In a unanimous decision last March 13, the CA’s second division dismissed all the adverse claims of small-scale miners, including the Monkayo Integrated Small-Scale Miners Association, the umbrella organization of corporate mining operators the likes of Blucor, Bulbscor and Helica.
The appellate court also affirmed the legality of South East Mindanao Gold Mining Corp.’s (SEM) mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) covering an area of 4,941 hectares within the Agusan-Davao-Surigao forest reserve.
Penned by Associate Justices Concio Garcia, Alicia Santos and Marina Buzon, the CA ruling also declared as null and void Department Administrative Order No. 66 (DAO 66) segregating 729 hectares from the coverage of SEM’s MPSA application.
In other words, the 18-year battle waged by SEM for the fabled gold rush area of Mt. Diwalwal is over. The CA said no further ruling from the Supreme Court is forthcoming.
"All pending petitions before the Supreme Court were referred to this Appellate Court by virtue of the Highest Magistrate’s ruling in St. Martin," it said.
The CA noted that from the day EP 133 was issued, SEM had been beset with legal battles at all levels — from administrative (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) to judicial (Supreme Court).
"The sad part of the SEM legal epic is that even in the administrative level, the rulings of the DENR are inconsistent and contradictory," it added.
On April 15, 1987, then Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Fulgencio Factoran declared EP 133 as valid and subsisting. This was affirmed by the Office of the President on Feb. 11, 1988 and by the Supreme Court on July 16, 1991.
Despite this, the CA noted that the DENR lost no time in issuing the controversial DAO 66, causing confusion among applicants for the MPSA.
The CA noted that while the MAB decision seemed to be very zealous in protecting the rights of the small-scale miners pursuant to Republic Act 7076, the DENR awarded 729 hectares segregated from the coverage of EP 133 to corporations, and not to the small-scale miners that DENR professed to protect.
It said that small-scale miners, as defined by PD 1899 and RA 7076, refer to Filipino citizens who rely heavily on manual labor and do not use explosives or heavy mining equipment, and operate as such with the corresponding license or permit.
"It is precisely for the benefit and protection of these small-scale miners that RA 7076 was enacted. To this end, Section 23 provides that small-scale miners who have been in actual operation of mineral lands on or before Aug. 1, 1987 shall not be dispossessed, ejected or removed from said areas, provided they comply with the provisions of said Act," it added.
Arthur Baltazar, chairman of Barangay Babag, one of four Monkayo villages suffering from the brunt of mercury and cyanide pollution from Mt. Diwalwal, said the government should not give in the strong-arm tactics of alleged illegal miners to perpetuate their destructive activities.
Baltazar said it is not true that 30,000 people would be dislocated in the closure of alleged illegal mines in the area. He said Mt. Diwalwal has, at most, only a 10,000 population with only over a thousand people working for small-scale mining corporations.