DAVAO CITY – With the current policy framework of the mining industry, policy-advocacy group Legal Rights and Natural Resource Center (LRC) believes that the promise of gold is not worth the risk.
SEARCH and retrieval operations continue in the landslide site in Barangay Masara, Maco, Davao de Oro. (Contributed photo)
Citing the increasing impact of climate change, LRC campaigner Leon Dulce cited that numerous disasters that led to loss of lives and damage to the environment have occurred amid mitigating measures in place.
“It speaks volumes about how mining operations are conducted in the country and how the regulatory standards of our current mining policy regime are inadequate in addressing the increasing pressures of a climate-changed world,” Dulce said.
The group issued a statement on Wednesday, February 14, or a week after the deadly landslide in Barangay Masara, a host community of Apex Mining Co. operating in Maco, Davao de Oro.
The Maco Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office reported that 71 bodies have been retrieved as of Wednesday from the landslide site while at least 50 are still missing.
Many of the fatalities were said to be workers of the mining firm who had just completed their shift and believed to be inside the bus waiting to be transported.
About 1,600 families from neighboring barangays were forced to evacuate due to the risk of landslides and flooding.
It is said to be the worst natural disaster to have hit the province in a decade.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Davao belied reports that the landslide was due to mining operations in the area.
The MGB said the landslide was due to natural factors such as continuous rains since January and high landslide susceptibility of the area.
Not enough
As required by the Republic Act No. 7942 or Philippine Mining Act of 1995, the government gets a five percent royalty from the gross output of the mining companies.
Mining firms operating in ancestral domains are required to give one percent of their gross output to Indigenous Peoples.
The law also requires mining firms to allocate 1.5 percent of operating expenses to the Social Development and Management Programs (SDMP) which aims to boost the economic contributions of mineral resources while safeguarding the environment and supporting host communities.
Of the total amount, 75 percent must be spent on community development programs, 15 percent on mining technology and geosciences advancement programs, and 10 percent on information, education, and communication programs.
However, LRC believes that this is not worth the risk and damages to the environment.
“In a particular cost-benefit case study we did on the Tampakan copper-gold project, we found that the promise of P290 billion in terms of local and national taxes and royalties for its entire 20-year mine life were directly offset by the projected direct vegetation loss whose ecosystem benefits were roughly valued up to P291 billion in the same time span,” Dulce said, referring to the Tampakan gold and copper mine project in South Cotabato.
Dulce said that the promised P1.85 trillion in revenue streams will be offset four times over if just one mine spill occurs from its proposed 1.35-billion ton tailings storage facility as the damage it can generate can cost up to P7.65 trillion.
"This analysis does not even include priceless values such as the lives, heritage, and rights of affected communities," Dulce said.
Support to host communities
In its 2022 annual report, Apex Mining Co. stated that it has spent a total of P67.8 million to finance three major components of its SDMP.
"The total amount is higher than the budgeted allocation of P62.8 million," it added. "Apex's priority Programs, Projects, and Activities (PPAs) under the DHNC are health and medical assistance, educational support, livelihood, public infrastructure, and socio-cultural and religious support."
Based on the records of the MGB-Davao, Apex Mining Co. holds two Mineral Production Sharing Agreements permits since 2005 and 2007 to mine gold and silver in a combined total area of 2,237 hectares.
The mining tenement sprawls across Barangays Masara, Teresa, Mainit, Tagbaros, New Barili, New Leyte, and Elizalde in Maco and Golden Valley in Mabini, Davao de Oro.
Moreover, the mining firm in the same year also reported that they spent P121.6 million under its Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program (EPEP) to ensure that land, water, and air resources impacted by mine and milling operations are responsibly managed.
It added that they have established a 13.69-hectare bamboo plantation with 6,102 seedlings between August and December 2022.
"An additional 11.68 hectares was planted with 6,067 seedlings of fast-growing species, bamboo, endemic species, and dipterocarp species. Under the National Greening Program, APX donated 23,813 assorted seedlings to farmers and government agencies."
Safety violations?
LRC believes that Apex Mining Co. may have likely violated a number of its safety, health, and environmental obligations as defined by laws.
“Mining contractors are liable for any housing, recreational, and other support facilities of its mine camp that were constructed within no-build zones as defined by our legal easement policies,” Dulce said.
Local government units, he added, are primarily accountable for allowing the construction of residential and service structures of the host community, specifically those outside of the mine camp as well as not implementing adequate comprehensive risk mitigating measures.
Among the regulations that the mining firm may have violated, Dulce said, is Section 8 of the Department of Environment and Natural Resource Administrative Order 2021-07 on Guidelines on the Establishment of Legal Easements along the Seas, Lakes, Esteros, and Canals which was the basis for enforcing the no-build zones.
It stated that: “All individuals or group entities owning or managing establishments and structures which are found to be in violation of the rules of the establishment of salvage zones and legal easements whether private or owned by the government shall be subjected to relocation and demolition if warranted.”
MGB-Davao Geosciences Division chief Beverly Brebante confirmed that Masara is one of the barangays in the province that has long been tagged as a no build zone since 2008.
The implementation of a no-build zone policy should be a collaborative effort of national government agencies and local government units, she said.
Dulce pointed out that landslide-affected transportation facilities are part of the mining firm’s operations and are clearly situated within its contract area.
Since it was not the first time that a geohazard-related disaster occurred within Apex’s area of operations, he added that it should have already been reasonably anticipated.
In 2007, at least 10 people were killed in a landslide in Masara due to heavy rains. A year later, 24 miners and residents were also killed in a landslide in the area.
“Nevertheless, residential and service structures of the host community should still have been covered by Apex's safety and health, emergency response preparedness, and environmental protection and enhancement programs,” Dulce said.