ruling favors tampakan project, page-7

Local Mayor says national government will fix Sth Cot environmental code:

http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=67&articleId=770947

How many times have we heard that line before? Surely now, no one can still rationally think the national govt will fix it. At least not under this Pres. Hasn't the admin made it clear enough that SMI are on their own now, cast into the wildnerness of the Philippine justice system?

Kray hit the nail on the head with his comment above. Not issuing the ECC is a masterstroke in populist maneuvering and with the added benefit of avoiding having to do anything. It is so obvious in hindsight, I can't believe I didn't consider it prior. By not issuing the ECC, the national government has safely distanced itself from any potential court case. As I've discussed previously if it was National Government vs Province, it could become an unpopular tangled test of the constitution beyond Tampakan. Furthermore, from a populist viewpoint, a concrete stance to back Tampakan in the form of granting the ECC would only vilify the government as a slave to multinational greed. As of now, the Pres can simply fall back on his vague position of supporting mining where it is locally supported (as I forewarned here way back when).

Where to from here? I guess the SMI legal team are considering all options and with consideration to timeliness. But whatever they do, I think we can kiss 2016 goodbye.