Mining firm to go after ‘fishkill hoax’ culprits

Lafayette Philippines Inc. (LPI) is looking at its legal options after it is becoming increasingly clear that the latest “fishkill” report is another hoax very similar to the one foisted on Sorsogon residents last year.

“There was no fishkill in the immediate vicinity of our project and in other municipalities going to the poblacion (town proper). Whoever is blaming us will have to explain why the sea right in front of us in Barangay Pagcolbon and the other barangays nearby have no problems, while the poblacion, which is about 10 kilometers away, is having problems,” lawyer Bayani Agabin, LPI spokesman, said in a statement.

He added: “Nobody can even show a picture of dead fish on the shorelines from the minesite to the poblacion.  The pictures we got showed at most two kilos of small fish piled up neatly on the pavement. The barangays between Pagcolbon and the poblacion have certified that there was no fishkill in their areas.”

The accusation against the project, according to Agabin, was “impossible” because, aside from the 10-kilometer distance, it did not release any water before the supposed fishkill since it was not in operation for preventive maintenance.

Also, its huge dam, which withstood super typhoons “Reming” and “Milenyo” last year with plenty to spare, had enough space left for rain almost as deep as a four-story building, he said.

Agabin cited recent reports also indicating that the supposed fishkill was staged by some people who were against the project.  

Agabin said the Filipino-led management that took over the Rapu Rapu project in Albay roughly three months after it had its mine incidents in October 2005 has religiously followed all the rules and espoused responsible mining practices.

“We cannot and will not allow a few misdirected persons to stampede the public into panic through baseless scare tactics and jeopardize the thousands of jobs we have created, including hundreds from Rapu Rapu Island itself. This is economic sabotage that will hurt the poor the most. We will definitely take action,” he said.

Last year, Agabin said the project fell victim to a similar hoax when people were told the waters off Sorsogon, across the sea from Rapu Rapu, had been contaminated with mercury.

The project took months to get the scientific community and even police authorities to prove it to be completely untrue and cost about 5,000 Sorsogon fishermen their only source of livelihood.

“There was no fishkill in our own waters then, but there were plenty of text messages blaming us for mercury which we don’t use at all in our operations,” Agabin said.