Manila Bulletin: Marinduque scouts for law firm to handle class suit vs Marcopper

by Rey G. Panaligan, Manila Bulletin

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Marinduque did not act on the proposal of Governor Carmencita Reyes to secure a loan of $8 million (P400 million) abroad to finance the new environment class suit the province will file against two mining firms based in Canada.

Instead, the council passed a resolution last March 10 that would invite foreign law firms, including Canada’s Trudel, Johnston and Lesperance (Trudel), to submit their proposals for the handling of the environment case.

The province is filing a new case against Placer Dome, Inc. and Barrick Gold Corporation for the alleged environmental damage caused by the operation of Marcopper Mining Corporation, particularly in the towns of Boac and Mogpog.

Marcopper Mining was partly owned by Placer Dome. In 2006, Barrick Gold, the largest gold mining firm in the world, acquired the majority shares of Placer Dome. Both mining firms are based in Canada.

Records showed that in 1996 Marcopper Mining was involved in what was described as the largest mining disasters in the Philippines when the drainage tunnel of large pit fractured and discharged toxic mine waste into the river. Residents of several villages were evacuated and agricultural crops were destroyed and farm animals died.

Above photo taken after the session March 10. L to R: Fr. Arvin Madla, former BM Jojo Alvarez, Bishop Junie Maralit, BM Rey Salvacion, BM Gilbert Daquioag, BM John Pelae, BM Mely Aguirre, Cong. Lord Allan Velasco, BM Primo Pamintuan and Vice-Gov. Romulo Bacorro, Jr.

The provincial council was forced to defer action on Governor Reyes’ recommendation after the residents, led by the Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (MaCEC) and the Marinduque Reform Movement (MRM) assailed the proposal as “disadvantageous to the province.”

The residents were joined in their protest by the church, led by Bishop Junie Maralit; Rep. Lord Allan Velasco; and several municipal and barangay officials.

Bantay-Kaso movement rallyists

The protests led to the organization of a new group called “Bantay Kaso,” a movement for transparent and accountable disposition in the filing of the environment case.

Reyes’ proposal was to engage anew the services of American law firm, Diamond McCarthy, and American lawyer Walter Skipp Scott for the hiring of Canadian lawyers to represent Marinduque in the case.

The residents protested the hiring of the American law firm and the plan to secure a loan of $8 million allegedly to finance the legal costs of the litigation.

Records showed that Diamond McCarthy and Scott filed a suit against Placer Dome and Barrick Gold in Nevada in 2005 in behalf of Marinduque for damages caused by the mining disaster in 1996.

But after years of litigation, the Nevada Supreme Court dismissed the case and ruled that the proper venue is either Canada or the Philippines.

Pahayag ng BANTAY-KASO sa Marinduque

Noong nakaraang Marso 3, ay walang babala na biglang sumipot ang dating Amerikanong abogadong si Skip Scott sa Sangguniang Panlalawigan ng Marinduque. Dala ito ng isang kahilingan na natanggap ng SP noong araw ding iyon na payagan si Gov. Carmencita Reyes na pumirma ng isang MOA at panibagong kontrata sa Diamond McCarthy (DM). May kinalaman ito sa kasong isasampa sa Canada laban sa Placer Dome/Barrick Gold dahil sa kapinsalaan ng naging pagmimina ng Marcopper sa Marinduque.

Sinabayan ng BANTAY-KASO (Marinduque Movement for Transparent and Accountable Dispositions of the PGM vs Barrick Case) ang civil society group na Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (MACEC), at mga Kapariang mahigpit na tumutol din sa binalak sa naging biglaang desisyon.

Bahagi ng Pahayag mula sa grupong "BANTAY-KASO"  ang sumusunod. 

BAHAGI NG PAHAYAG:

Tanong: Bakit hindi dapat Diamond McCarthy (DM)?

Ito ay US law firm na humawak ng kaso ng Lalawigan sa US subalit walang license mag-practice sa Canada. Pag kinuha sila, kukuha naman sila ng isa pang Canadian Law Firm/Lawyers (tinawag na LOLG) para siyang humawak ng kaso natin doon na babayaran din ng lalawigan (maliban sa kanila).

Parang BROKER o AHENTE lang ang DM. Bakit pa? Samantalang may mga kilalang Canadian Law firms naman na direktang gustong humawak ng kaso? Kailangang dumaan pa sa kanila? DOBLENG GASTOS!

Tanong: Bakit sa Canada isasampa ang kaso?

Sa US unang isinampa ni Scott/Diamond McCarthy ang kaso subalit makalipas ang halos 10 taon, FINALLY DISMISSED ang kaso dahil MALI na sa US isinampa kundi sa CANADA o sa Pilipinas dapat. Ito lang ang na-resolve sa US sa halos 10 taon subalit sinasabi ni Scott/DM na nasa $12-million (P600-million) na daw ang nagastos nila sa kaso.

Tanong: Paano babayara ang abogado pag sinampa sa Canada? May pera bang gagamitin?

Sa dating kontrata kay Scott/DM, walang perang ilalabas muna ang probinsya at magbabayad lamang kung nanalo o may nasingil na (Contingency Basis). 

Subalit sa bagong kontratang hinahain ngayon, BABAYARAN NA AGAD ang mga abogadong kukunin nilang humawak sa Canada at iba pang gastos. At sapagkat walang pera ang lalawigan para dito, UUTANG ANG LALAWIGAN sa Parabellum na funding partner ng DM sa US. Babayaran ito at bibigyan pa rin ng share ang Funder kapag may nasingil.

Ilang million dollars din ang proposed budget ngayon ng DM at Canadian partner (LOLG) para sa susunod na 2 taon subalit HINDI PA RIN NILA SINISIGURADO NA MAI-FILE ANG KASO SA KORTE. Kung ganoon, para saan ang budget na babayaran sa kanila?

Tanong: Sino'ng kukuning abogado ng Diamond McCarthy bilang partner nila na hahawak sa kaso sa Canada?

Ang partner nila ay ang Lax O'Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb (LOLG), isang law firm na kilalang humahawak ng mga corporate cases sa Canada at NAGING ABOGADO NA RIN NG BARRICK GOLD na siyang idedemanda ng lalawigan ngayon. Pag napirmahan ni Gov. Reyes ang MOA, ang magtatanggol sa atin ay dating abogado ng kumpanyang ating idedemanda!

Tanong: Kung hindi DM at LOLG, may iba pa bang Canadian firms na interesado sa kaso?

Oo. Isa dito ang Trudel, Johnston & Lesperance (TJL) na nag-submit na ng initial proposal sa probinsya at personal ding bumisita at nag-ocular visit sa probinsya sa kahilingan ng Lalawigan, at their expense noong pang Enero 2016.

Ang TJL ang nagpanalo ng isa sa pinakamalaking awards sa Canadian Court na $ 15-BILLION (Ca) para sa mga apektadong residente ng lalawigan ng Quebec. Sila ay isa lamang sa nagpakita ng interes na hawakan ang kaso ng Marinduque nang i-declare ng US lawyer Walter Skip Scott sa Public Meeting na HINDI na nila hahawakan ng DM ang kaso kapag hindi tinanggap ng lalawigan ang $20M Proposed Settlement Agreement na pinag-usapan noon 2014-2015.

Subalit nang nagpakita ng interest ang TJL, biglang nagmarahipit uli si Scott/DM na hawakan ang kaso. Dapat na mag-imbita pa ng ibang law firms para maraming pagpilian ang lalawigan.

Tanong: Inaako ng DM na sila daw ay 'global counsel' ng probinsya, anong ibig sabihin nito?

Ibig sabihin na sila ang hahawak at magiging kausap sa ano mang kaso na isasampa ng Lalawigan kahit saang panig ng mundo. Kahit wala silang license magpractice sa bansang iyon tulad ng Pilipinas. Kungmagsasampa ng kaso ang Lalawigan sa Pilipinas, sila pa rin ang ka-kontrata, at kukuha naman sila ng Filipino Law Firms at lawyers para ipagtanggol tayo sa korte ng Pilipinas. Malaking KALOKOHAN ito!

PATULOY PO TAYONG MAGMATYAG AT MAGING KAAGAPAY NG MGA KATUWANG SA CIVIL SOCIETY AT SA GOV'T NA NAGSUSULONG NG IKABUBUTI NG LALAWIGAN

BANTAY-KASO

March 10, 2017

Bullying this Blog

Some people apparently belonging to a certain political interest group in Marinduque are seemingly suddenly obsessed with, at the present time, getting rid of this blogsite. Evidenced by what appears to be identical spams these are apparent fresh attempts to bully this site after past phishing episodes on this blog immediately following an election here, one that saw some leadership changes, pointing now towards a clear sign to restrict the blog sites of those perceived to be not aligned with whosoever is leaning towards increasing authoritarianism. The chief grumble repeated by said political interest group is not about the contents of this blog, they so themselves claim, but about the fact that this blogger is not connected with government, therefore cannot append gov in his blog address and must change it. Non-government and personal websites that use the three-letter word, ‘gov’, abound in the Internet. Samples of such websites to name a few are: whorunsgov.com, yougov.com, thegov.com, puppetgov.com, etc. For emphasis, one may cite the more definitive ‘govcom.org’, a non-government conceptual URL that indicates three ‘major actor groups’ involved in debates on social issues: .gov's, .com's and .org's. Other similar websites range anywhere from hip-hop to good governance. Good governance in Marinduque province, is a subject dealt with by this blog alongside the promotion of culture, arts and local tourism, historical awareness, news and local socio-political issues in the locality. The claim that the word ‘gov’ or ‘government’ cannot be used in web addresses by web-users not in government is a fallacy and does not appear in any legal statutes - after all, democratic governments are “for the people, by the people, of the people”. Other relevant sites in the Internet are: governmentnames.blogspot.com, commonsensegovernment.com, makingbettergovernment.com, workingwithgovernment.com, smartergovernment.com, businessofgovernment.com, fearthegovernment.com etc. Government Portals Internet users are well aware that government portals in the Internet such as www.gov.ph (for Philippines), www.gov.sg (Singapore), www.gov.au (Australia), etc. plainly use: ‘name-of-office dot gov dot ph’ for use by government entities as their official sites and always declare the same to be official sites. Personal Blog This is a personal blog by this blogger hosted by Blogger.com. One must note that changing to a new blogspot address will delete all the backlinks and traffic sources for that same blog. When this happens, Internet users will certainly run into a page that states: ‘Not Found’. One cannot fall into this clever trap this blog is being pushed to take in the guise of ‘confusion’. It is, likewise, a fact that if a Blogger URL is changed, the same URL becomes immediately available to just anyone else in the worldwide web. Just anyone else. This blog site, for the last two years, has been positively favored with quality backlinks by various Internet organizations and users that bloggers then, when this occurs, are compelled to protect from censorship in any form. Believing also that they humbly contribute to world knowledge, this is naturally undertaken with serious dedication to the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The existence of deep political divides in the province of Marinduque is well-known to local and national newspapers, the subject of church sermons, facebook group discussions and one that has become well-entrenched in the public mind. In the final analysis, this is what the fuss is really all about. Legal Disclaimer KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS THEN: That, again, this is a personal blog. It is not officially endorsed nor endorsed in any manner, whatsoever, by the Marinduque Government or any local government unit in Marinduque. The views expressed are those of the author or originators and do not necessarily reflect the views of any government entity or any other individuals or organizations.