Why Must Palawan be a

NO-GO Zone for Mining

Presented by:

Atty. Grizelda “Gerthie” Mayo-AndaFounding Executive Director, Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC)

Trustee Member, Palawan NGO Network, Inc. (PNNI)

Convenor, Bantay Mina-PNNI

The MAJOR MAJOR WHYs

• Palawan’s Biogeographic Character (it’s

rich biodiversity value vis-à-vis its thin

topsoil, vulnerability to climate change,

etc.)

• Existing Laws and Policies governing

Palawan

• Experience on Mining shows that Costs

outweigh Economic Benefits

Other Considerations

• Drivers of economic development are

agriculture (farming and fisheries) and

tourism

• Weak environmental governance (weak

enforcement, corruption)

Palawan’s Biogeographic

Character

• Rich biodiversity: high endemism, habitat

of wildlife, host to 40% of country’s

remaining mangrove areas, 30% of

country’s coral reefs, identified 17 key

biodiversity areas (KBAs), 2 world heritage

sites, 8 declared protected areas

• Steep topography, narrow island with

small islands, thin topsoil

Palawan as an Island Ecosystem

• “Palawan is composed of a long main island lying in a northeast to southwest axis and surrounding it are clusters of lesser islands…..The main island has a tall steep mountain spine running down its length fringed by narrow coastal plans protected from storm waves by fringing coral reefs and mangrove swamps. Although seemingly lush and bountiful, the environment of Palawan is fragile and its topsoils are relatively thin, poor and prone to erosion.”

(Source: Strategic Environmental Plan for Palawan, Towards Sustainable Development, Prepared by the Palawan Integrated Area Development Project Office with the assistance of Hunting Technical Services Limited England in association with the Orient Integrated Development Consultants, Inc., Philippines and Sir Mac Donald and Partners, England)

Island Ecosystem• Physiography and Soils

– Landscape is dominated by mountain and foothills which cover about 940,450 gectares or 82% of the total area.

– Foothill and mountain landscapes are characterized by soils of variable depth, more often quite deep, and with excessive external drainage and high erodibility.

– Its steep topography will render wide areas prone to erosion should their forest cover be removed.

– The narrow shape of the mainland and the smallness of surrounding islands, will mean that erosion on the upper slopes will immediately and directly silt the coastal areas.

(Source: Strategic Environmental Plan for Palawan, Towards Sustainable Development, Prepared by the Palawan Integrated Area Development Project Office with the assistance of Hunting Technical Services Limited England in association with the Orient Integrated Development Consultants, Inc., Philippines and Sir Mac Donald and Partners, England)

Island Ecosystem• “Palawan’s forests support a unique and highly

diverse flora and fauna…Many of Palawan’s fauna are unique and are considered rare, threatened or endangered.”– With few botanical expeditions in the past, many

botanists feel that there are more undiscovered species of plants.

– Such diversity serve as basis for declaring Palawan as a “Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary” in 1967, as Mangrove Reserve in 1981 and as part of UNESCO’s “Man and Biosphere Reserve”.

• “Last Frontier” description signifies abundant and untapped resources, relatively unravaged by resource overexploitation. (Source: SEP document)

PALAWAN’S BIODIVERSITY…

• 13 species of seagrass recorded in Palawan (81% of the known seagrass species in the country)

• 31 species of mangroves in Palawan (90% of the known mangrove species in the country)

• 44,500 hectares of mangrove forests in Palawan (40% of the remaining mangroves in the country)

• 379 species of corals (82% of the total coral species recorded in the entire country)

• 89% of total reef fish recorded in the country is found in the corridor

• 4 of the 5 marine turtles are found in Palawan

• 15 of the 25 recorded marine mammals are reported from Palawan (Credit: Conservation International)

• 18 species of freshwater fish is found in Palawan (50% endemic to the province)

• 26 species of amphibians (25% endemic to the country, majority are confined to the corridor

• 69 species of reptiles found in the corridor (29% are endemic to the country)

• 279 species of birds (10% are endemic to the country)

• 34% of bird species are migratory, making the region a vital flyway for migratory birds

• 58 species of terrestrial mammals are recorded, 19 or 33% are endemic to the country, 16 are restricted to the corridor

(Credit: Conservation International)

PALAWAN’S BIODIVERSITY…

128 Key Biodiversity Areas in the Philippines

E.O. 578Establishing the National Policy on Biological Diversity throughout the country…

Sec. 3 …establishment of critical habitats within Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs)…

(Credit: Conservation International)

• KBAs are “sites of global significance for biodiversity conservation, identified using globally standard criteria and thresholds, based on the needs of biodiversity requiring safeguard at the site scale. “

• Identified for threatened amphibians, mammals, birds, reptiles, and freshwater fish, as well as for restricted-range and congregatory birds, using confirmed locality data for each target species.

• 51 sites have been identified as Candidate KBAs, or research priorities; if additional data or surveys confirm the presence of target species within these sites, they too will become priorities for conservation action (KBAs). (Credit: Conservation International)

KBAs on Mainland Palawan

KBA NameTrigger Species

CR EN VU RR

El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area 1 2 11 16

Malampaya Sound Protected Landscape and Seascape 2 2 10 18

Lake Manguao 1 1 13 20

San Vicente-Taytay-Roxas Forest 2 1 11 10

Puerto Princessa Subterranean River Natural Park 2 2 12 19

Cleopatra's Needle 1 1 3 1

Victoria and Anepahan Ranges 1 4 15 22

Mt Mantalingahan 2 3 13 20

(Credit: Conservation International)

ADJACENT ISLANDS

KBA NameTrigger Species

CR EN VU RR

Calauit Island 1 2 10 22

Busuanga Island 1 1 9 37

Culion Island 1 1 8 33

Coron Island 1 0 6 4

Dumaran-Araceli 2 2 5 5

Rasa Island Wildlife Sanctuary 1 2 3 0

Ursula Island 0 0 3 0

Balabac Island 1 2 10 39

Tubbataha Reef NaturalPark 1 1 1 0

(Credit: Conservation International)

Governing Laws and Policies

• Proclamation No. 219 (1967) establishing Palawan as a Game Refuge and Wildlife Sanctuary

• Proclamation No. 2152 (1981) establishing Palawan as a Mangrove Reserve

• UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve

• National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS, January 1992)

• Republic Act No. 7611 (or the Strategic Environmental Plan for Palawan, or SEP law, June 1992)

The Strategic Environmental Plan for

Palawan (SEP) or Republic Act No. 7611

• Goal (“Development supportive of environmental

protection”): improvement in the living conditions

of the people of Palawan; increase Palawan’s

economic contribution to the Philippines by

developing its resources in ways that are

environmentally sustainable, socially equitable

and economically practicable.

• Nature

– a guide for deliberate action

– provides the guidelines and strategies to accomplish

the twin purposes of development and environmental

protection (Source: SEP document)

SEP as overarching framework• Basis for development planning

– SEP is the general strategy for all development planning in Palawan.

– Development plans of municipalities should conform with the SEP.

– Line agencies should allocate the needed resources to implement their parts of the plan.

• Strategy: Environmentally Critical Areas Network (ECAN)– Seeks to prevent further environmental degradation

– “Serve as the integrative framework within which other recommendations in the plan will be implemented”

(Source: SEP document)

SEP as overarching framework• ECAN

– Graded system of protective management which will help ensure that no developments take place that will cause irreversible harm or loss of productive capacity to the natural resources of the island

– General strategy for the protection of Palawan as a biological and cultural heritage area

• Operational strategies(a) those which will conserve the relatively intact areas

ecologically;

(b) those which will restore the damaged areas into relatively stable areas ecologically

(Source: SEP document)

ECAN as SEP’s central element

• Rationale:

“The destruction of Palawan’s forests would trigger a

chain reaction that would bring destruction to the

entire environmental and ecological fabric of the

province. The resulting soil erosion and loss of top

soil would dry up underground and surface water

resources, nullifying the efficiency of irrigation

systems and waterworks……..There is an urgent

necessity to stop this deterioration. It is not enough to

rely on a network of Parks in the conventional sense,

for this would be too limited in area and arouse

distrust in local communities…..”(Source: SEP document)

ECAN as SEP’s central element“SEC. 9 Terrestrial Component: Management Scheme and

Zonation. – The terrestrial component may be further subdivided into smaller management components for a more efficient supervision. These management components, in turn, shall each be further subdivided into the following zones;

(1) Area of maximum protection or core zone -This zone shall be fully and strictly protected and maintained free of human disruption. Included here are all types of natural forest which include first growth forest, residual forest and edges of intact forest, areas above one thousand (1,000) meters elevation, peaks of mountains or other areas with very steep gradients, and endangered habitats and habitats of endangered and rare species. Exceptions, however, may be granted to traditional uses of tribal communities of these areas for minimal and soft impact gathering of forest species for ceremonial and medicinal purposes.” (underscoring made by presentor)

What has been the experience of

Palawan on Mining?

COSTS OUTWEIGH BENEFITS

Destruction of Forests and Wildlife

Land Use Changes in a Nickel Mining Area (Credit: Conservation International and ELAC)

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Mined area of Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation

Water Pollution

(Photo by Professor Patrick Regoniel)

Affected coastal

area of

Colandorang Bay,

Balabac due to

abandoned and

unrehabilitated

copper mine

Water Pollution

(Photo by Professor Patrick Regoniel)

Affected coastal area of Colandorang Bay, Balabac

due to abandoned and unrehabilitated copper mine

Pollution and Non-Rehabilitation

of Mined out areas

Abandoned mercury mine site of Palawan Quicksilver Mines, Inc.. (PQMI) in Barangay Sta. Lourdes, Puerto Princesa City

Pollution and Non-Rehabilitation of

Mined out areas

Mini-lake created by PQMI mining operations

Other Impacts• Soil Erosion

– Case of Infanta Mining in Brooke’s

Point

• Non-Rehabilitation of Mined out areas

– Silica Mining in Roxas

– Mining of Nickel and Chromite by

Trident Mining Corporation and Olympic

Mines in Narra

Mining Company Area of operation Mineral

Palawan Quicksilver Mining Inc.(PQMI)

Sta. Lourdes, PuertoPrincesa City

Mercury

Atlas Consolidated Mining & Dev. Corp.

Sta. Lourdes, PuertoPrincesa City

Gold

Palawan Venture or PalawanConsolidated Mining Co.

Irawan, Puerto PrincesaCity

Chromite

Soriano Mining Corporation Aborlan, Puerto PrincesaCity

Nickel

Trident Mining Corporation Narra, Palawan Nickel

Infanta Mining Corporation Brgy. Ipilan, Brooke’sPoint

Nickel

Celestial Mining Corporation Brgy. Ipilan, Brooke’sPoint

Nickel

Long Point MiningCorporation/Soriano Mining

Berong, Quezon Nickel

Benguet Company Inc. Balabac Gold ore

Nin Bay Mining Corporation Roxas, Palawan Silica

Republic Glass Mining Corporation Roxas, Palawan Silica

Abandoned Mine Sites in Palawan

Insufficient SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS

to the Local Community• Bataraza, Palawan: After almost 30 years of mining operations of Rio

Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC), the municipality of Bataraza

lags behind other municipalities in the delivery of basic services, such as

electricity, water, transportation and education and remains to be among

the poorest municipalities of the province. Data from the mining company

contained in their 2001 Environmental Impact Statement for their

Hydrometallurgical Processing Plant (HPP) Project indicate such poverty

incidence.

Rizal- 1124,833.45 has

Nickel

Aborlan – 7969,502.92 has.

Brooke’s Pt. 37121,969.35 has

Nickel

Espanola -1245,824.51 has

Nickel and limestone

Roxas- 317,473.50 has

Silica

Puerto Princesa City-42112,154.67 has

Quezon-4193,181.83 has

Nickel and limestone

San Vicente- 54,993.13 has.

Silica

Dumaran -5812.67 has.

Silica

El Nido -4150 has.

Silica/Nat Gas

Bataraza- 2260,642.30 has.

Limestone, Nickel,HPP

Narra- 4461,443.31 has

Applications for Mineral Exploration, Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) and Small Scale Mining Permit (SSMP) in Palawan(as of February 2008)

Coron- 6573 has.

Prepared by the Palawan NGO Network, Inc. (PNNI)

Balabac - 517,093.63 has

Nickel, Gold, Copper, Chromite

Taytay-1230,820.50 has.

Increase in Mining Applications

–Seven (7) Mineral Production

Sharing Agreements (MPSAs) and

Nine (9) Small Scale Mining Permits

were issued (as of December 2007).

–Some 212 MPSA and Exploration

Permit Applications, 144 Small Scale

Mining Permit (SSMP) applications

covering some 651,000 hectares of

forest are pending.

Trends in mineral use and

development

1) Continuing increase in the number of

mining applications

• Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (MGB)

lists 215 tenement claims/applications for

exploration permit and MPSA

• Provincial Environment and Natural

Resources Office (ENRO) lists 134 small-

scale applications (as of October 1, 2007)

Trends in mineral use and

development

2) Mining activities in areas identified as core

zones (old-growth and residual forests,

endangered habitats and habitats of endangered

and rare species), protected areas, watersheds,

key biodiversity areas (KBAs)

Relevant Laws: SEP law, RA 7586 (National

Integrated Protected Areas System), RA 9147

(Philippine Wildlife Act) and Executive Order No.

578 (Establishing the National Policy on

Biodiversity throughout the Philippines)

Trends in mineral use and

development

3) Non-compliance with pertinent

environmental laws, with the terms and

conditions of permits, and Environmental

Compliance Certificates (ECCs)

Abandoned pit during exploration

Limestone quarry in Gotok, Sandoval,

Bataraza

Road construction by Narra Nickel Mining Corporation

(photo by PNNI)

Small scale mining area of Platinum Group Metals, Inc.

(PGMC); photo by Lorenzo Tan

Photo taken by

Conservation

International (May

2006)

Photo by Conservation International; Distant view of PGMC mine site

Distant view of PGMC mine site; Photo by Conservation International

Closer view of PGMC mine site; Photo by Bandillo ng Palawan (August

2007)

Portion of the RTNMC mining area and HPP complex showing the

adjacent Mt. Bulanjao Range (Photo by Conservation International)

Expansion of mining activities are being pursued in the Bulanjao range which is

still covered with old growth and second growth forests. (Photo by CI)

Continuing Issues

• Policy Issues– Implementation of Small-Scale Mining policies (RA

7076 and PD 1899)

– SEP ECAN provisions

• Enforcement/Implementation Issues

• Institutional Issues

• Disruption of social norms and indigenous values

• Transparency and Accountability

• Governance (corruption and “double talk” in oversight of mining activities)

Rhetoric vs. Reality1) PCSD’s failure to implement the ECAN

provision of the SEP law concerning natural forests (Section 9, RA 7611)

• SEP clearances issued to mining applications covering the municipalities of Aborlan, Narra, Quezon, Brooke’s Point, Bataraza and Taytay

• Approval of ECAN amendments despite non-compliance of SEP law

2) Irrelevance and ineffectiveness of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP’s) in the conduct of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process

3) Irregular procedures in complying with Social Acceptability requirements (eg. Brooke’s Point SB endorsement of Macro Asia; barangay endorsements)

Continuing Issues4) Involvement of mining companies in partisan political

activities (eg. local elections)

5) Large-scale mining corporations masquerading themselves as small-scale mining entities (eg. Narra experience)

6) Lack of transparency and accountability

- PCSD’s refusal to provide copies of evaluation reports of proposed mining applications

- Delays in release of pertinent documents by Provincial ENRO/PMRB

- Refusal of mining companies to broaden number of NGO participants in the multipartite monitoring teams (MMTs)

Continuing Issues7) “Responsible Mining” rhetoric

- current compliance of social development program requirements cannot deodorize or sanitize past failures (eg. case of RTNMC and CBNC)

8) Lack of capacity to monitor legal and illegal activities and resolve violations

- PENRO and PMRB’s inability to efficiently and expeditiously address violations of small-scale mining permits and illegal quarrying activities (eg. gold panning in Roxas)

(Note: PMRB’s plan to charge P5,000 as docket fees per complaint serves to deter would-be complainants, especially poor communities, from initiating complaints)

Continuing Issues

9) Division of IP communities and distortion

of their social norms/values

- Non-recognition of consensus process

and the role of indigenous elders

- Cash pay-offs to IP leaders and

members to secure consent (eg. Narra,

Quezon)

Continuing Issues10) Superficial economic benefits felt by

communities

- delays in the remittance of revenues allotted to

LGUs

- Incomes from various taxes are offset by

policies on investors’ incentives, such as tax

holidays and exemptions on anti-pollution

devices. (eg. RTNMC and CBNC enjoy tax

exemptions because the HPP complex was

classified as an Economic Zone)

Giving more benefits to foreign and national

mining corporations in the use of our natural

resources under the Philippine Mining Act

(RA 7942)(i) preference of “mining rights” over “surface rights”;

(ii) provision of “income tax holiday” under the

Omnibus Investment Code o EO 226 and other

“tax incentives” under the Special Economic Zone

Act o RA 7916;

(iii) Provision of ancillary rights like “timber rights,

water rights, easement rights”.

Other Adverse Environmental

Effects

• Allowing “open

pit mining”

(cheap, fast and

easy to do but

destructive to

environment) which

has been

prohibited in the

US and Canada

Continuing Issues

- The 2001 IMAPE (Impacts of Macroeconomic Adjustment Policies on the Environment Project) study shows that the average annual income among the affected households is lower than the average household income in Palawan.

- In the poverty mapping/study of Palawan undertaken in 2005 by the Peace and Equity Foundation based on provincial government monitoring statistics, the municipality of Bataraza was classified as one of the bottom poor municipalities in the province.

Superficial economic benefits felt by

communities

- Incomes from various taxes are offset by

policies on investors’ incentives, such as tax

holidays and exemptions on anti-pollution

devices. (eg. RTNMC and CBNC enjoy tax

exemptions because the HPP complex was

classified as an Economic Zone)

- delays in the remittance of revenues allotted

to LGUs in the case of RTNMC

- overextraction of mineral ores (in the case

of PGMC)

WHICH HAS MORE WEIGHT?

Jobs, scholarships,

day care centers,

infrastructure,

revenues/taxes

Clean air, clean and

adequate water

supply, productive

farmlands, healthy

coral reefs and

fishery resources,

watersheds,

biodiversity

“A 50-year old tree has a

value of $193,250” (approximately Php9M)

(Prof TM Das of Univ. of Calcutta)$62,000 - oxygen, air pollution

control and soil pollution

control (Php 3M)

$37,500 - water (P1.8M)

$31,250 - organic fertilizer (P1.5M)

$31,200 – recycles (P1.5M)

$31,250 - habitat (P1.5M)

(source: Conservation International)

Some thoughts to ponder on…

• These minerals took hundreds of years

and several generations to form. For this

generation to liquidate it in one fell swoop

is morally wrong.

• Mining is not an anti-poverty solution as

suggested by mining companies. It has

never been in the case of the Philippines.

• The corrupting influence of the mining

lobby must be addressed by good

governance.

Dumpsite within the mining site of RTN

Palawan must be a

MINING NO-GO ZONE

Mt. Mantalingahan Protected Landscape

(slide credit: Conservation International)