Vizcaya mining firm gets TRO

The Court of Appeals has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping the provincial government of Nueva Vizcaya from enforcing its cease-and-desist order on a gold-copper project in the province.

In a five-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando, the appellate court’s Sixth Division said the issuance of the TRO was necessary to “avert further hostilities and to avoid this controversy from spiraling into more violent proportions.”

In its petition, mining firm Oceana Gold Philippines sought the TRO to ease the tension in its Didipio mine site in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya following the forcible entry of the provincial government with the help of the police and military.

Named as respondents in the petition were Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Luisa Lloren-Cuaresma and provincial treasurer Perfecto Martinez.

Records of the case showed that former President Fidel Ramos entered into a Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) with Climax-Arimco Mining Corp. (CAMC), the predecessor-in-interest of Oceana Gold.

One of the projects under the FTAA is the Didipio gold-copper project that covers 975 hectares of the original total FTAA area of 37,000 hectares in the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino.    

On Dec. 23, 1996, CAMC assigned the FTAA to Oceana Gold, which the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) eventually approved on Dec. 9, 2004.

But Cuaresma issued last Nov. 23 a cease-and-desist order to Oceana Gold to stop its quarrying in one of the rivers within the FTAA area for allegedly lacking sand and gravel permits.

Oceana Gold, however, insisted in its letter to Cuaresma that its activities were lawful as they were pursuant to the FTAA and the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

To resolve the issue that was adversely affecting its operations, company executives had a dialogue with Cuaresma.

Cuaresma then permitted Oceana Gold to resume operations, as long as it replaced its contractor with another one, which agreed to secure a permit from and pay fees to the provincial government.

However, last April 9, Cuaresma issued another cease-and-desist order stopping the operations of the mining firm and its contractor, Delta Earth Moving Inc.

Despite advice from the DENR and the Region 3 office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau that Oceana Gold’s activities do not fall within the definition of quarrying under the Mining Act, Cuaresma refused to lift the order.

With clearance from the MGB and DENR, the company resumed its operations on May 11. However, Cuaresma, together with fully armed men and policemen, entered the project site without permission and destroyed the lock of one of the firm’s gates.

Three days later, several armed men barged into the firm’s premises and ordered its personnel to cease their operations.

Oceana Gold said it decided to file the TRO petition directly with the appellate court instead of the Nueva Vizcaya regional trial court as it has “reasonable grounds to believe that it will not get fair treatment” from the lower court since the respondents are the highest officials of the province.

The appellate court said it agreed to take cognizance of the case due to the seriousness of the circumstances cited by the petitioner.