Residents of Rapu Rapu island file injunction to stop Lafayette's toxic mine

Communities from Rapu Rapu have filed a court injunction to stop the operations of junior Australian mining company, Lafayette, amid allegations of a new toxic spill from the mine and fish kill during test runs at the mining operations in Rapu Rapu Island in the  Philippines

Over 800 signatures from environmentalist groups and individuals, including an actress and a former beauty queen have petitioned against the resumed operations of the Rapu Rapu mine, and filed a class suit on July 20 at the Makati Regional Trial Court asking for a temporary restraining order on Lafayette Processing Inc.’s 30-day test run on Rapu-Rapu island, Albay.

The petition includes a preliminary injunction to stop the test run of the operation which was the site of two consecutive cyanide spills in October last year.  Contrary to recommendations of a fact finding mission commissioned by the Philippines president, the mine was given permission to start a test run earlier this month. It was ordered to stop operating by regulatory agencies late last year, and government initiated investigations confirmed serious legal breaches and findings of  negligence and irresponsible conduct by the company leading to the incidents.

The action seeks a permanent stop on the companies operations, highlighting the threats to people’s health and livelihood. The action highlights the gross and serious misconduct by the company which lead to previous spills and  a range of unresolved problems including serious long term acid rock drainage issues and calls for the application of the precautionary to the company’s activities. The action also seeks to make Lafayette pay damages to the residents of Rapu-Rapu and nearby provinces who were affected by two cyanide spills in October 2005.

 Meanwhile, groups based in different baranggays (villages) have issued their own unity statements against the resumption of mining operations on Rapu-Rapu island. One statement was endorsed by Bp. Froilo Quiambao, auxiliary bishop of Legazpi diocese. “Future generations, residents and non-residents of Rapu Rapu alike, are clearly entitled to enjoy the natural resources present in the fragile island ecosystems of Rapu Rapu. To deprive them of such… will only be a clear and blatant violation of this present generation’s role as stewards of the country’s natural resources,” the petition read.

“We filed a case because we want to stop the destruction La Fayette is causing in our island, in our environment, our future and our children's future.  (Sumama po kami sa pagasampa ng kaso upang mapigilan ang ginagawang pagsira ng Lafayette di lamang sa aming kapaligiran kundi sa aming kinabukasan at ng aming mga anak),” says Nenita Cotorno, a 60-year old grandmother of 7 and a local resident of Rapu-rapu

Allegations of a recent spill and contaminate of a creek leading to a fish kill were reported in Phillipines media late last week and outraged organizations and individuals who concerned about the resumption of the mine’s operations.  On Saturday Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (KPNE) slammed what they called “the continuous abandonment of duty” of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in checking La Fayette’s operations. “How can DENR give LPI a passing grade for the so-called “first stage of the test run” with the new spill and fish kill?” queried Clemete Bautista, the National Coordinator of the Group.

A detailed backgrounder and relevant government reports and information on the case lodged before the Philippines courts is available from the Mineral Policy Institute.
For Further Information Contact: MPI Spokesperson Techa Beaumont on 0428 970 434 or (02) 901 6884 / email advocacy@mpi.org.au

Additional Information from Philippines Community Groups:
Source: Kalikasan-PNE July 20, 2006 Press Release Bicolanos, Environmental activists file case against Lafayette, DENR

Reference
CLEMENTE BAUTISTA 09283448797
Kalikasan-People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE)
No.26 Matulungin St. Bgy, Central, Quezon City, Philippines 1100
Tel. No. +63-2-9248756  Fax No. +63-2-9209099
Email: kalikasan.pne@gmail.com

In a new bid to stop the polymetallic mining project in Rapurapu, 27 residents of the island,  Sorsogon and Albay, environmental activist groups, fisher folk organizations, church people, militant organizations and television personalities filed a class suit against Lafayette Philippines, Inc., an Australian mining firm, and DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes today at the Makati Regional Trial Court today.

The suit sought to halt the 30-day test run granted by the DENR Secretary to Lafayette, on June 13, 2006.  It similarly petitioned for the permanent injunction of the Lafayette mining operation, as it demanded compensation for the damages the company has done to the environment and the surrounding communities.

“We filed a case because we want to stop the destruction La Fayette is causing in our island, in our environment, our future and our children's future.  (Sumama po kami sa pagasampa ng kaso upang mapigilan ang ginagawang pagsira ng Lafayette di lamang sa aming kapaligiran kundi sa aming kinabukasan at ng aming mga anak),” says Nenita Cotorno, a 60-year old grandmother of 7 and a local resident of Rapu-rapu.

Another Bicolana and international Beauty Queen Miriam Quiambao also signed as a petitioner. "It is a shame that people's lives and the environment are being put at risk for the sake of the mining operation. I hope that people in the government will make decisions that will be beneficial to more people than a few. Lives, especially people's lives, are too precious.

Television personalities, musicians and environmentalists like Chin-chin Gutierrez, Gary Granada, Chickoy Pura and Roy Alvarez are also petitioners of the suit.

"We are not against mining.  We are against how mining is done in this country, without regard for our people, our environment, and our country's future. The situation cannot guarantee Rapurapu Island’s preservation and barely provides enough for the economic, social or cultural sustainability of the present generation. Why should people and the environment always have to pay the cost to benefit the few?" averred Chin-chin Gutierrez.
 
“The petitioners, who are both residents and non-residents of Rapurapu, share a common concern for the environmental, economic and health-related problems caused by the mining operations in the island. They are invoking their constitutionally guaranteed right to a balanced and healthful ecology as well as their right to health," explains Atty. Howard Calleja, one of the lawyers who filed the case.

“The most compelling reason to restrain Lafayette’s mining operation is the occurrence of acid mine drainage (AMD). This environmental concern is something that even the DENR admits Lafayette could not control,”  added Calleja.

"Rapurapu should be immediately rehabilitated. The acid mine drainage and its effects in the island should be addressed, not exacerbated by allowing the island to be mined further by Lafayette," said Frances Quimpo of the Center for Environmental Concerns-Philippines. 

“It is very difficult to understand how the government can allow Lafayette to continue mining when it has already seen how Lafayette violated our laws, cheated the government of taxes, undermined the safety of the communities, and caused irreversible damages to our environment,” pointed out Antonio Casetas, Head Servant of Sagip Isla, Sagip Kapwa, an island-wide environmental  organization in Rapurapu.

“We have remained vigilant and have continued to protest in the streets, in spite the fact that the island is now being militarized, because this is the only way we can express our position. Our once peaceful island is not only being destroyed, it is now wrapped in apprehension and fear.  We hope Lafayette and the government will let us be, "  averred Ariel Arieto, leader of Lambat-Bicol, a fisherfok federation in the Bicol region.

Meanwhile, Defend Patrimony Spokesperson Trixie Concepcion asserted that Lafayette's operations in Rapu-rapu are still rife with irregularities, including under-declared revenues and falsification of public documents. “We are asking the Court to stop what  DENR  itself further affirmed as a grossly unfavorable mining project to the government,” adds Concepcion.

“The mining issue in Rapu-Rapu is a matter of public interest in view of the environmental hazards and adverse health impacts that Lafayette mining operation poses. The people of Sorsogon are supporting the class suit, and we hope we can get justice,” says Bishop Aruturo Bastes who headed the defunct Rapu-rapu Fact-Finding Commission.

“We do not trust that the Arroyo Administration, including the DENR, will heed our demands. She has after all already demonstrated her bias for the Australian mining firm and has intransigently clung to her mining liberalization policy to protect the interest of foreign transnational mining,” said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of the environmental activist group Kalikasan-PNE.

“This class suit is a fight not only against Lafayette but also a fight in defense of our patrimony,” added Bautista.

For more information, please contact:

Techa Beaumont
Executive Director

Workphone: +61 2 9557 9019
Mobile: +61 (0) 409 318 406

Created: 23 Jul 2006 | Last updated: 23 Jul 2006

This page: http://www.mpi.org.au/ campaigns/waste/rapurapu/

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