By Melvin Gascon
Inquirer
Last updated 04:49am (Mla time) 08/28/2006
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Published on Page A23 of the August 28, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
CABARROGUIS, QUIRINO—Army soldiers and policemen have been sent to a remote village here where a foreign mining company has started road clearing activities to access its planned gold-copper project site near the Nueva Vizcaya-Quirino border.
But while military and police officials gave varying accounts on the purpose of the arrival of troops in Barangay Tucod here, others belied speculations that the deployment was meant to guard the activities of Australasian Philippines Mining Inc. (APMI).
Teams from the Army’s 5th Infantry Division and the police’s provincial mobile group have been stationed in the village for the past two weeks as APMI started road rehabilitation of the 13-km mountain road connecting this town to Barangay Didipio in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya.
The roads are being prepared for the expected transport of heavy equipment that APMI would use for its pre-development operations for its $102-million Didipio mining venture, according to Chito Gozar, APMI manager for central liaison.
The company vowed to start operations next month, despite the objection of residents at the site and the rejection of the project by their local governments.
In addition, questions linger as to what province—Nueva Vizcaya or Quirino—actually covers Didipio, and who would benefit from the project’s proceeds as host community.
The project is scheduled to start despite the failure of local officials to resolve questions on the operations of about 300 illegal miners at the planned project site.
Senior Supt. Pedro Cuntapay, Quirino police director, said he has sent troops to Tucod due to the presence of communist rebels in the area.
“There were recent sightings [of insurgents] there and also because Arimco is there,” he said, referring to APMI, formerly Climax Arimco Mining Corp.
But Maj. Victor Tanggawohn, chief of the Army’s civil military operations unit, said the soldiers were deployed as security forces during the visit of Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes.
On Aug. 8, Reyes visited the project site in Didipio to check on the reported illegal mining activities there.
“They have not been recalled since because they are awaiting the arrival of a military official who is expected to visit the area in the coming days,” Tanggawohn said.
Cuntapay and Tanggawohn declined to reveal the size of the troops in Tucod for security reasons.
Gozar said he was not aware of the troop deployment at the project site.
Jerrysal Mangaoang, Cagayan Valley director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, and Wilfredo Malvar, provincial environment officer, said the troop deployment was part of pursuit operations against members of a group who robbed the Quirino General High School on Wednesday.
“What we heard was that the robbers escaped to the mountains, so the troops were after them,” Malvar said.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Monday, August 14, 2006
Reyes evasive on controversial mining project in N. Vizcaya
Inquirer
Last updated 06:55am (Mla time) 08/14/2006
Published on page A21 of the August 14, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
BAYOMBONG, NUEVA VIZCAYA -- Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes on Tuesday evaded questions on the controversy hounding the planned mining project by an Australian firm in Kasibu town.
In a press conference here, Reyes declined to answer reporters’ questions on unresolved issues in the proposed Didipio gold-copper project -- its rejection by tribal communities and the border dispute between Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino provinces.
The Didipio project is being proposed by Australasian Philippine Mining Inc. (APMI), which is among the 23 ventures that the Arroyo administration tagged as priority projects in the mining sector.
Endorsement
Reyes was asked why the government continued to push APMI’s operations despite the company’s failure to obtain the endorsement by local communities, a requirement in its environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
The area was also being contested by Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino, in apparent anticipation of the taxes and other revenues that the host province would get from the planned mining operations.
Local anti-mining advocates lamented Reyes’ hesitation to address the issues, saying it was an indication that he was not aware of the controversies surrounding the project.
“As the highest official of the DENR, everybody expects him to know all these issues. This added to our amazement when a high-ranking DENR official even asked where Didipio is,” said Sr. Maria Eden Orlino, directress of the Diocesan Social Action Commission, a Church-based non-government organization.
Reyes, however, asked APMI board chair Jose Leviste and DENR regional director Clarence Baguilat to answer the reporters’ questions.
Rejected
Leviste said the project had been earlier endorsed by a bloc of village officials, but the decision was overturned by a new set of Didipio officials, most of whom are opposing the operations of the company.
The project’s ECC says it must obtain at least two endorsements from village, town or provincial councils.
Last year, the APMI project was rejected by the barangay council of Didipio and the municipal council of Kasibu.
While admitting that a boundary dispute between Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino has remained an issue, Baguilat said the matter would be left to the two provinces to resolve.
“[Settling boundary disputes] is not part of our work,” he said.
Reyes on Tuesday led the launching of the DENR’s Green Philippine Highways at the Nueva Vizcaya State University here. The project is aimed at re-greening the roadsides of about 2,180 km of the country’s national highways. Melvin Gascon, Inquirer Northern Luzon
Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Last updated 06:55am (Mla time) 08/14/2006
Published on page A21 of the August 14, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
BAYOMBONG, NUEVA VIZCAYA -- Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes on Tuesday evaded questions on the controversy hounding the planned mining project by an Australian firm in Kasibu town.
In a press conference here, Reyes declined to answer reporters’ questions on unresolved issues in the proposed Didipio gold-copper project -- its rejection by tribal communities and the border dispute between Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino provinces.
The Didipio project is being proposed by Australasian Philippine Mining Inc. (APMI), which is among the 23 ventures that the Arroyo administration tagged as priority projects in the mining sector.
Endorsement
Reyes was asked why the government continued to push APMI’s operations despite the company’s failure to obtain the endorsement by local communities, a requirement in its environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
The area was also being contested by Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino, in apparent anticipation of the taxes and other revenues that the host province would get from the planned mining operations.
Local anti-mining advocates lamented Reyes’ hesitation to address the issues, saying it was an indication that he was not aware of the controversies surrounding the project.
“As the highest official of the DENR, everybody expects him to know all these issues. This added to our amazement when a high-ranking DENR official even asked where Didipio is,” said Sr. Maria Eden Orlino, directress of the Diocesan Social Action Commission, a Church-based non-government organization.
Reyes, however, asked APMI board chair Jose Leviste and DENR regional director Clarence Baguilat to answer the reporters’ questions.
Rejected
Leviste said the project had been earlier endorsed by a bloc of village officials, but the decision was overturned by a new set of Didipio officials, most of whom are opposing the operations of the company.
The project’s ECC says it must obtain at least two endorsements from village, town or provincial councils.
Last year, the APMI project was rejected by the barangay council of Didipio and the municipal council of Kasibu.
While admitting that a boundary dispute between Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino has remained an issue, Baguilat said the matter would be left to the two provinces to resolve.
“[Settling boundary disputes] is not part of our work,” he said.
Reyes on Tuesday led the launching of the DENR’s Green Philippine Highways at the Nueva Vizcaya State University here. The project is aimed at re-greening the roadsides of about 2,180 km of the country’s national highways. Melvin Gascon, Inquirer Northern Luzon
Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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