Picop asks SC to reconsider ruling on mining operations

The Paper Industries Corp. of the Philippines (Picop) asked the Supreme Court yesterday (SC) to reconsider its decision allowing mining operations on 2,756 hectares of forestland in Agusan del Sur.

Cirilio Doronila, Picop’s legal counsel, cited in his 47-page motion for reconsideration that the land area is covered by the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) of Base Metals and should be closed to mining operations.

The area, he said, is also under the Agusan-Surigao-Davao forest reserve, Under Republic Act 3092, or the Permanent Forest Act, forest reserves shall remain for forest use indefinitely.

PICOP filed the motion after the high court affirmed the Nov. 28, 2003 decision of the Court of Appeals rejecting Picop’s efforts to gain sole right over the protected area, which Picop said was guaranteed by a presidential warranty issued on Sept. 25, 1968.

The SC supported the CA’s decision that the presidential warranty merely cited the government’s commitment to Picop to uphold the terms and conditions of its timber license and to guarantee possession of areas that are sources of raw material for wood processing. — Evelyn Macairan