IBALANGIBOG SA BILOG NA MUNDO, ORAGON AN BICOLANO!
THE NEWSWEEK
VOL. 1 NO. 15 AN INTRA-COMPANY OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE RAPU-RAPU POLYMETALLIC PROJECT
A class suit filed against LPI group of companies at the Makati Re-
gional Trial Court was dismissed last September 6, 2006. The order
effectively denied the petitioners an issuance of a writ of prelimi-
nary injunction with a temporary restraining order to prevent the
company from operating and for respondent Secretary Reyes from
continuing the conduct of the test run. The court agreed with the re-
spondents that “the order of the public respondent Secretary of a 30-
day trial run is only a part and parcel of the exercise of its primary
jurisdiction over the pollution issue in Rapu-Rapu area” and
that…”the court is therefore barred to determine a controversy in-
volving a question which is within the jurisdiction of PAB.” Thus
this legal victory allows for the company to continue on its test run
and clears all legal hurdles so far thus brought against it by mali-
cious parties whose main purpose is to undermine the mining opera-
tion of the company and to ride on the publicity brought about by a
sensationalized version of the company’s affairs.
The petition praying for the preliminary/permanent injunction with
temporary restraining order and damages was allegedly initiated by
the residents of Rapu-Rapu and symbolically by the citizens of the
Philippines. Petitioners hold that the mining operations of the com-
pany threaten their right to a balanced and healthful ecology and
that the test run poses hazard to the environment.
Rapu-Rapu battered by Milenyo Dam passed the test of Milenyo
In the early evening of Sep-
tember 27, 2006, and with-
out adequate warning, Ty-
phoon Milenyo suddenly
veered away from its ex-
pected path and swooped
into the Gulf of Albay head-
ing straight for Legaspi City
at the rate of 150 kph at the
storm’s center. Peripheral winds of 180 kph hit the islands of Rapu-
Rapu and Province of Sorsogon with accompanying tidal waves, re-
sulting in massive destruction to vegetation, property, and lives.
A day after the storm, initial estimates of destruction in the directly
host communities stood at 79 houses completely destroyed: 75 in
Malobago, 3 in Binosawan and 1 in Pagcolbon. In addition, property
and personal belongings were damaged or lost to the sea and the ele-
ments. One sari-sari store in Malobago alone estimated a loss of
300,000 pesos worth of goods.
The houses that were destroyed were mostly made of light materials
erected on sandy ground. These houses were washed away when the
sea reclaimed the shorelines at the height of the storm. Only few posts
indicate that houses once stood in the area. Fortunately for these resi-
dents, there was no casualty among them in spite of the devastation
since they evacuated to safer areas hours before the storm struck..
Rapu-Rapu, page 2
KAYA TA AN RESPONSABLENG PAGMIMINA SA RAPU-RAPU!
Sept. 25 - Oct. 1, 2006
The court, through the pen of Judge Dina Pestano Teves of Makati
RTC Branch 142, ruled in favor of Lafayette based on two points:
1. The court finds that this case, which tried to establish a complaint
of pollution, involves specialized knowledge, experience, and ser-
vices of an administrative tribunal (in this case, the Pollution Adju-
dication Board PAB) and thus lends itself to the doctrine of primary
jurisdiction. “Section 19 of EO 192 vested the PAB with the spe-
cific power to adjudicate pollution cases in general.” 2. The filing
of the case in the RTC goes against the doctrine of exhaustion of
administrative remedies and is one of the grounds for the dismissal
of the complaint. The court contends that the petitioners should
have sought remedies first with the proper administrative agency
(in this case, the PAB) which has the special competence to decide
the matter instead of taking “procedural shortcut” before the court.
The petitioners’ pleading showed not only a lack of understanding
of the proper operations of the company; they also showed an igno-
rance of the law and its procedures. Similar error in legal proce-
dures and requirements were committed by other plaintiffs in a pre-
vious case filed against the company in the regional trial court in
Sorsogon. The judicial court of Sorsogon dismissed it in August 17,
2006 for failure to secure the requisite certificate of non-forum
shopping. In both cases, Lafayette was ably represented by the law
firm of Atty. Cleofe Verzola.
The company once and for all proved that its facilities are environ-
mentally safe. The millions of pesos spent for the environmental man-
agement and protection paid off when these facilities withstood the
ultimate test of nature brought by typhoon Milenyo.
Against the unstoppable force of nature, the tailings dam stood still
and unshaken. It maintained an 11-meter freeboard in spite of the
139mm rainfall (the rainfall recorded during the “spill” last year was
126.5mm). This heavy rainfall has no effect in the foundation and em-
bankment of the dam.
Made up of fill materials of more than 4,455,000 cubic meter of boul-
ders and compacted clay (that’s about 445,500 truck-loads of material
using an ordinary 10-wheeler garbage truck), the dam is a mountain
itself blending with the natural topography of the area. It is now 145
meters above sea-level and has a length of 500 meters. Engineers are
confident with the integrity of the tailings dam even before the ty-
phoon struck. They said that it can even withstand an earthquake with
an intensity of 8.25 in the Richter Scale. At present, the storage capac-
ity is an astounding 1,000,000 cubic meter of water, that is enough to
fill up about 417 Olympic-size swimming pools, ten feet deep. With
the 11-meter freeboard during the typhoon, the dam can still receive
620,000 cubic meters of water.
Dam, page 2
Vol. 1 No. 15 THE NEWSWEEK Sept. 25 - Oct. 1, 2006

Dam, from Page 1… Rapu-Rapu, from Page 1…

The 60-day extension of the Almost every year the communities
test run achieved one of its that suffer most from the wrath of
purposes, that is, to put the fa- typhoons are those that are situated
cility through the same season along the shores because of their
when the spill incident hap- proximity to the seas. But since
pened last year in order to these communities depended on the
prove the effectivity and integ- sea for livelihood, they considered
rity of its facilities to counter these seasonally treacherous areas
pollution. This willingness on " as the prime lot to establish a home
the part of the company to undergo such test is credited to the new * and raise their families.
Filipino management with able Bicolanos on board. Mr. Sonny Milenyo also transformed the lush vegetation that served as a wel-
Dominguez, President of Lafayette Philippines Inc. (LPI) said that the come sight in the island of Rapu-Rapu to a miserable sight of fallen
company will not un- and battered trees. Even from afar the destruction is evidenced by the
dergo full operation debris swept to the sea. The island last experienced such typhoon in
unless it is confident that November 1987 during the onslaught of typhoon “Sisang”.
all the standards set by
DENR are met. The
company today have Solid Waste Management Team in Action
even exceeded those
standards making it the An off-shoot of the Solid Waste Management Training recently
most environment- conducted in Bacacay, Albay is an audit on waste which was par-
friendly mine in the ticipated by the representatives of different departments of the
country. company on Sept 7 – 9, 2006. The audit was done through a com-
! " # $ % &'" ( $ ) *) $ bination of interviews with key people and actual examination of
the various waste receptacles and waste storage areas.
Gov. Gonzales, on the way to the hardest hit
coastal barangays of Rapu-Rapu, made a sur- A technical working group was organized which worked with the
prise visit to the mine site two days after the ty- Solid Waste Management Association of the Philippines
phoon. He personally saw that the facilities for (SWAPP).
environmental protection are intact and rela- They identified sources of wastes around the camp and formu-
tively unaffected by the typhoon; the tailings !+ lated a policy on how to facilitate its proper disposal. A system of
dam, settling ponds, wetland and the treatment facility for Pagcolbon waste recovery for recyclable materials was also framed.
Creek. The local Chief Executive’s visit was not about mining opera- The technical working committee was headed by Mr. Pepito Nav-
tions but his concern was to ascertain the situation of the company be- era and Mr. Lawrence Araojo as his assistant. Other members of
ing a small community of Rapu-Rapu itself. The employees and com- the group are: Rene. G. Castro (Comrel), Dante Ledesma
pany managers were very pleased to see him. (SSASI), Ma. Criselda Bolaños (Safety), Peter Molave (Security),
Vito Bolante (Security), Nilda Valenzuela (Engineering), Leilani B.
RRMI TO PRESERVE A HEALTHY Marbella (Engineering-Ancillary), Joseph dela Rosa (HRAS), and
Portia Canlas (HRAS).
ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PRESENT &
FUTURE GENERATIONS

EDITORIAL BOARD Managing Editor: Cecille Calleja Contributor:

Jason Magdaong, Bong Eclipse, Marco Montes, Rene Castro Bi-
col Translation; Roy Cervantes, Nelson Buenafe Production: Kay
Orlina, Mcken Belgica Circulation: Mcken Belgica, Nancy Alipar,
C.A.R.E. Dept.