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| Legal counsel Walter J. Scott |
A month after the SP issued Resolution No. 264 in. 2005,
authorizing Gov. Carmencita Reyes to enter into a special outside appointment
and engagement contract with legal counsel Walter J. Scott on the lawsuit
against Placer Dome, Inc., the same SP amended the said Resolution through Res.
No. 306 s. 2005, lifting the cap imposed on the maximum reimbursable amount of
the outside legal counsel.
So, the board members at that time changed their minds and
found it sensible and fair to lift the cap as it would “give Placerdome (sic)
an undue leverage by pushing the team of lawyers to exhaust all its resources
to the detriment and disadvantage of the province of Marinduque; and further
diminish the momentum and enthusiasm of the lawyers who will be part of the
case”.
Resources.
Then there’s that much ballyhooed $12 million escrow supposed to
have been deposited by Placer Dome “in a bank in Hongkong known only to select
government and Marcopper officials”, according to board member Allan
Nepomuceno. Read. But he said then that government
authorities had to” work double time” because even if authorities had agreed
that the repair of Marcopper’s Makulapnit Dam that was in “imminent danger of
collapsing” was to be funded by the escrow money, DENR engineer Mike Cabalda
stated during the meeting “that the escrow fund is about to expire next year (2007)".
On March 25, 2007, the Philippine Daily Inquirer ran an
article ('Marinduque dad unhappy over pace of suit vs mining firm'), on the
contract with the U.S. lawyer who “will be paid 10 percent of the first $15
million recovered, with reimbursement of expenses from the first $15 million
not to exceed $500,000 to 40 percent of the next $35 million of recovery or 33
percent of any recovery above $50 million.” Among others, the article also
stated that if the counsel withdraws for cause, “he will be entitled to
reimbursement of expenses and costs he advanced from any recovery and payment
of the contingent fees from any recovery attributed to counsel’s efforts prior to
withdrawal and 20 percent of any other and further recovery thereafter”.
Provincial board member Mel Go at that time also said that
the stipulated compensation package “was detrimental to the province because
Scott was able to persuade the provincial government to attach to the contract
the $15 million escrow fund deposited in 2001 by Placer Dome in a financial
institution intended for the rehabilitation of the Boac River”, the PDI article
stated.
“With the compensation provisions of the contract, Scott is
already assured of getting 10 percent from the $15 million escrow fund which is
already in place at the time that he signed the agreement to represent the
province. That fund is intended for the rehabilitation of the river and should
not be included in the contract at all,” Go continued.
No one seems to be talking now about the fate or status of
that $12 million escrow originally intended for clean up of the Boac River, nor
anyone further probed the propriety or legality of attaching the escrow to the
contract with the lawyer, if true, as stated in the said article.
Secrets, then stunning surprises
next, just like in the old days?
