Leyte mining firm ordered to pay for fish pen losses

TACLOBAN CITY—Environment officials ordered a mining firm operating in Leyte to pay for losses incurred by owners of fish pens and cages and which had been blamed on the firm’s operations.

Roger De Dios, regional director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), said he directed Nicua Mining Corp. to pay for losses that fish pen and cage owners in the course of Nicua’s operations in Lake Bito in MacArthur, Leyte.

De Dios said he had informed Alex de Leo, Nicua executive vice president, of the MGB order that came after a fishkill hit Lake Bito on May 12 and which had been blamed on Nicua operations.

“I could really say that the fishkill incident last Saturday was due to mining operations as there were traces of oil and grease seen in Lake Bito,” De Dios said, adding that even Nicua management had admitted this.

“That is why I asked them to compensate all the affected fishermen for their losses due to the fishkill,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

On May 12, the mining company opened its settling pond causing runoffs of grease and oil to flow into Lake Bito where fish pens and cages had been built by residents of Barangay (village) Villa Imelda.

Fishermen claimed that the oil and grease released by Nicua caused the fishkill.

De Dios said he has also ordered the mining firm to institute safety measures to prevent a repeat of the runoffs.

“We want the company to ensure that it will never happen again,” De Dios said.

Another fishkill struck the area earlier on March 15, but De Dios said he was not sure if this was caused by the mining operations, too.

The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) is still investigating the March 15 fishkill, said De Dios.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) had said it found the mining operations to be the cause of the March 15 fishkill in Lake Bito.

De Dios, however, said the BFAR statement “will only serve as reference.”

“It is the findings of the EMB which we consider as official as it is the agency that determines if a certain company has violated any of our environmental laws,” said De Dios.

Jesus Cabias, head of the Bito Lake Fisherfolk Association, welcomed the MGB regional office’s order to collect compensation for fishermen from Nicua.

“It is good news for us who are seeking justice due to this fishkill,” Cabias said in a text message.

He, however, could not cite figures on how many fish died on May 12.

During the March 15 fishkill, Cabias said at least 22,000 kilograms of fish worth P1.7 million were lost.