No. 7611 otherwise known as the Strategic Environment Plan for Palawan Act or SEP Law directed towards the preven-tion of activities and events that may adversely affect the environmental sustainability of the province. A resolution passed in November 2008 by the Provincial Board secures a 25-year moratorium on small-scale mining in Palawan. However, this is not enough to prevent large-scale mining corporations from plundering the Island.

Here the picture is clear that people appears to be overwhelm-ingly made worse because of environmental degradation and human rights violations attendant to mining operations in the province. Government statistics attest that only a small frac-tion are benefitting from the employment generated by the mining operations1 and the occasional company-sponsored community outreach programs.

Palawan: a biodiversity hotspot Palawan is home to endemic species—both flora and fauna

that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. It is home to 30% of the country’s coral reefs, has 17 key biodiversity areas2 (KBAs), and 8 declared protected areas. The province is host to one of the areas in the country with intact old growth forests.3

Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund Identification of Biodiversity Hotspot recorded that Palawan comprises the

following biodiversity:

• 15 lakes, 42 ponds, 44 waterfalls, 72 natural springs, 9 mineral springs, 28 principal rivers, 43 streams and 165 creeks identified as potential sources of water for domestic consumption and irrigation;

• 13 out of the 16 sea grasses that can be found in the country;

• 42,500 hectares of mangrove forests, having 31 species and 90% of the known mangrove species in the country;

• approximately 690,000 hectares of terrestrial forest;• 8 of the 11 amphibians endemic to the Philippines are

found only in Palawan;• 279 species of birds are found in Palawan and 27 are

endemic to the country;• 15 of the 25 marine mammals in the Philippines are

found in Palawan; • 58 species of terrestrial mammals are recorded and 19

or 33% are endemic to the country and 16 are restricted to the Mt. Mantalingahan Range;

• 24 endemic reptiles and 69 species are found in the Mt. Mantalingahan corridor;

• 4 of the 5 marine turtles are found in Palawan; and• 379 species of corals found in Palawan and 82% of the

total coral species recorded in the country.

The UNESCO declared two areas in Palawan as World Heritage sites: The Tubattaha Reed Marine Park in 1993 which covers 332 square kilometers north and south reefs with very high density of marine species. The North Islets are the nesting site for birds and marine turtles. Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in 1999 hosts some of the most important forests in Asia, and is a site that contains a full ‘mountain to sea’ ecosystem.

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In 1992, Republic Act No. 7611 also known as the Strategic Environment Plan for Palawan Act (SEP Law) was passed establishing a framework of development for the province that support and promote its sustainable development growth.

The law especially addresses regulations referring to the environmentally critical areas networks (ECAN) of the province composed of the terrestrial or forestlands, marine or coastal area, and ancestral lands.

Unfortunately, even the law recognized the presence of “mine sites in major catchments or are dangerously close to fragile shore and in-shore of marine zones.”

The SEP Law endorses the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), which is in charge of governance, implementation and policy direction of SEP Law.

However, the biodiversity of Palawan is under very high threat. Conservation International has identified Palawan as a site for threatened amphibians, mammals, birds, reptiles, and freshwater fish, as well as for restricted-range and congregatory birds, using confirmed locality data for each target species.

Geo-tagging4 has also found the province and its biodiversity under threat due to some 354 mining tenements encroached in almost 50% of its total land area, covering forest ranges of Mt. Bulanjao which is a protected area and falls under ‘core zones’5 which should not be open to any development activity, and 90% of ancestral lands.

History of mining in Palawan Mining has been operational in Palawan at least since the 1970s. The island province is endowed with minerals resources

including gold, nickel, copper, cobalt, chromite and even mercury. To date, the resource-rich Palawan has mining applications, and various mining permits issued as presented in Table 1 below.

Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation

Central Palawan Mining and Industrial Corporation

Palawan Star Mining Ventures Inc.

Pyramid Hill Mining and Industrial Corporation

Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation

MacroAsia Corporation

MacroAsia Corporation

Citinickel Mines and Development Corporation

Berong Nickel Corporation

Lebach Mining Corporation

Celestial Nickel Mining Exploration Corporation

Narra Nickel Mining and Development Corporation, Tesoro Mining and De-velopment Corporation and McArthur

Mining IncBerong Nickel Corporation

MPSA7 No. 114-98-IV issued in June 4, 1998 covering 990 hectares (has) in Bataraza, Palawan

MPSA No. 171-01-IV issued in January 16, 2001 covering 4896.1000 has in Quezon, Palawan

MPSA No. 172-01-IV issued in January 16, 2001 covering 5234.2079has in Quezon, Palawan

MPSA No. 173-01-IV issued in January 16, 2001 covering 5149.9000has in Espanola, Narra and Quezon, Palawan

MPSA No. 213-2005-IVB issued in April 28, 2005 covering 84.5364has in Bataraza, Palawan

MPSA No. 220-2005-IVB issued in December 1, 2005 covering 1113.9836has in Brooke’s Point, Palawan

MPSA No. 221-2005-IVB issued in December 1, 2005 covering 410has in Brooke’s Point, Palawan

MPSA No. 229-2007-IVB issued in January 3, 2007 covering 2176has in Narra, Sofronio Espanola, Palawan

MPSA No. 235-2007-IVB issued in June 8, 2007 covering 288has in Quezon, Palawan

MPSA No. 285-2009-IVB amended into Exploration Permit No. 00001-2009-IVB amended in November 19, 2009

covering 2573.3300has in Brooke’s Point, PalawanMPSA No. 017-93-IV issued in September 18, 1993 covering 2835.0600 has in Brooke’s Point, Palawan

FTAA8 No. 05-2010-IVB issued in April 12, 2010 covering 12381.72has in Rizal, Bataraza, and Narra, Palawan

EP9 No. IVB-60 issued in February 12, 2010 covering 1069.41has in Quezon and Aborlan, Palawan

Nickel

Limestone

Limestone

Limestone

Limestone

Nickel, chromite, iron, and other associated mineral deposits

Chromite, nickel, copper and other associated mineral depositsNickel, chromite and other associated mineral deposits

Nickel, iron, cobalt, chromite and other mineral deposits

Nickel, chromite, cobalt, copper, gold and other mineral deposits

Nickel

Nickel, cobalt and other associated minerals

Nickel and cobalt

Commercial Operation

Exploration

Exploration

Exploration

Development

Exploration

Exploration

Exploration

Exploration

For registration

Exploration

On-goingexplorat¬ion

On-going exploration

Corporation/Permitee Permit No., Area coverage, location Mineral Resources Current activi-ties/stage

Today, different large-scale mining permits cover a total of 38, 202.2749 hectares of Palawan, while mining applications cover almost the whole of the island province.

Meanwhile there are 11 abandoned mine sites in Palawan as shown in the table next page.

Source: Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) as of March 2011

Table 1: Mining Permits in Palawan6

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Palawan Quicksilver Mining Inc. Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp. Palawan Venture or Palawan Consolidated Mining Co. Soriano Mining CorporationTrident Mining CorporationInfanta Mining CorporationCelestial Mining CorporationLong Point Mining Corpora-tion/Soriano MiningBenguet Company Inc.Nin Bay Mining CorporationRepublic Glass Mining Cor-poration

Sta. Lourdes, Puerto Princesa CitySta. Lourdes, Puerto Princesa CityIrawan, Puerto Princesa City

Aborlan, Puerto Princesa CityNarra, PalawanBrgy. Ipilan, Brooke’s PointBrgy. Ipilan, Brooke’s PointBerong, Quezon

BalabacRoxas, PalawanRoxas, Palawan

Mercury

Gold

Chromite

Nickel

NickelNickelNickelNickelGold oreSilicaSilica

Area of operationMining Company Mineral

Source: Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC)

Since the early 1970s, the Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC) has been operating in the municipality of Bataraza in Southern Palawan. Its operations started when the nickel deposit in Rio Tuba was discovered in 1967. On September 18, 1970, the company entered into a Mining Lease Contract with the Republic of the Philippines as lessor, covering 126 hectares of public land or 110 Lode Mining claims of nickel, iron and other minerals located in Rio Tuba. The RTNMC has a mining claim of 5,265 hectares of which 353 hectares are currently operated.

Study has shown that the activities of RTNMC do not equita-bly and efficiently distribute benefits from mining, and that the impacts on the environment are not effectively monitored while the environmental costs are undervalued10 . At present, RTNMC continues to mine and has recently been issued another permit expanding towards Mt. Bulanjao range, one of the best conserved ultramafic11 forests in Palawan.12

Further, the exploration permit issued to MacroAsia Cor-poration13, Ipilan Nickel Corporation14 and Lebach Mining Corporation15 threatens the forests and life in Brooke’s Point (also located in Southern Palawan) as well as the survival of isolated Pala’wan communities having limited contacts with the outside world.

MacroAsia was incorporated in the Philippines on February 16, 1970, originally under the name Infanta Mineral & Industrial Corporation, to engage in the business of geological exploration and development. As a mining firm, it had actually mined its leased areas in Brooke’s Point in the 1970’s. MacroAsia Corp. is a listed aviation support company owned by Lucio Tan.

Lebach Mining Corporation is a domestic registered company with registered address Silangan House, 7606 Guijo Street, San Antonio Village, Makati City, Philippines. Lebach’s Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer is Edgar L. Rodrigueza.

According to joint reports by Ancestral Lands Domain Watch in Palawan (ALDAW) and the Center for Biocultural Diversity (CBCD) of the University of Kent, the exploration activities there allow the three companies to illegally enter ‘core zones’ and well-developed agricultural lands including wet rice fields and coconut plantations, tribal sacred sites and ancestral lands.16

MacroAsia Corporation and Ipilan Nickel Corporation have permits intruding the Mt. Matalingahan Protected Landscape. Further reports said Environmental Compliance Certificates were issued then by PCSD despite the lack of social acceptance. As of now, also the Palawan branch of the National Commission

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on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has bluntly violated all required procedures leading to transparent and genuine FPIC processes, siding instead with the mining companies.17

Impacts of mining in Palawan In January 2010, through geo-tagging technology and partici-

patory audio-visual documentation18, it was found that mining tenements had intruded into identified ‘core zones’ of protection in Palawan. These activities will damage the province’s water supplies, soils, forests, rivers, corals and marine environments. The efforts to protect and conserve Palawan are now being put in danger and erode by the circumventing laws and encroach-ment even in the core protected zones is a clear violation of laws by mining companies. These widespread abuses further put the island at higher risk to the different potential impacts of climate change.

Anda and Galido (2006)19 identified several socio-cultural, economic and environmental impacts of mining in Palawan in the thirty years of mining activities there. Identified environmental impacts include the following:

• Deforestation and loss of wildlife habitat for ecologically

important flora and fauna in the mined out areas and the Gotok limestone quarry area;

• Decrease in quantity and quality of water supply;• Adverse impact on the irrigation system and decrease in

agricultural production;• Erosion and flash floods; • Threats to coastal resources brought by erosion and efflu-

ents;• Water and air pollution; and• Health impacts such as skin lesions.

These are the very reasons why the SEP Law was passed in 1992. The rationale behind the law being,

“The destruction of Palawan’s forests would trigger a chain reaction that would bring destruction to the entire environmental and ecological fabric of the province. The resulting soil erosion and loss of top soil would dry up underground and surface water resources, nullifying the efficiency of irrigation systems and wa-terworks… There is an urgent necessity to stop this deterioration. It is not enough to rely on a network of Parks in the conventional sense, for this would be too limited in area and arouse distrust in local communities.”

It seeks to prevent further environmental degradation in the islands. However, violations of environmental and other national laws and policies make mining a bigger threat to Palawan, its resources and its people.

This struggle against mining and towards sustainable devel-opment has contributed to the rise in numbers of environmental and indigenous advocacy organizations and networks in the province—including the Environmental Legal Action Center (ELAC), Palawan NGO Network Inc. (PNNI) Nagkakaisang mga Tribu ng Palawan, Inc. (NATRIPAL), Ancestral Land Domain Watch (ALDAW) and many others.

There are local government officials also opposed mining because of its threat to the treasured environment and to tourism like Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn (first elected in 1992), when he pursued to prioritize tourism over mining in the capital of Palawan.

In 2010, ALDAW, an environmental group launched a signa-ture campaign signed by more than 20,000 petitioners from all

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over the world calling to stop mining in Palawan Forests. Inter-national organizations such as Rainforest Rescue and Survival International closely partnered with ALDAW in the achievement of this objective.20

Palaweños who are affected by mining operations and plans of opening up thousands of hectares of bio-fuel and oil palm planta-tions supported the launching of the campaign at the local level. Their primary campaign concerns included the following:

• Objection to RTNMC building roads towards a biodiversity hotspots in the Mt Bulanjao Range; and

• Opposition to mining permits being issued to MacroAsia Mining Corporation and Celestial Nickel Mining Exploration Corporation (currently being operated by Ipilan Nickel Corpora-tion) despite the absence of genuine consultation processes, and a flawed free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) process.

Furthermore, these mining companies have been allowed to enter forested “Core” and “Restricted” zones despite all rules and regulations enshrined into the Strategic Environmental Plan (SEP), also known as Republic Act 7611.

Dr. Gerry Ortega, an environmental advocate and broadcast journalist who was very vocal against mining in Palawan was killed on January 24, 2011 after his morning radio show in Puerto Princesa City. In the past months before his death, he has been receiving death threats because of his opposition to mining and exposition of bribery in the government relative to mining through his radio program “Ramatak” over DWAR.

Immediately after Ortega’s death, the 10-million signature campaign to stop mining in Palawan was launched by the Save Palawan Movement (SPM) in partnership with ABS-CBN

Foundation Inc.’s Bantay Kalikasan. The campaign started with the call to stop mining in the province and evolved to stopping mining activities in key biodiversity areas (KBAs), island eco-systems, natural forests and agricultural areas in the country. Today, the signature count has already reached about more than 1,300,000.

No to mining in Palawan The main call of Palaweños and organizations on the threat of

mining is for the PCSD to strictly enforce the SEP Law and imple-ment policies that are geared towards sustainable development, especially respecting the identified policies for the environmen-tal critically areas network (ECAN). Further, national policies should respect the rights of indigenous peoples and communities in rejecting mining applications based on the identified serious adverse impacts it has brought in the past and will bring in the future if it is allowed to develop further extraction of minerals in Palawan.

Executive Order (EO) No. 23 issued on February 1, 2011 by President Benigno S. Aquino III declaring a moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber should not be limited to pro-tecting natural and residual forests. In the case of Palawan, the whole of Palawan, including its outlying island municipalities, should be spared from logging and mining. Existing concession-ers must no longer be given permits to expand operations and their activities should be strictly monitored. The exploitation of its mineral and oil fields, its marine wealth and virgin forests should stop now.

The Philippines is clearly threatened by the effects of climate change. Already there are increased extremes of weather and increased numbers of typhoon storms per season as compared to

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1Based on the CSO Assessment of Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) for 2004-2010 in mining, as of 2008, the government reported that only 13,462 jobs were created by the mining industry or a mere 5.36% of its intended projection of 239,000 indirect and direct employment. 2Key Biodiversity Areas are “sites of global significance for biodiversity conservation, identified using globally standard criteria and thresholds, based on the needs of biodiversity requiring safeguard at the site scale.“ They cover 70% of the world’s natural resources. (Ruth Grace Ambal, Conservation International-Philippines)32000 Data from HARIBON Foundation 2003 based on ESSC 1999 cited there are only 18.3% total forest cover in the Philippines and only 3% remaining old growth forest. 4Data from Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB), as of March 2011. 5Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) is an agreement wherein the government shares in the production of the contractor, whether in kind or in value, as owner of the minerals and the contractor gets the rest. (DENR-MGB Description)6Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) is an agreement for the large-scale exploration, development and utilization of minerals. (DENR-MGB Description)7Exploration Permit (EP) allows a qualified person to undertake exploration activities for mineral resources in certain areas open to mining. (DENR-MGB Description)8The Costs and Benefits of Three Decades of Mining in Rio Tuba, Bataraza, Palawan by Antonio G.M. La Viña, Grizelda Mayo-Anda, Mary Jean A. Caleda, Redempto D. Anda, Katherine Mana-Galido, Loreto L. Cagatulla, published by ELAC and the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), September 2006, pp.1-95] http://no2mininginpalawan.com/2011/03/21/the-costs-and-benefits-of-three-decades-of-mining-in-rio-tuba-bataraza-palawan/9Ultramafic (also referred to as ultrabasic) rocks are igneous and meta-igneous rocks with very low silica content (less than 45%), generally >18% MgO, high FeO, low potassium, and are composed of usually greater than 90% mafic minerals (dark colored, high magnesium and iron content). The Earth's mantle is composed of ultramafic rocks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramafic_rock10http://participatorygis.blogspot.com/2010/01/bulanjao-geotagged-report.html 11http://no2mininginpalawan.com/2011/03/25/macro-asia-corporation-certification-of-mpsa-nos-220-2005-ivb-and-221-2005-ivb/12http://no2mininginpalawan.com/2011/04/17/lebach-mining-corporation-brgy-mainit-brookes-point-palawan-ref-no-ecc-co-0911-0009/13http://www.slideshare.net/no2mininginpalawan/lebach-mining-corporation-ecc-located-at-bgy-ipilan-brookes-point-palawan14“The Mt. Gantong/Brooke’s Point 2010 Geo-Tagged Report”, Mining Threats to Watersheds, Core Zones and to the Ancestral Domain of Isolated Indigenous Communities, Palawan Island (The Philippines) http://www.iapad.org/publications/ppgis/aldaw_gantong_2010_report.pdf15http://www.iapad.org/publications/ppgis/aldaw_gantong_2010_report.pdf16http://www.youtube.com/user/ALDAWpalawan17The Cost and Benefits of Three Decades of Mining in Rio Tuba, Bataraza, Palawan, pp. 27-66, Sharing Natural Wealth for Development – Case Studies from Palawan Province, Philippines, ELAC and Ateneo De Manila University, September 2006.18http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/palawan

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even 20 years ago. Mining particularly strip mining and open pit operations are particularly vulnerable when affected by extreme storms. Exposed minerals and toxic residues can be more easily flooded into the environment.

Admittedly, the Philippines is below par when it comes to international practice of water and toxic waste management at min-ing sites. The already disastrous legacy of mining in the Philippines will, it is feared, worsen. The international community should take stronger action in order to regulate mining particularly, near sea level mining that might be easily inundated as sea level rises and all mining in monsoon/typhoon /hurricane affected zones.

(The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines – Episcopal Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace and the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA) has committed to help the Save Palawan Movement campaign. To help in the campaign, please see your diocesan Social Action Center, or visit the website www.no2mininginpalawan to sign online or download the signature form. Signed forms may be sent to the Save Palawan Movement headquarters through any JRS Express branch for free.)

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