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Samar island residents protest ore hauling of giant mining company
MANICANI ISLAND, Eastern Samar – Tension is brewing among residents in a small island of Manicani in Guiuan, Eastern Samar for almost a week now pitting residents among themselves over a mountain of nickel ore stockpile which a mining company is hauling for shipment to China.
A barricade manned by members of Philippine National Police from the regional and provincial offices has to be set-up to block residents protesting mining activities from disrupting the traffic of trucks transporting the ore from the stockpile down to the barges docked at the pier. The barges then bring the ore to a boat that will transport them all the way to China.
“We are just complying with the orders from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau,” Lito Javar, project manager of Hinatuan Mining Corporation, told GMA News Online.
The order he is referring to is the letter of former MGB regional director Leo Jasareno to Nickel Asia chairman Manuel Zamora dated July 1, 2014 that allows the HMC to dispose the nickel ore stockpile in Manicani Island “in order to mitigate risks.”
HMC is a subsidiary of Nickel Asia, the country’s largest mining company. NAC’s other subsidiaries include Cadianao Mining Corporation, Taganito Mining Corp., Coral Bay Nickel Corp., Samar Nickel Mining Corp., and Cordillera Exploration Co. Inc.
In his letter, Jasareno said the MGB regional office is recommending the disposition of nickel ore stockpiles “to prevent siltation problems” based on the findings of the Multipartite Monitoring Team and Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee that were formed by the MGB.
On May 17, 2016, current MGB regional director Nonita Caguioa issued an Ore Transport Permit (OTP) that allows the shipment of 62,000 metric tons of nickel ore to China. The buyer is Union Wave Holding Company, which is based in British Virgin Islands. Two OTP have already been issued for the current ore shipment, the first was issued on May 2, 2016 and expired on May 16.
“This OTP is issued based on the Letter of Authority to Disposed Nickel Ore Stockpiles of MGB Central Office dated July 1, 2014 as these materials may cause siltation and water pollution along the seashore,” the permit indicated.
Anti-mining advocates as well as the local Catholic Church are criticizing both the mining company and MGB for lack of transparency in their dealings since no consultation was made with the residents of the community regarding the shipment of the stockpile.
“The people were not consulted that there will be a loading of ore that will happen,” says Father Nino Garcia, parish priest at San Lorenzo Ruiz Parish in Manicani Island. He said the parish was given a copy of the first OTP on the night of May 8 when everybody was busy for the national elections last May 9. “I am not sure if it is intentional but it did not give us ample time to consult the people,” he said.
Three barges of HMC docked at the port in Manicani island around 6 p.m. on May 15 to haul nickel ores that have been stockpiled in the island since 1990s.
“This is illegal because operations of the HMC remains suspended,” says Marcial Sumooc, chairman of Save Manicani Movement (SaMaMo), which has been fighting the mining company since it started operation in the island. HMC operation has been suspended by DENR since 2011 due to environmental issues.
When residents saw three barges coming to the island, Sumooc said some fishermen attempted to block by taking their fishing boats on the path but they were shooed away by the crew.
Sumooc said HMC is using 10 heavy equipment and dump trucks to expedite the hauling of ore to the three barges.
But while the hauling is going on, anti-mining residents can only watch from a distance as trucks loaded with nickel ore pass one by one. Occasional heckling and hollering happen when some residents supportive of the mining operation are allowed to go beyond the barricade set up by the police. All possible entrance going to the docking area are blocked by residents employed by the mining company.
“It pains me to see our residents being divided over this issue,” says Tito Abucejo, barangay chairman of Buenavista where the stockpile is located.
Manicani Island, with a land area of 1165 hectares, has four barangays. Buenavista is the biggest barangay and it is where the Catholic chapel is also located.
Waste no more
The current stockpile of nickel ore is over one million metric tons, says MGB Director Caguioa. She said these were the “waste” left behind from the previous shipment to Japan because its nickel content was below two percent.
“It had no value before so they were considered as waste materials because at that time it was not marketable,” says Caguioa.
In 2007, China opened a market for nickel ore with less than two percent mineral content.
HMC project manager Javar said they will continue with the hauling “hanggang maubos ang inirereklamo nilang stockpile.” He did not say where the complaint is coming from.
He said HMC has already an application pending at MGB for another OTP that will cover another set of 62,000 metric tons of nickel ore for shipment.
Caguioa said she would prefer that HMC will ship out all the current stockpile because of the hazard it poses to the community. She said there is already a big crack that is visible on top of the stockpile.
“We are afraid that it will collapse and cause bigger problems. There have been many assessments done recommending the removal of the stockpile,” she said. “You will not know when it will collapse. Even mountains collapse, how much more this stockpile that you just put there.”
“They can apply for as many OTP until all the stockpile is removed. We want to remove any possible danger,” she said.
Anti-mining protesters said the stockpile is stable and will not likely cause any hazard to the residents. They said the stockpile even withstood supertyphoon Yolanda.
But Caguioa said typhoon Yolanda did not bring much rain.
“No warning signs are made before a landslide can occur. If there is time to make our surroundings safe we will do it,” she said. “All previous studies point out to this hazard.”
“If something bad happens we will be blamed again why we were not able to stop this from happening especially when we know all along the hazard is posing to the community. Kailan pa tayo kikilos, kung nandiyan na ang sakuna?” she added. — APG, GMA News
