DENR gives OceanaGold mining operation permit By LEANDER C....

DENR gives OceanaGold mining operation permit

By LEANDER C. DOMINGO, TMT
June 25, 2019

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BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya: The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has allowed OceanaGold to continue its mining operation in Barangay Didipio pending confirmation of its Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) renewal.
In a June 20 letter to Jose Leviste Jr., OceanaGold Philippines Inc. (OGPI) board chairman, MGB acting director Wilfredo Moncano said that
OGPI was allowed to continue its mining operation despite the expiration of its FTAA.


“Please be informed that [through] the Memorandum of the same date to the DENR Secretary, this office has taken its position that OGPI is permitted to continue its mining operation pending the approval of the renewal of FTAA No. 001,” Moncano said in his letter.
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An FTAA is a permit issued to a multinational company that will share technology and resources to explore and extract minerals in the Philippines.
OceanaGold’s FTAA 1, issued 25 years ago, now only covers 10,266 hectares, including the currently operating mine in a 925-hectare area in Barangay Didipio in the mineral-rich upland town of Kasibu.

OGPI, in a letter dated June 13, 2019, a copy of which was furnished to Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, requested the MGB central office in Quezon City for a “written confirmation that OGPI will be permitted to continue its mining operations beyond June 20, 2019 pending the confirmation of the renewal.”
Moncano said allowing OGPI to continue its mining operation is because prior to the expiration of its FTAA on June 20, 2019, the application for renewal was filed on Oct. 1, 2018.
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He added that the DENR secretary already endorsed the application for renewal to the Office of the President.
Moncano in his letter to OGPI also cited Section 18, Chapter 3, Book VII of Executive Order 272 which supports OGPI’s continuous operation.
“Where the licensee has made timely and sufficient application for the renewal of a license with reference to any activity of a continuing nature, the existing license shall not expire until the application shall have been finally determined by the agency,” Moncano said.
Meanwhile, Mario Ancheta, MGB Region 2 director, said that with this confirmation coming from the higher MGB authority allowing OGPI to continue with its mining operation, “what we have to do is to abide by it and continue with our stringent monitoring of the company’s mining activity in Didipio.”
“It’s now up to President Rodrigo Duterte as regards OPGI’s application for their FTAA’s renewal for another 25 years,” Ancheta said.
In the province, OGPI’s application for FTAA renewal was met by a protest rally by anti mining advocates and supporters on June 20. The protest rally was organized by the Alyansa ng mga Nagkakaisang Vizcayano para sa Kalikasan (ANVIK) and was attended by some Didipio villagers.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Nueva Vizcaya also passed a resolution opposing the renewal of OceanaGold’s FTAA. A petition at www.bataris.org also seeks the non-renewal of the permit of the Didipio mine.
However, this was rebutted by pro-mining residents of Nueva Vizcaya in an online petition currently hosted at www.change.org, which calls for President Duterte to renew OceanaGold’s FTAA covering the Didipio operations.

https://www.manilatimes.net/denr-gives-oceanagold-mining-operation-permit/574403/