south cotabato town council endorses tampakan

... a step forward???


South Cotabato town council endorses mining project

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Members of the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) in Tampakan town in South Cotabato have finally endorsed the planned large-scale copper and gold mining project of foreign-backed Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) in the area.
Tampakan Vice Mayor Relly Leysa, SB presiding officer, said Monday six town councilors voted to issue an endorsement for the mining project, which is being eyed to commence in 2016.
He said four council members opposed the endorsement while one abstained.
But Leysa said he voted to oppose the issuance of the endorsement due to several pending issues earlier raised by the council to the company.
“The 10 issues raised by the SB as an institution before the company have not been resolved yet. But still the majority decided to give its go signal for the mining project,” the official said.
Among the key issues earlier raised by the SB include the final identification of land occupants in the final mine area; local prioritization of employment and business opportunity; absence of detailed rehabilitation and mine decommissioning plan; financial regime (indicative share of Tampakan town); and relocation issues.
A copy of the SB resolution endorsing the Tampakan project was not immediately available although a committee of the whole report dated last April 11 recommended the passage of such measure.
Leysa claimed the council's majority supposedly railroaded the issuance of the endorsement by overruling a parliamentary inquiry on the code of ethics of the members.
Based on our rules, members should disclose if they have interests in the issue on hand, and if this was observed, only two members could vote, he said.
Citing reports, majority of the SB members allegedly have business dealings with Sagittarius Mines such as car rental and catering services, Leysa said.
In a minority report signed by Leysa and the three other dissenters, they explained that that they objected to the endorsement on the grounds that it is still premature and that the company has not resolved the local issues and concerns raised by the SB as a whole.
Also, they cited that President Benigno S. Aquino III has yet to issue its new policies for the mining industry.
Leysa also said the endorsement was not appropriate since the mining firm’s motion for reconsideration on the environmental compliance certificate that was denied by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in January remains unresolved.
Ironically, SMI had not requested an endorsement for the Tampakan project.
Tampakan Mayor Leonardo Escobillo sought the SB's nod for the Tampakan project in separate letters dated March 5 and 29, 2012.
“We, the Executive Department, have been very keen in expressing our support for the Tampakan copper-gold project to be conducted by Sagittarius Mines. Notwithstanding, we acknowledge that the efforts of the Executive Department shall be worthless absent the support of its Sangguniang Bayan,” Escobillo said in his March 29 letter.
For his part, John Arnaldo, SMI corporate communications manager, said the “company could not confirm whether or not the Tampakan local government unit has endorsed the Tampakan Project through an LGU resolution.”
“We have not yet received an official communication from the Tampakan LGU regarding this," he said last week. (PNA)
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