Copy of letter posted on Pedrito Nepomuceno's Facebook, February 8, 2014:
08 February 2014
THE HONORABLE CARMENCITA O. REYES, Provincial Governor, Province of Marinduque, Provincial Capitol, Boac, Marinduque;
THE HONORABLE ROMULO BACORRO, JR,.Provincial Vice Governor and Presiding Officer, Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Province of Marinduque, Provincial Capitol, Boac, Marinduque; and
THE HONORABLE RAMON PAJE, Secretary, Department of Environment and Natural Resources,DENR Building, Visayas Avenue corner Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City
Subject: 1. US DOLLAR 12,000,000.00 Escrow fund for the Clean up and rehabilitation of the Boac River; and 2. Status of the Case filed vs. Marcopper Corporation/Barrick Gold
Gentlemen:
May we respectfully refer to you the herein attached self-explanatory reply of Marinduque Provincial Administrator, Eleuterio R. Raza, Jr., regarding our query on the reported US$12,000,000.00 Escrow Fund intended for the clean up and rehabilitation of the Boac river. Please officially confirm or deny the existence of the said Escrow Fund and if there is indeed any, may we know where it is kept, terms and condition and the parties and signatories to the fund.
May we, likewise, request official information and latest status of the case in Nevada, USA which, according to Mr. Raza, is under mediation. Please state the terms and conditions offered at the mediation table and may we be informed of the official position of the Provincial Governor and the Provincial Board and/or Provincial Government on the matter.
It is also respectfully requested from the Honorable Secretary Ramon Paje for DENR’s official report on their knowledge about the Boac River Clean-up Escrow Funds or any other funds related thereto.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Very truly yours,
PEDRITO M. NEPOMUCENO
Former Mayor – Boac; Former Board Member – Marinduque; Former Corporate Secretary, Marinduque Movers
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| Where did $12M Boac River cleanup fund go? |
$3M for sandbags
“But this is different from the suit, as (the escrow) already belongs to Marinduque,” Go said.
Go, who chaired the provincial board’s committee on environment protection from 2004 to 2007, said the original cleanup amount was $15 million, but $3 million was deducted from it when the company placed “sand bags” in the upstream portion of the Boac River.
Go called it a “cosmetic” cleanup, as the rest of the river has not yet been cleared of the toxic waste.
In an interview, Go showed copies of the 2005 correspondence between him and former Marcopper president John Loney.
In Loney’s June 14, 2005, letter to the provincial board, he said the amount was deposited “under an escrow agreement with a financial institution to secure payments … and that the release of those funds is subject to safeguards…”
“The work completion agreement and the escrow agreement are binding contracts and (Placer Dome) intends to honor its commitments,” he said.
A 2006 Inquirer report quoted Marinduque board member Alan Nepomuceno as saying that the $12 million was deposited in a bank in Hong Kong “known only to selected government and Marcopper officials.”
In that same report, Nepomuceno said Governor Reyes assured them that the fund was intact.
The Inquirer on Sunday tried to seek comment from Governor Reyes but she was in a meeting and referred the matter to Edmund.
But Edmund, now a director of the Toll Regulatory Board, failed to take calls made by the Inquirer to his mobile phone on Sunday and Monday.
No politics here
Go, who ran for Marinduque vice governor but lost to a party mate of the Reyeses in the Liberal Party last May, denied politics was involved in the matter.
In a phone interview Monday, Edmund Reyes’ lawyer Miguel Ongsiako confirmed that there was such an escrow fund intended for the cleanup of the Boac River but the agreement was entered into by the national government, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Barrick, the company that acquired Placer Dome Inc.
“The province and the governor had no involvement in that [escrow agreement],” said Ongsiako, noting that the province had never benefited from the escrow funds. Read full article on INQUIRER.net
Myth or no myth
Walter “Skip” Scott, lead counsel in the 2005 damage suit, branded the escrow fund as a “myth built on hope but no less a myth.”
Go earlier showed to the Inquirer copies of the 2005 correspondence between him and former Marcopper president John Loney, who acknowledged that the fund was deposited “under an escrow agreement with a financial institution.”
A 2006 Inquirer report also quoted another board member, Alan Nepomuceno, as saying that the money was deposited in a bank in Hong Kong with details “known only to selected government and Marcopper officials.”
Lawyer Miguel Ongsiako, counsel of former Marinduque Representative Edmund Reyes, said in an earlier phone interview that the escrow deal was entered into by the DENR and Barrick. Read full article on INQUIRER.net
Persuaded?
"The stipulated compensation package, Go said, 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.
“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 said." Inquirer.net
'Depleted!'
"During the Sept. 13 meeting, Counsel Scott had blurted an answer to the question posed about the $12M (escrow) fund earmarked for environmental rehab saying that the funds have been depleted. This seemed to validate the rumors that the SP has given the lawyer an access to the funds. True or False? Only paper trails would sort it out for the public who has been so much kept in the dark by the governing officials. As it stands, the Counsel will get $7M from the proposed settlement.
"It seems clear enough that the purported mythical $12M fund could have more than compensate the Counsel. That leaves a clear and balanced accounting that the Counsel is paid for and free to move on, and for us to recruit a new aggressive Counsel."
- Isabel Ball, HELM Marinduque (Letter to Governor)
