Mindanao bishops seek President help in voiding Tampakan contract

PETITION Marbel Bishop Cerilo Casicas (center) shows the petition he and several other Mindanao bishops filed in Malacañang on Wednesday to recall the mining contract over the Tampakan
tenement in South Cotabato. —PHOTO COURTESY OF LRC-KSK

A group of Roman Catholic bishops from South Central Mindanao is urging President Marcos to declare illegal the contract extension granted by the government to a mining company for the development of the Tampakan mining project in South Cotabato province.

The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC), in a statement on Thursday, said that with the help of their lawyers, the church leaders on Wednesday filed their petition in Malacañang and later in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

According to the prelates, the extension of the financial or technical assistance agreement (FTAA) granted by the DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in 2020 in favor of Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) was “unconstitutional.”

The FTAA is a contract entered into by the government and corporations for large-scale exploration, development and utilization of gold, copper, nickel, chromite, lead, zinc and other minerals.

Impact on environment

Most Rev. Cerilo Casicas, Bishop of the Diocese of Marbel, pointed out that the extension of the FTAA was beyond the authority of the MGB, adding that the agreement should be voided “especially as the mining operation will impact on critical environmental areas.”

Aside from Casicas, the petition was also signed by bishops representing the communities that would be affected by the mining project, touted as the largest untapped copper and gold minefield in Southeast Asia.

The signatories include 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.

For lawyer Rolly Peoro, direct legal services coordinator of LRC, SMI should have undertaken consultations, environmental impact assessment, as well as other regulatory compliances for the renewal of the contract.

“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 said.

Earlier in August, SMI announced that it was scheduled to begin its operations for the Tampakan mining project in South Cotabato by the fourth quarter of this year.

READ: Mindanao bishops submit petition vs Tampakan mining

According to the company, it had started preconstruction activities, including land acquisition and the building of access roads.

In a decision dated Aug. 22, 2022, the Court of Appeals’ (CA) 23rd Division in Cagayan de Oro City declared that the open-pit mining ban in South Cotabato was valid but it was only applicable to small-scale miners.

“Further, it is clarified that the ban on open-pit mining does not apply to large-scale mining operations of the said province, particularly the Tampakan project,” the CA said in its decision.

The South Cotabato provincial government and the Tampakan municipal government have yet to respond to the Inquirer’s request for comments on the petition filed by the bishops.