Nueva Vizcaya folk challenge OceanaGold mine renewal in court

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 2:32 p.m.) — Religious leaders and residents from Nueva Vizcaya filed a petition for certiorari before a local court to cancel the mining agreement granted to an Australian-Canadian company, arguing it was made without proper consultation with affected communities. 

The petition, filed on Monday at the Bayombong Regional Trial Court, seeks to nullify the Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA)-001 issued to OceanaGold Philippines Inc. (OGPI), which operates the Didipio gold and copper mine in Kasibu town. 

OceanaGold’s mining operations have faced resistance from communities who claim the extraction of ores has scarred their lands and polluted their water systems. 

Led by Bayombong Bishop Jose Elmer Mangalinao, Pastor Romualdo Robles and Didipio Earth-Savers’ Multi-Purpose Association Inc. (DESAMA), the petitioners stressed the Office of the President’s renewal of the FTAA without “prior consultation and Sanggunian endorsement constitutes grave abuse of discretion.”

The Didipio mine operates under FTAA-0001 executed between the government and OGPI in 1994. In July 2021, the government of then-President Rodrigo Duterte renewed OceanaGold’s permit for another 25 years, over two years after the original agreement expired. 

“The Local Government Code requires the national government to conduct consultations with different stakeholders before the implementation of an environmentally critical project. Since no prior approvals have been secured by OGPI over its renewed FTAA, the project cannot be implemented and should be deemed illegal,” said lawyer Ryan Roset of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC). 

Eduardo Ananayo, vice chair of DESAMA, said OGPI had notified them in writing of the FTAA renewal approval while also attempting to set up a consultation.

“We know there should be a consultation with us since we are an organized group and residents in Didipio, and that we need to agree before the FTAA of OGPI gets renewed,” Ananayo said in Filipino. 

The petitioners also argued the operations of OceanaGold violate the province’s ordinance strictly prohibiting open-pit mining. 

Aside from canceling the agreement, the