By Danny O. Calleja
LEGAZPI CITY, (PNA) – Mayors of three Catanduanes towns who are being pressed by the Department of Energy (DOE) into accommodating the commercial coal mining venture by an Australian-owned industrial firm have sought help from the provincial government in resisting the pressure.
In a statement received here Wednesday, Catanduanes Gov. Araceli Wong, said her administration stands by the position of the municipal mayors of Panganiban, Caramoan and Bagamanoc in disallowing the mining operations against the will of the DOE.
The lady governor said she is reiterating her stand against coal mining, saying, she is renewing her commitment to environmental protection and ecological balance.
Besides, Wong said, the provincial government of Catanduanes has enacted a resolution that strongly opposes any form of mining operation in the province, which “I am duty-bound to implement,” as provincial chief executive.
The same resolution was used by the provincial government in repelling a proposed coal mining venture in the province four years ago and this time, Wong said, she would use it again to block a similar operation awarded by the DOE to Australian-owned Altura Mining Limited (ASX:AJM) through its local subsidiary, Altura Mining Philippines, Inc. (AMPI).
Wong said mayors Robert Fernandez of Panganiban, Remegio Villaluna of Bagamanoc and Salvacion Isuela of Caramoan recently wrote her a joint letter seeking the provincial administration’s support against the Altura project.
“We will support whatever action initiated at your end for the welfare of the municipalities of Panganiban, Caramoan and Bagamanoc, and the province of Catanduanes as a whole,” the mayors told the governor in the letter, citing the risks and adverse effects that the mining operations would bring to their place.
Reports said the mayors’ move was triggered by a letter from the DOE received last Sept. 23 which sought their support for the coal exploration program.
Rino Abad, director of the DOE Energy Resource Development Bureau, in the letter, told the mayors that Coal Operating Contract No. 182 for exploration has been awarded to Altura, covering 7,000 hectares straddling the three adjoining municipalities.
Abad said in the letter that DOE has been attracting investors for the exploration of areas with coal resource potential in line with its mandate under Republic Act 7638 to ensure a continuous, adequate and economic supply of energy.
It is with the end view of ultimately achieving self-reliance in the country’s energy requirements through the integrated and intensive exploration, development, production and management of indigenous energy resources, Abad added.
Fernandez, however, lamented that the DOE transaction was facilitated without prior consultation from the local government in an apparent violation of Article 54 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Local Government Code.
He explained that this provision requires all national government agencies to conduct periodic consultations with appropriate LGUs, people’s organizations and other concerned sectors of the community before any project or program is implemented in their respective jurisdictions.
The same provision of the Code, he said, states that the agencies involved in the planning and implementation of any project or program that may cause pollution, depletion of non-renewable resources, loss of crop land, range land, or forest cover and extinction of animal or plant species shall consult with the LGUs and concerned sectors.
The consultation should be aimed at explaining the goals and objectives of the project, its impact upon the people and the community in terms of environmental or ecological balance and the measures that will be undertaken to prevent or minimize such adverse effects, the mayor added.
Upon of the development, sources from Catanduanes said Bishop Manolo delos Santos has offered the help of the Catholic Church in the campaign against the proposed mining operations.
The local church leader reportedly expressed his position against mining and assured that Katandungan Kontra Mina, a church-backed civil society organization, would be once again taking the frontline in blocking the entry of AMPI in the province.
In March last year, the DOE awarded a new coal mining contract to the AMPI following its successful bid for the first of three Coal Operating Contracts under the Philippine Energy Contracting Round 4 (PECR4).
The mining site initially covers 7,000 hectares identified as “Area 3 Catanduanes” the same site covered by a contract earlier awarded by the DOE under the PECR of 2009 to Monte Oro, which gave up the contract when met by strong opposition from the province.
The island province sitting at the eastern seaboard of the Philippines is gifted with over 1.2 million metric tons of high-quality coal deposits within an 8,000-hectare land area.
When converted to cash based on the prevailing world market price, this volume would be worth P9.4 billion, a recent report, citing a US geological survey said.
Area 3 Catanduanes straddles the three municipalities that are all major abaca and coconut-producing areas that sit at the heart of the 1,511.5 square-kilometer island.