IBALANGIBOG SA BILOG NA MUNDO, ORAGON AN BICOLANO! KAYA TA AN RESPONSABLENG PAGMIMINA SA RAPU-RAPU!
THE NEWSWEEK
VOL. 1 NO. 4
GOVERNMENT ALLOWS 30-DAY TEST RUN
On June 13, 2006, the government released the long-
awaited decision to allow the Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic Pro-
ject a 30-day test run. DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes said
that a temporary lifting order (TLO) will be issued to the
company to resume operations. “Before, during and after
the test run, certain conditions would have to be met,” he
said. “After the company complies with all these condi-
tions the final lifting order shall be issued to Lafayette for
it to resume full operations.”
Certain conditions were required by the government as fol-
lows:
1. Payment of fines of Php10.7 million;
2. Extension of the validity of surety bond;
3. Installation of a storm drainage canal to prevent
tailings from spilling over the dam in the event of
heavy rain;
4. Installation of a storm drainage canal to prevent
First ever Philippine Flag ceremony at the mine site
On Monday, June 12, at 7:00 am at the Basketball Court,
the employees, contractors and subcontractors of the Rapu-
Rapu Polymetallic proudly sang the Philippine National
Anthem as the Philippine flag was hoisted over the Rapu-
Rapu campsite. And thus was memorialized the first time
ever that a Philippine flag ceremony was conducted at the
project site. This ceremony will henceforth be conducted
every Monday at 7:00 am.
JUNE 8 - 14, 2006
tailings from spilling over the dam in the event of
heavy rain;
5. Installation of dam monitoring instruments and
emergency control mechanisms to prevent or
minimize damage in case of accidents during the t e s t
run;
6. Openness of the test run to the public and commissioning
of third party experts to observe the trial;
7. Submission of a final mine decommissioning and reha-
bilitation plan by December and depositing of the
budget for the plan within six months of its being ap-
proved; and
8. Conducting of regular samplings of water and tailings.
Top management is confident that remedial measures under-
taken will pass all tests and that after a successful test run, per-
mission to resume full operations will be granted.
Source: Phil. Daily Inquirer, June 13
At a press statement regarding the simple flag ceremony, Mr.
Sonny Dominguez, CEO and President of Lafayette Philip-
pines, Inc., said that “This is a simple gesture but I am sure
that it will go a long way. A fired up workforce will do its best
for the company and all its stakeholders, especially the host
communities.”
Thus as the country celebrated its 108th Year Anniversary of
Independence, the Rapu-Rapu mine also marked its first year
of Filipino management. The event was made more meaning-
ful with a reenactment of history by Arnold Guadalupe who
read the Declaration of Independence as Emilio Aguinaldo did
108 years ago. In the evening, at 7:00 pm, the movie:
“Bayaning Third World” was shown. It featured the Life and
Heroism of Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero.
VOL. 1 NO. 4 THE ISLAND NEWSWEEK JUNE 8 - 14, 2006

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

SAFETY FIRST: OIL SPILL TRAINING AND EXERCISE
BASIC LIFE SUPPORT TRAINING
Members of the Emergency Response Team (ERT) attended the
Oil Spill Training and Exercise conducted by MATCOR, sup-
plier of the spill boom, on June 7-8, 2006, Activities included
classroom discussion, oil spill exercise and critique session.

The Safety Department, in cooperation with the Philippine Na-

tional Red Cross, Legazpi Chapter, launched the first and sec-
ond batches in a series of training for First-Aid/Basic Life Sup-
port for all RRPI and RRMI employees and contractors. Those
interested in joining in the forthcoming training sessions must
please sign up. The Schedule of succeeding sessions are as fol-
lows:
3rd batch – June 19 to 21, 2006
4th batch – June 22 to 24, 2006
5th batch – June 26 to 28, 2006

ISPS CODE AWARENESS TRAINING

The Security Department, headed by Mr. Francis S. Suan, sponsored the International Ship and
Port Security (ISPS) Code Awareness Training attended by supervisors and section heads of the
different departments as well as senior personnel of the contractors and subcontractors.

The 2-hour seminar, held at the Conference Room on June 13 at 3:00 pm, was conducted to
enhance awareness of International Standard of Security Measures and Procedures that also re-
quired the development of a Port Facility Security Plan. The resource speaker was Captain
Juan V. Togonon of Maritime Technical Training Center, a nationally well-known security or-
ganization.

PROJECT “LIBRENG SCHOOL SUPPLIES” DISTRIBUTES P1.25 MILLION

WORTH OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES TO 2, 500 SCHOOL CHILDREN IN RAPU-RAPU

Poblacion, Guadalupe, Morocborocan, Buenavista, Acal,

Mananao, Viga, Tinopan and Linao.

The project launching was held in Rapu-Rapu East Central

School, Brgy. Poblacion, Rapu-Rapu, Albay last June 13, 2006,
distributing 255 sets of school supplies to grade 1 and 2 pupils.

The distribution of the school supplies in all elementary schools

will continue for four days from June 19 to 22 of next week.

The Sangguniang Bayan of Rapu-Rapu, in cooperation with
Rapu-Rapu Minerals, Inc. and Rapu-Rapu Processing, Inc. will
donate P1.25 million worth of school supplies to all the school
children in Rapu-Rapu Island under project “Libreng School
Supplies.”
Ms. Ofel Ante, CARE Officer for Education, said each set of
school supplies is only a supplemental support for the education
needs of the children. Many parents were grateful, saying that
the project will be a great help to them especially in this time of
crisis when every centavo counts for economic survival.

Each of the 2,500 children will be given school supplies con-

sisting of a school bag, ruler, pencil, ballpen, scissors, paste, pad
paper, notebooks, theme notebook and crayons. The value of a
complete set is more than P500 each.

The 12 schools that will receive the school supplies are those
from the barangays of : Malobago, Binosawan, Carogcog,