MANILA, Philippines — The Altai Philippines Mining Company (APMC) has dropped the complaints it filed against Sibuyan Island environmental leaders, according to the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) on Tuesday.
“Agad na binawi ng Altai Philippines Mining Corporation ang kasong isinampa nito sa mga Sibuyanon envi defenders. Patuloy pa rin ang pagsasagawa ng barikada kontra mina, at ang sigaw ng grupo ay i-revoke na ang exploration permit at [Mineral Production Sharing Agreement] ng minahan,” the group said in a statement.
(The Altai Philippines Mining Corporation immediately took back the cases it filed against the Sibuyanon environmental defenders. The barricade against mining will continue, and the group will continue their cry for the revocation of the exploration permit and Mineral Production Sharing Agreement for the mining project).
On Monday that local leaders who protested the company’s allegedly illegal mining faced a case of “Damages and Injunction with Prayer for Temporary Restraining Order and Writ for Preliminary Injunction” filed by the APMC.
READ: Mining firm sues Sibuyan, Romblon barangay leaders, environmentalists
The document provided by the ATM showed that “after the case was filed and docketed, the plaintiff filed electronically a Notice of Withdrawal of Complaint.”
Eventually, the ATM said, Cajidiocan Regional Trial Court Branch 106 Presiding Judge Cirile Maduro Foja granted the withdrawal of complaint, and the scheduled hearings on Wednesday and Thursday were canceled.
A photo of the court order allowing the withdrawal of the case that the Altai Philippines Mining Company filed against local environmental leaders in Sibuyan Island, Romblon, as posted on the Facebook page of the Alyansa Tigil Mina on Tuesday, February 7, 2023.
Tensions in the island developed after protesters clashed with local police to denounce the alleged illegal mining operations of APMC in Sibuyan Island. The mining firm had said it has since voluntarily stopped its exploration and testing activities, especially as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued a notice of violation to the company.
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