Olga P.

Maningo
2008968931

Notes:
Human rights violated
 Livelihood
1. From 60kg in one hour, turned to 3kg all day (poison) > once taken for a meal,
their family gets sick and spends money for medication instead from the small
amount of income.
2. Hard to get another job
3.
 Work
 Health
1. Mercury affects fishermen (skin disease)
2. If exposed to Lead in the blood (Epelipsy, cumbolsion, low resistance, affects IQ
of the child, aplastic anemia)
3. Leukemia, stroke

Identification of key actors against whom any cause of action may be invoked
 Fishermen
 Pregnant women
 Children
 Nature

Calancan Bay Fisherfolk Federation fights for the rights of those affected by mining
industry/business
 Filed a case to RTC in Maranduque on July 23, 2004 against Marcopper Mining Corp
and Canadian firm Placer Dome, Incorporated asking for damages and compensation.
Others from the society of calancan does not know their rights. No money to pay the
filing fee of the case
Allow me to recap first the documentary entitled “Sugat ng Calancan Bay "Wound of Calancan
Bay". The documentary is about the island of Marinduque, which is a very poor area and relies
heavily on agriculture and fishing. However, there is a mining company named Marcopper
Mining Corporation operating on the island, which have caused troubles; serious health and
environmental problems and consequently placed the community at risk. Mining in the area has
polluted waterways, killed fish, and flooded agricultural fields. The supply of water was
shrinking and got contaminated. People were being poisoned indirectly through the fish and
water and workers were dying from direct contact with the mining operations.

To address the issue, an organization of anti-mining assembly was created namely Calancan Bay
Fisherfolk Federation (CBFF). CBFF battled with the aforementioned mining company by way
of rally and filing a case. The documentary features scenes of CBFF and their rally at Boac,
Marinduque on July, 23 2004 and actual court hearings of the case.

To get enlightened more on the issues cited, I researched about the history and background of
disaster in Calancan Bay due to said mining operations of Marcopper Mining Corporation.

In 1969, the Marcopper Mining Corporation began mining operations on Marinduque Island.
Placer Dome, a Canadian company, co-owned (40%) and managed the corporation. The Mt.
Tapian site was the first mining location on the island. The company was used to produce copper
concentrate. Until 1972, it disposed of its waste on land, which changed in 1975 when a blanket
permit was given to the company, which allowed them to dump mine tailings into the Calancan
Bay at the rate of 2.5 tons per second. The amount of tailings produced from mines in
Marinduque is high because the ore is low grade, containing only 0.44 percent copper. This
means a large amount of rock has to be removed and ends up as waste. From 1975 to mid-1991,
Dome dumped some 200 million tons of mine tailings via surface disposal into Calancan Bay.
The shallow bottom is covered by approximately 80 sq km of tailings including a five km long
causeway of exposed tailings. Throughout this period, Placer Dome denied the dumping hurt the
fishermen, who relied on the bay as a livelihood (KASAMA 1998). Not only was waste entering
Calancan Bay, but in order to drain rainwater from the mining pit, a tunnel was built from the
mine to the Boac River. The Mt. Tapian reserve was depleted in 1990 and the company opened
the San Antonio copper ore body, three kilometers north of the Mt. Tapian area (The
Marinduque Island Mine Disaster). A tunnel, which led from the Tapian pit to the Boac River,
was sealed, and the pit became a storage space for mine tailings from San Antonio. This occurred
due to protests from the community concerning dumping into Calancan Bay. The Department on
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) gave the company an environmental compliance
certificate (ECC) on April 16, 1990, allowing them to operate for 10 years, using the Tapian pit
as a tailings dam. Fears Tapian would not hold all of San Antonio's waste led to Marcopper
investigating the possibility of a dam in Mogpog River. Plans for the Maguila-guila dam began
in 1990. The people of Mogpog sent out numerous petitions and resolution to stop the dam
because of the effects it would have-mine waste pollution along with increased flooding. Despite
the protest, Marcopper went ahead and began construction in 1991. After the completion of the
dam in 1992, villagers started noticing waste flowing into the river as well as the appearance of
large quantities of dead fish. Siltation from the waste dump started building up in the Mogpog
River increasing the severity of flooding in the rainy season. The seasonal rains in 1993 caused
intense flooding and the dam collapsed altogether. Toxic silt and water flowed down the river
and into the town, destroying homes and rice fields, and killing animals. Two people lots their
lives because of this accident.

Three years later, on March 24, 1996, 2-3 million tons of mine waste leaked into the 26-
kilometer long Boac River. The plug that sealed the Tapian pit tunnel to the Boac had fractured,
releasing mine waste at a rate of 5-10 cubic meters per second. The pit contained around 23
million metric tons of mine waste (Tauli-Corpuz).

The immediate effects were disastrous. Flash floods isolated villages and one was buried under
six feet of floodwater. The channels, as well as the valley floor, were buried under mine tailings.
Agricultural fields were inundated, and the drinking water residents relied on was contaminated.
Fish, shrimp and other food sources, which are the main livelihood for those who do not work
for Marcopper, were immediately killed. The government declared the Boac River dead. Twenty
villages out of the 60 had to evacuate their area following the accident. A report released on
April 17, 1996 by the Department of Health found nine residents in the area to have zinc levels
in their blood more than 200% above safe limits. Water samples found levels of contamination
1,300% above the human tolerable level of .5 microgram per 1/1000 liters of water. Despite
these findings, Marcopper held on to the claim that the tailings were non-toxic. Residents also
complained of skin irritations and respiratory problems, which could have been caused by the
poisonous vapors emitted from tailings (Tauli-Corpuz).

After the disaster, Marcopper and Placer Dome closed down all mines. The government
attempted to cover up the fact they did enforce environmental laws throughout the years. The
DENR Undersecretary for the Environment and Research, who signed the ECC, said that he did
not know of the Tapian drainage tunnel. The corporation and the experts hired on the
environmental impact study had made no mention of it to him. The residents in Marinduque
claimed they knew about the tunnel for almost 20 years. Evidence came to light that Marcopper
knew of the leak in the drainage tunnel well in advance of the accident, as there had been a long
history of problems. In August of 1995, the corporation, with the help of a geotechnical
consultant, plugged leaks. Another hole was plugged after a minor leak in October of 1995. The
Bureau of Mines, who monitored Marcopper�s compliance with the ECC, made no report of
this. Placer Dome claims it met every environmental standard set the government of Ferdinand
Marcos, who had been in power 10 years previous to the accident.

The 1996 accident became known as the "Marcopper Mining Disaster". It brought national and
international attention to Marinduque. Experts and scientists poured into the island province to
study the disaster, and eventually learned of the problems that had been occurring for years.
Because of the support coming in from outside the community, the people had more power to
mobilize. They then came to face a new struggle- how do they recover from the years of damage,
and should they stop Marcopper from mining in Marinduque in the future?

Key actors are the following, which will be discussed one by one below.

First is Marcopper Mining Corporation, the largest employer on the island of Marinduque and
created most of the infrastructure on island. The company also makes up most of Marinduque's
revenue. After the spill, Marcopper took no responsibility and did not participate in clean-up
efforts.
The Philippine Mining Act of 1995, also known as the Republic Act No. 7942, is the governing
law that regulates mineral resources development in the country. One of the primary objectives
of this act is to revitalize the ailing Philippine mining industry by providing fiscal reforms and
incentives and maintaining the feasible inventory of minerals to sustain the industry. Responsible
for implementing this act is the government agency Mines and Geosciences Bureau, which is
under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The case of Marcopper looked into the response of the Philippine government toward recovery
measures for the community and the environment following the mining incident and after
Marcopper and Barrick closed down all mines and ceased its 30-year operation of extracting
copper in the country.

Marcopper case is an issue on environment and public health wherein the general public is
always the underdog. The case presented a clear existence of violation yet after decades was not
yet resolved nor given priority on how to avoid such incident in the future.

The case awakens humanity on seeing other people suffering and kindles our love for nature.
That a business should not bypass the well-being of the community where the business operates,
that beyond profit, factors on environmental concern and sustainability should take into
consideration. Ultimately, we will definitely go back to nature—the ecosystem in which we live
provides natural services for humans and all other species that are essential to our health, quality
of life and survival.

Second is Placer Dome, which was formed in Vancouver, Canada, in 1987 by the merger of
Placer Development Limited of Vancouver, and Dome Mines Limited and Campbell Red Lake
Mines Limited of Toronto. Placer Dome owned 40% of Marcopper's two mine sites in
Marinduque and filled the top management positions of President and Resident Manager for the
entire 30 years (Placer Dome in the Philippines).
A year after the accident in 1997, they sold all shares. In fairness, Placer Dome did pledge to
clean up the Boac River of the tailings, even as it denied responsibility for the spill. They pointed
instead to a minor earthquake that took place a week before the tragedy as the executor. After 4
years, they still have a large cleanup project on their hands- about $60-million dollars and
counting. Two of its Marcopper executives still face criminal charges (Coumans 1999).

The battle of the people of Marinduque to seek compensation for the damage created by
Marcopper Mining Corporation, which was then owned by Placer Dome Inc., took a new turn as
another corporation, Barrick Gold Corporation, took over.

With Malacañang turning its back on demands for environmental protection, the provincial
government of Marinduque decided to file charges against Canadian firm Placer Dome, Inc.
(PDI) before a court in Nevada on October 4, 2005. The case is being heard by Judge Brian
Sandoval of the Nevada District Court since October 27, 2005. On the same month, the 10th
provincial council declared a 50-year moratorium on large-scale mining to give reprieve to the
province’s remaining natural bounty and in order to strengthen the case.

The provincial government said that PDI ran Marcopper’s mining operations since 1968 until it
divested its interests from the mines in 1997 following the infamous Boac River disaster on
March 24, 1996.

Based on information obtained by the non-government organization Marinduque Council for

Environmental Concerns (Macec) from official records of the case furnished by the law firm
representing the province, on July 19, Judge Brian Sandoval of the U.S. District Court granted
the motion of the province to include Barrick Gold Corporation as a defendant in the civil case
originally filed against PDI.

Third are Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Mines and
Geosciences Bureau (MGB). The bureau, which is under the DENR, is the government agency
responsible for implementing the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, which governs the Philippine
mining industry. This law lays down the procedures and guidelines on how the mineral resources
of the country can be exploited. The DENR is in charge of managing the states mineral resources
and is the liaison between the government and mining companies. The DENR issued the
Environmental Compliance Certificate to Marcopper in 1990, which allowed them to use the
Tapian pit for mine waste storage (Chan Robles).

Fourth is the Calancan Bay Villagers Support Coalition (CBVSC), which was founded in
November 1996 by Catherine Coumans, the group works to address the concerns and problems
of the Calancan Bay community. The CBVSC is engaged in a wide variety of activities to
support the goals of Calancan Bay villagers and their local supporters, local government units,
NGOs and the Catholic Church on the island. They have mounted letter writing campaigns and
signature gathering campaigns and helped other NGOs to mount similar actions (Placer Dome in
the Philippines).

Fifth is Probe International, which exposes the environmental, social, and economic effects of
Canada's aid and trade abroad, revealing the devastating effects of our international projects.
They work with mining communities to make sure their interests are voiced to the governments
and corporations. Started in 1980, it has become a leader among the worlds environmental
groups, working closely with environmentalists from Western and Third World countries. They
have done a significant amount of investigative work in the Marcopper case (Probe International
Homepage).

Cite cases

Opinion on the violation of rights

Marcopper Mining Corporation (MMC), was managed and controlled by Placer Dome,
Inc., the 5th largest mining company in the world, which started operation in Marinduque
in 1969. This is amongst the leading providers of copper in the Philippines during those
times. The company faced many environmental issues – improper wastes disposal,
destroyed homes, contaminated rivers, health problems etc. Despite these problems,
our government still issued permit to operate of the company’s mining operations,
during the early years.
Coming from a third person point of you, we can associate the government negligence
of issuing a permit to operate with corruption during those years.

Presenter’s Alternative Courses of Action

The reporting group stated three alternative courses of actions (ACA) based on the
facts of the case (as listed below). To be able to finance the rehabilitation, the group
mentioned that they would allow the continuance of operation of Marcopper (ACA 2).

ACA 1- Pay for the damages and stop operation in the Philippines

ACA 2 Rehabilitation by Placer Dome and Marcopper and continue operation after
complying to laws and policies

ACA 3 Leave the area without rehabilitation and permanent closure if mining operation

Our Alternative Courses of Actions based on my Group’s Understanding of the Case:

We came to an agreement to liquidate all the remaining assets of Marcopper and Placer
Dome and apply it to the cost (s) of rehabilitation of the well-being of the residents of
Marinduque and the environment. We chose to have Marcopper Mining Corporation
initiate the cleanup of waste and compensate the local residents of Marinduque.

ACA 1: Marcopper Mining Corp. will find ways to raise funds in order for them to
financially support the government and DENR’s rehabilitation program in the island of
Marinduque.

ACA 2: Marcopper Mining Corporation will initiate the cleanup of waste and
compensate the local residents of Marinduque, especially those who were
affected by the harm, and provide additional support to the government for
environmental damages.

ACA 3: Do nothing: Status Quo

Seeing the results of irresponsible, unethical, immoral business operations of

Marcopper’s Mining Corporation and lenient implementation of environmental laws by
the Philippine Government years ago in relation to this case gave me the idea of
wanting to have the place of Marinduque mining-free and disaster-free up to now.
Imagine the psychological effect of this disaster to the local inhabitants of Marinduque?
If only human can stop greediness and start preserving nature, we can ensure that
nature’s beauty can still be enjoyed by the next generations.