March 29, 2021

THE MANAGEMENT
Agata Mining Ventures Inc.
Brgy. Tinigbasan, Tubay,
Agusan del Norte

Dear Sir/Madam:

We write in behalf of our client, Datu Sagunde III Angel Pangadlin Sarona (“Datu
Sagunde” for brevity), regarding his claim, as rightful representative of his tribe, over the
Royalty Fees accruing to the Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples
(ICCs/IPs) in the area of Tubay, Agusan del Norte.

It is public knowledge that Agata Mining Ventures Inc. (“AMVI” for brevity) has its
principal place of operations for exploration, mining and exportation of nickel, iron and
other associated mineral deposits in the municipalities of Tubay, Santiago, Jabonga and
other areas, all within the province of Agusan del Norte. It is also a public record that
AMVI, a joint venture of TVI Resource Development Inc., Mineral Exploration
Corporation, and MRL Nickel Philippines, Inc., operates under Mineral Production
Sharing Agreement (MPSA) Number 134-99-XIII, valid until May 26, 2024, over the same
area.

On the other hand, the Manobo/Mamanwa tribe, through the leadership of Tubay
Municipal Tribal Council or Tagmamarkay Tribal Council (“Tribal Council” for brevity),
is the only recognized Indigenous tribe of the municipality of Tubay. Our client, Datu
Sagunde, is the legitimate, accredited and recognized tribal leader/elder of the Tribal
Council and existing Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) of the
Manobo/Mamanwa tribe in the said municipality. He was the Tribal Chieftain and now
the affirmed IPMR of the tribe. As proof, hereto attached as ANNEX “A”, “A-1” and “A-
2” are documents issued by no less than the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples
(NCIP), National and Provincial Office, and the Office of the President (Office for
Southern Cultural Communities) proving the legitimacy of the leadership of Datu
Sagunde. Hence, for purposes of complying with your duties and responsibilities under
the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) or Republic Act No. 8371 (re: Royalty Fees,
FPIC, etc.) towards the ICCs/IPs of Tubay, you should only negotiate and communicate
with our client, not any other persons representing themselves to be
leaders/representatives of the IPs of Tubay, Agusan del Norte.

However, in 2008, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was entered into by and

between MRL Gold Philippines (in behalf of Minimax Exploration Corporation) and tribal
leaders of the municipalities of Santiago, Jabonga and Tubay, and the National

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Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) for the purpose of giving effect the Mineral
Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) No. 134-99-XIII and to outline the duties and
responsibility of the parties, including the payment of Royalty Fees as mandated by RA
8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) law. Proof of the MOA is hereto
attached as ANNEX “B”.

Based on available public records, the MPSA (No. 134-99-XIII) was assigned to Agata
Processing Inc. which, in turn, is operated by your company, AMVI. Please see attached
file from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), marked as ANNEX “C” for your
perusal.

For that reason, any and all obligations of MRL Gold under the MOA and under MPSA
No. 134-99-XIII, including the payment of Royalty Fees, towards the members of the
IPs/ICCs in Tubay and other municipalities for that matter, were transferred and assumed
by your company.

To date, the ICCs/IPs of the Municipality of Tubay have not received their share of the
Royalty Fees for the mining operations in the said area or perhaps they were given to the
wrong persons who might have claimed to be the leaders of Manobo/Mamanwa in the
said area. At any rate, Datu Sagunde has been kept in the dark and has not been informed
of any arrangements your company might have forged with other personalities. Also
noteworthy is the signatories in the MOA (please see Annex “B”) which did not include
the name of our client when in truth and in fact, he was the Tribal Chieftain, leader and
authorized representative of the Manobo/Mamanwa tribe in Tubay.

Interestingly, the Regional Director of the NCIP-CAR, Atty. Pinky Grace Pareja-Pabelic, in
a letter dated 2015, denied that the operation of your company, AMVI, has reached the
areas of Tubay, to quote:

“Thus, please be informed that the operation of AMVI, as of the present, affects
only the four communities of Lapaz, Santiago represented by Hawodon Mapaso
Rolito Moron, Duyangan Sector of E. Morgado represented by Dakula Ayrag Rico
Ayrag, Agatha Sector of E. Morgado, represented by Dakula Magtatambag
Dalmacio Capilitan and Sitio Coro, Colorado represented by Dakula Coro Bebe.
Further, please be informed that the operation of AMVI has not reached the areas
of Tubay and that no FPIC process yet was conducted on that side of the IP area .
Finally, that MAMADMO, contrary to your allegation, does not lay claim over any
portions of Tubay as part of their ancestral domain.” (Emphasis supplied; Please
find attached Letter of RD Pareja-Pabelic marked as ANNEX “D”)

In other words, the Regional Director of NCIP-CAR is herself denying that your company
has not been operating in the Municipality of Tubay when your company, as stated in the
MOA and under the MPSA No. 134-99-XIII, actually operates in the Municipality of
Tubay, Agusan del Norte. The following provision is culled from the Whereas clauses of
the MOA:

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 “WHERAS, the FIRST PARTY has a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement,
denominated as MPSA No. 134-99-XIII, approved on May 26, 1999, covering 4,996
hectares, more or less, located in Sitio Coro, Barangay Colorado, Jabonga, Tubay
and Santiago all of the province of Agusan del Norte, herein known as the Subject
area” (Emphasis supplied)
xxx

“WHEREAS, the area covered by the approved application for mineral production
sharing agreement of the FIRST PARTY is within the Ancestral Domain of the
SECOND PARTY…”

In addition, the Municipal Treasurer of Tubay released a Summary of payment for

Business Tax showing that AMVI has been paying Business Taxes to the Municipality of
Tubay for the periods 2014 to 2019, and counting. Please see attached Summary marked as
ANNEX “E” for your perusal. Also attached as proofs of your actual operation in the
Municipality of Tubay are various Mayor’s Permits and Business Licensure and
Certificates of Registration hereto attached and marked as ANNEX “E-1” to “E-8”
showing that AMVI has mining operations in Tubay, Agusan del Norte.

Without a doubt, you have been operating in the municipality of Tubay for which reason
you should have consulted and made arrangements with our client, the authorized
representative of Manobo/Mamanwa tribe regarding your obligation under the law. Since
the time your mining operations in Tubay commenced and even to this day, our client has
never received communication from your end.

What is more, information has been relayed to us that other persons including but not
limited to “Janito Curob”, “Bebuardo Manlanat” and “Ricardo Plasquita” are claiming to
be leaders/representatives of the Manobo/Mamanwa tribe and have been the beneficiary
of the Royalty Fees under MPSA No. 134-99-XIII, instead of our client, for the use and
utilization of the land area in Tubay.

For what it is worth, the Elders of Manobo/Mamanwa tribe in Tubay issued a document
denominated as “Pagmatuod” (See ANNEX “F”) or a certification that “Janito Curob”,
“Bebuardo Manlanat” and “Ricardo Plasquita” are not legitimate members of the
Manobo/Mamanwa tribe as they are mere transients or IP settlers originating not from
Tubay but from other parts of Mindanao. In fact, one Cita “Mayna” Buyo-Moldez, a
legitimate member of the Manobo/Mamanwa tribe, issued an Affidavit (ANNEX “F-1”)
denying her maternal filiation with Janito Curob who claims to be the son of the former.
Also attached is the Field Validation Report (ANNEX “F-2”) issued by NCIP-CAR stating
that Curob family is not legitimate members of Manobo/Mamanwa tribe.

At the risk of being repetitive, our client, Datu Sagunde is the rightful and legitimate
leader and authorized representative of the Manobo/Mamanwa tribe in Tubay, Agusan
del Norte and no other. He has been in the Municipality of Tubay for many years and he

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has been recognized as the rightful leader/representative of the Manobo/Mamanwa tribe.
In fact, even the members of the 18th Sangguniang Bayan of Tubay had previously
expressed their “extreme disappointment over the disregard on the part of the Agata
Mining Ventures Incorporated on the existence of the Indigenous Peoples within the
political jurisdiction of the Municipality of Tubay”. Please see Resolution of the 18 th
Sangguniang Bayan of Tubay marked as ANNEX “G”.

Please be reminded that our client has repeatedly demanded from you the payment of
Royalty shares for the use, exploitation and utilization of their ancestral lands but it fell on
deaf ear. You have deprived the IPs/ICCs of Tubay of their rightful share of the Royalty
Fees as mandated by the MOA and the MPSA and by the law. Hence, our client was
constrained to hire our legal services in order to get what is rightfully and lawfully theirs.

Having laid the foregoing premise, we are hereby DEMANDING that you pay within ten
(10) days from receipt of this letter the rightful share of the Manobo/Mamanwa tribe for
the use, utilization and exploration of their ancestral lands in the Municipality of Tubay,
Agusan del Norte starting from the commencement of your operation up to present.
Failure on your part to heed this letter is an unlawful denial of our client’s rights and the
same will be construed as willful refusal to perform your obligation under the law, the
MOA and the MPSA. Also, should this matter be brought to court by reason of your
refusal to comply, we will be collecting ten percent (10%) of the total claims of our client.

Be that as it may, we are open for possible settlement or any out-of-court negotiations in
order to arrive at a possible compromise. Should you decide to sit down with us, we can
be reached through the information given above (letterhead). Otherwise or should you
continue to ignore the claims of our client, we will be constrained to pursue all legal
remedies available to us to the full extent allowed by law, including but not limited to civil
actions for recovery, administrative actions/investigations before the MGB, NCIP and/or
the Office of the President.

Please give this matter your utmost attention.

Best,

ATTY. ISRAELITO P. TORREON

Founding Partner