KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 04 October) – Amid the scorching Friday morning sun, at least 1,000 people marched for about an hour to petition a trial court here to cancel the 12-year extension issued to the controversial Tampakan project, the largest undeveloped copper and gold minefield in Southeast Asia.
Bishop Cerilo Casicas of the Diocese of Marbel led the filing of a petition for certiorari against the extension of the Tampakan project’s Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA).
Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) operates the Tampakan project, which will reportedly “start commercial mining operations in 2026.” The company said it will employ open-pit mining, a method banned by the provincial government of South Cotabato, which hosts the massive mineral reserves. Republic Act 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 does not prohibit the open-pit mining method, however.
FTAA No. 002-95-XI was originally granted to Australian firm Western Mining Corp. (WMC) on March 22, 1995. SMI acquired the FTAA from WMC in 2001 with the approval of then Environment secretary Heherson Alvarez.
The original FTAA has a lifespan of 25 years and can be renewed for another 25 years.
The extension of the original FTAA was granted by Leo Jasareno, then national director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), an agency under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), on June 8, 2016 “by authority of the secretary.”
It was extended until March 21, 2032. The original FTAA should have expired on March 21, 2020.
The 12-year extension, which was granted at the twilight of the late President Benigno Aquino III’s term, was known to the public only in January 2020, or four years after SMI’s request was approved.
“The FTAA for the Tampakan project had expired. The MGB has no power to extend it because that prerogative rests only on the President. If the company wants to continue, they should start another consultation,” Casicas told the crowd in Filipino at the parish gymnasium here before they started marching to the Regional Trial Court.
“The Tampakan FTAA should not have been extended without full presidential oversight and prior consultation and consent from our affected communities,” he said in a separate statement.
The prelate said they are opposing the Tampakan project as it “threatens to devastate the local ecosystem, poses health risks to the people, and could lead to the potential displacement and loss of farming and fishing livelihoods across three provinces in Mindanao.”
Atty. Ryan Roset, senior legal fellow of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center which serves as the legal counsel of the petitioners, said the extension “did not follow the proper process.”
“No less than the President is constitutionally designated as the primary actor in any FTAA on the exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources contractual agreement, including its extension, renewal, or other material modification. In this case, it is a grave abuse of discretion and unlawful neglect of duty as only the MGB director approved the extension,” Roset said in a statement.
The extension of the FTAA is illegal and unconstitutional because only the President has the power to enter into agreements involving the FTAA, which is valid for 25 years from its issuance, Roset said prior to the filing.
Felizardo Gacad Jr., then MGB-12 director, told MindaNews on January 20, 2020 that the 12-year extension will be reckoned from the expiration of the original FTAA on March 21, 2020, or until March 21, 2032.
He added the company has the option to renew the FTAA for another 25 years, and if granted, SMI can operate until 2057.
The firm has yet to issue a statement in reaction to the petition as of 5:50 p.m. Friday. In its Quick Facts 2023 posted on its website, SMI said the FTAA will expire on “March 22, 2038.”
SMI plans to excavate the massive deposits by digging a hole, or open-pit in the language of the mining industry, in an area measuring 2.5 kilometers wide and 3 km long down to a depth of 800 meters, or an area equivalent to the size of at least 17,000 basketball courts and as deep as a 160-story building .
Based on a company study, the Tampakan project has the potential to yield an average of 375,000 metric tons of copper and 360,000 ounces of gold in concentrate annually throughout the 17-year life of the mine. The firm earlier estimated the investment to cost at least $5.9 billion.
Aside from Casicas, the other petitioners include the Columbio Multi-Sectoral Ecology Movement Inc., La Bugal B’laan Tribal Association Inc., Nagkakaisang Magsasaka ng Libertad Irrigators Association Inc., Maligaya Communal Irrigators Association Inc., New Bantangan Farmer’s Association, and San Jose Mabini Irrigators Association.
The Cacub Irrigators Association Inc., Marbel 6-Concepcion Irrigators Association, Tampakan Irrigators Service Development Association Inc., and Sitio Cadedang Communal Irrigators also joined the petition.
Named respondents are Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, MGB OIC-Director Atty. Danilo Uykieng and SMI. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
