This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com).
Vol. VI, No. 23, July 20, 2006
Posted 3:03 p.m. July 20, 2006 Environmentalist
groups and individuals, including an actress and a former beauty queen,
filed a class suit 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 is solid, good and nice,”
said counsel Howard Calleja. “If you can stop the flagship project (the
Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic Project), then you can start questioning other mining
projects.” Around 1,000 signatures of
petitioners were gathered by members of Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC)-Philippines,
Rapu-rapu’s Sagip-Isla, Sagip-Kapwa, Bicol peasant group Umalpas-Ka, Kalikasan-Philippine
Network for the Environment (KPNE) and Defend Patrimony! alliance. Among the
petitioners were Miss Universe 1999 First Runner-up Miriam Quiambao and Urian
Best actress Chin-chin Gutierrez Fr. Felino Bugauisan, assistant parish
priest of Rapu-Rapu and consultant of Sagip-Isla (Save the Island), a multi-sectoral
organization opposed to mining operations in the island off Legazpi City in
Albay, gathered almost 400 signatures. He said he could have gathered more but
not all signatories to the petition have the required documents, such as a
community tax certificate (cedula). Frances Quimpo, CEC-Philippines executive
director told Bulatlat they have been receiving more signatures
supporting the petition even after the filing. On June 30, the Department of Natural
Resources allowed Lafayette to resume its operations. The mining corporation
started its test run on the second week of July. The government’s decision to allow
Lafayette to have a test run angered the members of the Bastes Commission that
found the company negligent and responsible for the mine spills that happened in
October 2005. Aside from the TRO, the petition also
included a preliminary injunction to make Lafayette pay damages to the residents
of Rapu-Rapu and nearby provinces who were affected by the October 2005 spills. 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. Major anti-mining
organizations in Bicol such as the Sagip-Isla, Umalpas-Ka, Defend Patrimony! and
Anti-Lafayette Mining Alliance (Alam) have also protested against Lafayette.
Bulatlat © 2006 Bulatlat
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BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bulatlat