2 Baguio priests support IPs on Philex operations

TUBA, Benguet -- Two priests from the Diocese of Baguio are to recommend to their See that the clergy endorse calls by indigenous peoples  and other stakeholders for government to allow Philex Mining Corp.’s Padcal Mines to resume formal operations in this province.

Citing the welfare of IPs and their fellow stakeholders, Fr. Mateo Dontogan, social-action director of the diocese, said the See under the supervision of Bishop Carlito Cenzon is against the closure of Padcal Mines as has been demanded by some non-government organizations.

            

“We will support the general sentiment of the people who are directly affected by any government decision on Padcal operations,” said Dontogan, who said it would not be unusual for the Diocese of Baguio to have a different tack from the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA) on the Padcal issue.

            

A social action and development arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), NASSA has called for the closure of Padcal Mines, and even claimed about the presence of mutant tilapias in waterways where Padcal’s tailings pond discharges nontoxic water into. Dr. Terence Talorete, an expert on cell biology, however, labeled last October as “hearsay” and “highly improbable” this so-called scientific study done by CBCP-NASSA.

            

“We will not dwell on arguments involving scientific studies and the likes, but we will listen mostly to the IPs and our flock who know what they want and need better than we do,” stressed Dontogan, who, along with Father Paul Basilio, visited Tuesday a remote sitio in Itogon town affected by the tailings-leak accident in Padcal last year.

            

Dontogan said the entire see would consider the recommendation from him and Basilio, director of dzWT, aBaguio-based radio station owned by the Diocese of Baguio, during its monthly clergy recollection and monthly clergy pastoral meeting on Aug. 8.

            

Noting Philex Mining’s commitment to economic progress while protecting the environment, Dontogan said he hopes the diocese will be able to issue a formal statement supporting the IPs and other stakeholders on the continued and full operations of Padcal Mines around the second week of August. “This falls under our direct jurisdiction, and we would be thankful if we could say we did our part.”

            

He and Basilio visited the various social projects, such as organic farming and organic livestock raising, which have been initiated, implemented, and maintained by Philex Mining at Sitio Pangbasan, Brgy. Dalupirip, after three hours of trekking on mountain ranges and challenging terrains.

            

They also talked to the residents, who told them about the immediate remediation measures and ongoing activities, such as medical missions and educational scholarships, being done by PhilexMining following the Aug. 1 accident, when nontoxic water and sediment discharged from Padcal’s Tailings Storage Facility No. 3 (TSF3) after historically unprecedented rains brought about by two successive typhoons.

            

Dontogan said the visit was made following an appeal from various IPs organizations (IPOs) in Itogon and Tuba, Philex Mining’s host towns in Benguet, for the Diocese of Baguio to help them persuade President Benigno Aquino III and government regulators to press the green light for the resumption of formal operations in Padcal.

            

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has extended its four-month order, which supposedly ended on July 7, for the temporary operations at Padcal Mines pending a thorough review of the pertinent technical details involving the Philex Mining’s implementation of urgent remediation measures on TSF3.

            

IPOs in Benguet and Pangasinan, where IPs live along the downstream of Agno River, asked the President in April to allow the permanent resumption of Padcal operations, citing their need for economic survival and “obligation” to support Philex Mining, which they described as a responsible mining company.