Court says demolition in mining project illegal

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Ecija - An Australian miner’s move to demolish houses in the remote village of Didipio was found to be “tainted with irregularity and contrary to law," the Nueva Ecija regional trial court ruled. In an Omnibus Order received on Thursday by the plaintiffs, Judge Vincent Eden Panay said that the documents issued by the Panel of Arbitrators of the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau were insufficient to effect a demolition. The decision was made after a complaint was filed on behalf of 13 Ifugao households living in Barangay Didipio, municipality of Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, a remote village about 60 kilometers east of this capital town. The same ruling sought to prevent defendants OceanaGold including the Philippine National Police, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau from demolishing remaining houses within the mining site, said Atty. Grace Villanueva, lead counsel of this case. Villanueva works for the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center/Friends of the Earth-Philippines. The complaint disputed the legality of the said demolition in Didipio because the mining company has failed to produce a special order of demolition issued by the regular courts of law. OceanaGold employed more than 100 security guards assisted by PNP personnel to back up a hired a contractor that mobilized 200 men to “dismantle" houses. “This is necessary to pave way to the construction phase of the Didipio Gold-Copper project," Jake Foronda, the project’s general manager. Armed by favorable decisions from the Panel of Arbitrators of the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (MGB) of the DENR, OceanaGold demolished more than 100 houses since the week after Christmas last year. Demolition activities, which took place even during the observance of the Holy Week, resulted in the wounding of one Emilio Pumihic. He was shot by a security guard when he tried to prevent a 200-man demolition crew from tearing a house in the morning of Black Saturday. Peter Duyapat, one of the plaintiffs, was jubilant over the court ruling. “It’s payback time for this foreign company who thinks they can buy everything. They have to pay us for all damages we had, including huge expenses in going to court. We borrowed money to pay a cash bond of P100,000 just to have this case filed," he said. In another development, Vizcaya Governor Luisa Lloren Cuaresma told the local media that she is unfazed by the charges filed against her at the Ombudsman by the Australian mining firm. She learned on June 16 that OceanaGold has filed a complaint of “grave coercion" against her last June 11, 2008. Cuaresma’s move to stop OceanaGold’s construction phase over non-payment of quarry taxes sparked a series of confrontations between the provincial government and OceanaGold since May. “The governor will issue a formal statement after her lawyers will get hold of the copy of the complaint," Trefina Abad, the governor’s secretary, told GMANews.TV. The provincial board conducted a marathon committee hearing yesterday to prepare a resolution withdrawing the provincial government’s support to the Didipio-Gold Copper Project. - GMANews.TV