Marinduque town seeks better deal in mining tragedy payment

The municipal government of Boac in Marinduque province has joined calls by antimining groups to renegotiate the compensation package being dangled by a mining company in connection with the 1996 Marcopper mine tailing spill, considered the worst mining disaster in the Philippines.

In a resolution, Boac officials urged the Marinduque provincial government to renegotiate the terms of the $20-million settlement offer.

It said “any amount to be negotiated… should be commensurate” to the destruction that the mining disaster brought to the people of Boac and Marinduque.

The Boac resolution was approved on Dec. 18, 2013, the same day that at least 500 residents rallied at the Marinduque capitol as the provincial government officials deliberated on the offer of Barrick Gold Corp.

Barrick Gold is the company that bought out Marcopper Mining Corp. and its parent company, Placer Dome, after the tailing spill that destroyed Marinduque’s rivers in the towns of Boac, Mogpog and Sta. Cruz.

“It is good there is now [an] LGU (local government unit) which stands up [for the] renegotiation of the settlement conditions,” said Elizabeth Manggol, executive director of the church-based Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (Macec) that organized the rally.

Macec is lobbying with local government leaders to reject the compensation offer, which, it said, was not enough to pay for the province’s losses and rehabilitate ecosystems that have been destroyed by the mining disaster.

Manggol said accepting the offer would also allow the company to walk away from the mine disaster “with impunity” and jeopardize other pending cases, among them 12 counts of criminal charges and a billion-peso tax case against Marcopper and Barrick Gold.

The company has given Marinduque province only until the end of this month to decide on its offer.

Dr. Catherine Coumans, of the Canadian environmental group MiningWatch, warned against Barrick’s offer, which she called “an unacceptable long-term financial and social burden.”

In an e-mail interview on Monday, Coumans raised concerns over some conditions set by the company, particularly on one which prevents Marinduque from using any part of the $20 million to rehabilitate areas damaged by mining operations.

“The best outcome would be a much improved offer from Barrick or a rejection of the offer and a continuation of the trial,” Coumans wrote.

She said the province “has a strong case” should it walk out of the negotiating table and pursue trial.