PUERTO PRINCESA CITY?BEWARE OF midnight mining permits.

A group of environmental lawyers issued this warning as the Arroyo administration winds up its affairs, saying officials of Malacañang and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources are capable of springing surprises.

The group, Environmental Legal Assistance Center (Elac), said officials in cahoots with mining firms may take shortcuts in granting mining permits left and right before a new administration takes over after June 30.

In a press conference held on Earth Day, Elac said it sees a deluge of mining permits being issued by Malacañang to major nickel and gold mining firms in Palawan.

Applications to dig up gold and nickel in various areas in Palawan are pending and have not been endorsed by communities where the mining sites would be located.

Lawyer Dong Lorenzo, a member of Elac, said several major mining projects are in the pipeline in Palawan that have been endorsed by local government officials but have not been approved by communities that would host them.

?The trend is clear that mining companies are doing everything their money and influence can buy to get permits and put their projects in place before a new government takes over in June,? Lorenzo said.

?But what is more troubling is it seems the Arroyo administration is dancing with them,? he said.

He cited the case of the mining application of Canadian-owned Narra Nickel Mining Co. in Narra, Palawan.

Lorenzo said Elac received reports that Malacañang was ready to issue a permit to the firm even as village officials who had endorsed it had turned around to oppose the project.

Elac had criticized the National Council on Indigenous Peoples in Palawan, a government agency that issues clearances to mining applications to protect the interest of indigenous communities, for influencing indigenous peoples into endorsing mining projects.

In the northern town of Roxas, the group said the provincial government was set to issue a small-scale mining permit to Fujian-Sino Mining Corp. despite the absence of an endorsement from the municipal council.

?The trend is disturbing because we do know for sure how much the national government will compromise the safety of Palawan ? with the midnight permits that they will issue,? said Beth Maclang, advocacy officer of the Palawan NGO Network.

Farmers from the village of Calategas in Narra, where the Canadian-backed nickel mining project is set to operate, said they would resort to ?human barricades? to stop the project if a permit is issued by Malacañang.

?We will form a barricade if they issue the permit. We will gather the entire Calategas and set up a barricade. We won?t mind getting hurt,? said Danny Cabiguen, spokesperson of a group of farmers opposed to the project.

?If the national government will not listen to us, we will put up the fight in our place where the project is,? said tribal leader Nelson Sombra from Quezon, Palawan. Redempto D. Anda, Inquirer Southern Luzon