No mining in Arakan, says chamber

BEAUTIFUL ARAKAN This pastoral scene described in the PIME website as “somewhere in Arakan Valley” belies the reality of a fertile land right in the middle of an ethnic, religious and political “fault line.”

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines on Wednesday said none of its members was operating in North Cotabato province and dismissed as “pure speculation” suggestions that Monday’s killing of an Italian missionary there was prompted by his antimining crusade.

“We are saddened by the senseless killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio and condemn in the strongest terms this yet another act of violence against a man of God,” the chamber said in a statement.

However, it said that it did not have a member company operating in the province where Tentorio was killed and urged “duty of care and diligence” among those making pronouncements about the incident.

“We should all learn from the Ortega murder case in Palawan and reserve our comments until after a thorough investigation by the Department of Justice has been completed,” the chamber said. “Until then, all statements as to the reason behind this latest criminal act are pure speculation.”

Rush to judgment

Gerry Ortega, a radio commentator and environmentalist, was gunned down in January in a murder initially blamed on his campaign to preserve biodiversity in Palawan.

Subsequent investigations pointed to Ortega’s exposés on corruption in connection with the handling of royalty from the Malampaya natural gas project as a possible motive. The case remains under investigation.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau said there were no mining permits or contracts in North Cotabato. It said there were 14 mining applications in the province before the bureau started cleansing mining applications late last year and that only two of these remained to be processed.

The bureau said Visayas Ore Phils. Inc., a subsidiary of Nihao Mineral Resources International Inc., did not have a pending application much less an operation in the province as suggested in initial media stories on the murder.

No permit

“We have no activities in North Cotabato because we don’t have a permit in that area,” Nihao vice president Jose Francisco E. Miranda said in a phone interview. He said he had not heard that its subsidiary was being linked to the killing.

Chief Superintendent Lester O. Camba, head of the police task force handling the murder case, also said that there was no existing mining operations in the Arakan Valley, “even small-scale mining.”