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| Members of a religious group hold Mass in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, January 28, while waiting for the resumption of the oral arguments over the Disbursement Acceleration Program. Danny Pata, GMA Network |
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| Members of the Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (MACEC) hold a rally in front of the provincial capitol of Marinduque against the 'take it or leave it' compromise settlement offered by Barrick Gold. |
Philippines - The People of Marinduque resist Barrick's unfair settlement
Source: Statements, Inquirer, ABS-CBN, CBCP News
The key story focused around the on-going pressure being applied on the Provincial Government of Marinduque to settle in their case against Barrick Gold for the historic pollution caused as a result of the hugely-polluting Marcopper mine. The ‘take it or leave it' US$20-million settlement looks particularly pathetic, considering the conditions (including full indemnity for Barrick and that none of the payment will be allowed to go to compensating the victims or the restoration of the polluted environment!).
Where this leaves other claimants is also a moot point, as some of the victims are directly suing for compensation. As such a rally was organised to protest against the proposed settlement. The Australian radio programme Earth Matters has interviewed some of those close to the case.
The people's verdict on the continuing
Marcopper case: we will settle for no less than
justice!
Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment
(Kalikasan PNE)
The Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) expresses deep solidarity with the Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns and the people of Marinduque in their steadfast stand to fight for justice in the landmark case of the Marcopper mining disaster. Today, Marinduqueños are expected to gather at the Boac capitol to stop the impending case settlement by the provincial board with the company responsible for the environmental crime. The settlement will leave Placer Dome, the Canadian large-scale mining company which owned and operated Marcopper Mines, but has later been bought out by another Canadian mining firm Barrick Gold in 2006, legally scot-free.
The Marcopper disaster, a series of dam failures which deluged various bodies of water in the island province with over 1.6 million cubic meters of toxic mine tailings, killed all agricultural lands and fisheries in its wake and has transformed the island's richly endowed environment a virtual wasteland. The graver legacy of the Marcopper mines, however, was its continual dumping of more than 200 million metric tons of mine tailings in Calancan Bay between 1975 and 1991.
We are one with the people in its rejection of the proposed ‘take it or leave it' $20-million settlement. The decade-long case filed against Placer Dome-Barrick Gold in Nevada deserves to be junked as it only seeks to collect crumbs in exchange for the exoneration of this environmental criminal. Marcopper-Placer Dome-Barrick Gold and all local officials who allowed such travesty in the island of Marinduque must be held to fully account for their crimes against the people and the environment. The victims and their families deserve just compensation. Boac River, Mogpog River and Calancan Bay must be cleaned up of its toxic pollution.
Marcopper-Placer Dome-Barrick Gold should pay back the people of Marinduque for the decades of copper and gold mining and the lost opportunity to develop of the island province.
Not a single cent of the settlement payment will be allowed to go to the restoration of the polluted environment: $7 million will go to litigation expenses and the rest would go to the provincial board. Corrupt officials in Marinduque see this as an opportunity to enrich themselves even as it means the abandonment of the people's demands for environmental justice.
Together with the Mining Act of 1995 and Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III's Executive Order 79, the Marcopper case should be relegated to the dustbins of history. Any settlement with these mining companies will only fuel the impunity suffered by the people from the large-scale mining in this country.
We reiterate our calls to uphold the pursuit of justice against Marcopper-Placer Dome-Barrick Gold and its unscrupulous local partner, Teodoro Bernardino. We also condemn the clear abandonment of the plight of the victims of Marcopper's mining operations by the Aquino administration. Marcopper-Placer Dome-Barrick Gold and the Aquino government should finally address the long-standing problems that the company has wrought upon the people of Marinduque.
As Marinduqueños march bearing these calls, the people's verdict is clear: we will settle for no less than justice!
Reference: Mr. Clemente Bautista, National Coordinator of Kalikasan PNE , 18/12/13 MAC
