Mindanao bishops submit petition vs Tampakan mining

MANILA, Philippines — A group of Roman Catholic bishops from south central Cotabato submitted a petition to the Office of the President to declare the extension of the Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) of Tampakan copper-gold project illegal.

The petition, filed on Wednesday, was subsequently submitted to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

According to the church leaders, DENR’s attached agency, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), “unconstitutionally” approved the FTAA extension in 2020. MGB’s approval of the extension for the Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI)-owned mining project was beyond their jurisdiction, thus making the decision and document void, they added.

The mining operations will also have an  environmental impact on critical areas, the bishops asserted.

“The Tampakan FTAA has definitively lapsed, SMI should have thus undergone consultations, environmental impact assessment, and other regulatory compliances for renewal,” Atty. Rolly Peoro from Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC) said.

Article continues after this advertisement LRC stands as the legal counsel of the bishops.

“These safeguards are there to ensure that the utilization of our natural resources is held accountable to the highest office and therefore highest regulatory scrutiny,” Peoro added.

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The bishops further claimed that SMI’s claim of force majeure as the basis for requiring FTAA extension was unfounded.

The petition letter was signed by Most Rev. Cerilo Casicas, Bishop of the Diocese of Marbel; Most Rev. Angelito Lampon, Archbishop of Cotabato; Most Rev. Jose Colin Bagaforo, Bishop of the Diocese of Kidapawan and Most Rev. Guillermo Afable, Bishop of the Diocese of Digos, who represented the communities that will be affected by the mining operations.

The Tampakan mining site is considered one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in Southeast Asia.

SMI announced in August that pre-construction activities have already commenced, and it will officially start operations in South Cotabato by the fourth quarter of 2023.

INQUIRER.net has tried reaching out to the SMI and MGB but has yet to receive a response as of posting time.

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