Judge in Marcopper case gets inaction complaint

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya - Residents of Mogpog, Marinduque filed a complaint against a judge for allegedly failing to take action on an nine-year old case involving a mining company’s bursting dam whose contents killed two people, various livestock, and a river. On Monday, residents of Bocboc and Magapua villages filed an administrative complaint before the Office of Court Administrator (OCA) of the Supreme Court against the presiding judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 38 of Boac, Marinduque. The court has yet to set a trial for a 2001 case of Rita Natal, et. al. vs Marcopper Mining Corp. The case was filed by 60 plaintiffs from the villages who were the first victims when the Marcopper siltation dam burst in 1993. Two people were reportedly killed when the siltation dam of Marcopper, filled with mine tailings and toxic effluent, burst and flowed into the Mogpog River during the height of typhoon Monang in December 1993. “It has been 17 years since that horrific day," Milagros Muhi, a 58 year-old victim from Bocboc, Mogpog, Marinduque and one of the plaintiffs, said. “Majority of us are already in our 50s, some are in their late 70s and 80s and yet our case is still unresolved. We are desperately hoping that we will still be able to see the light after a long wait." The current judge has yet to rule on the Motion for Production of Documents and Inspection of Objects/Properties, to compel Marcopper to open its facilities for inspection and produce particular documents, Gerry Arances, Campaigns Paralegal of Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Luzon (LRC-KsK), said, citing court records. The motion, filed in October 2008, is still pending. Besides crops, reports indicate that homes were destroyed and numerous livestock have died. The incident also led to the eventual death of a river, which used to be a valuable community resource. “What the people of Marinduque are continuously bearing from the 1993 Mogpog River disaster and the 1996 Boac River disaster are the epitome of what the new DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] czar’s ‘sustainable mining’ is," Arrances said. The Marcopper victim’s plight was shared by Peter Duyapat of Didipio Earth Savers Multi-purpose Association (Desama), leader of the Ifugaos resisting large-scale mining in Didipio village, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya. “The mining project in our area has not yet started its operation stage and yet so much have been destroyed already, coupled with constitutional and human rights violations like illegal demolition of houses and farms," he said, citing the alleged abuses committed by Australian mining firm Oceana Gold Philippines to the residents and their environment. “We do not want to have the same fate as our brothers and sisters in Marinduque. Mr. Ramos should stop lying," he said. Duyapat recounted that during Ramos’ term at MGB, anti-mining protests peaked as a result of the Boac River disaster and the Rapu-Rapu cyanide spill in 2005 where about 14 major rivers have become contaminated by mining residues. As a result, the group has once more criticized the new DENR [Secretary Horacio Ramos] for denying allegations that irresponsible mining operations flourished during his term as head of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB). “It is a grave insult to the people of Marinduque, who have to endure the continuing damages brought by the Marcopper mining disaster, while Ramos unabashedly brags that he has not pushed for mining at all costs," Arances said. He added that during his tenure at MGB, Ramos has included the San Antonio Copper Project in Marinduque in top 23 priority mining projects of the DENR. “If it wasn’t for the vigilance of the people of Marinduque the mining project wouldn’t have been de-listed in the priority list," Arances continued. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV