Group sees permanent closure of Manicani Island mining under new administration

TACLOBAN CITY, June 29 (PNA) –- The Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) is optimistic that the incoming administration will be serious in enforcing the 2002 order suspending the operations of Hinatuan Mining Corp. (HMC) in Manicani Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar.

The group issued the statement after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB) allowed the HMC to ship the remaining one million metric tons of nickel ore stockpile in the island despite existing suspension order.

Larry Pascua, PMCJ Visayas coordinator, said with the strong advocacy of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte and DENR Secretary Gina Lopez against irresponsible mining, they are confident that the nearly three decades of HMC operation in the island will be totally stopped.

“I hope President Rodrigo Duterte will be true to his promise of 'change is coming' when he was still campaigning for the highest post,” Pascua said. “The incoming secretary, who is an anti-mining advocate, is also aware of the situation in Manicani after she visited the place in 2012,” Pascua said.

PMJC strongly backed the appeal of the Progressive Manicani Island Society, Inc. (Promisi) to fully implement the 2002 suspension order against HMC. The group filed the petition at the Court of Appeals in Cebu City on June 8.

Rebecca Destajo, Promisi spokesperson, asked the court to make top DENR and MGB national and regional officials accountable for the issuance of the transport permit despite suspension order.

“The damages and ill effects of mining to our island will never bring peace and harmony. That’s why we’re always calling for permanent closure and not allow any mining firm anymore to destroy our land,” Destajo said.

MGB Eastern Visayas Regional Director Nonita Caguioa said that their office issued the ore transport permit for HMC to be able to dispose the remaining low grade materials.

“There’s no actual mining operation is the island. They’re just disposing their stockpile of waste materials in Manicani. It took time since there was no buyer of waste materials with only two percent nickel content,” Caguioa said.

In 2014, MGB Director Leo Jasareno allowed the HMC to dispose of the nickel ore stockpile in Manicani Island for fear of siltation to the sea.

The presence of such a stockpile carries the risk of polluting surrounding waters, especially when there are heavy rains that can wash away the minerals into the sea.

The HMC, a Nickel Asia subsidiary, acquired the rights to the Manicani site in 1987, with the first recorded commercial shipments from the mine coming in 1992.

The firm stopped its operations in 1994 due to falling nickel prices. In 2001, mining operation resumed despite fierce local opposition. Its destructive activity prompted then DENR Secretary Heherson Alvarez to issue a suspension order on November 13, 2002.

Manicani is a small island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar. Its 3,000 residents live in four villages: San Jose, Banaag, Hamorawon and Buenavista.

During World War II, the US Navy transformed Manicani into a major naval repair facility, built to carry out maintenance and repairs to any of the ships in the fleet. (PNA)
LAP/SQM