On March 01, 2007, the Citinickel Mining and Development Corporation (CMDC) was granted two mining concessions in Palawan; one of them is the Pulot Sofronio mine, located in Barangay Pulot, nearby Sofronia Espanola town [1], covering an area of 1,408ha [2]. Palawan has a special law, the Strategic Environment Plan for Palawan Act RA 7611 that establishes a development framework in the province and should regulate economic activities, such as mining, in environmentally critical areas. Mining started in 2010, promising progress to the communities; but instead of progress, the mine brought large destruction to the island [3]. According to Queron, secretary of the local indigenous organization PKP, “Since 2010, the operation of Citinickel destroyed the environment, our livelihood, health, and culture [… ] because of this, we are being pushed deeper into poverty” [3].
According to PKP, the required Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) and the related Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was obtained in violation of indigenous rights. Moreover, according to PKP, Citinickel did not even comply with the MOA, as the company did not pay agreed royalties; neither have they paid for the damages caused to their ancestral lands, rivers and crops. But the indigenous people do not want them anymore to pay royalties, but rather they want CMCD to leave the area and stop mining [3].
Following a large silt spill on June 5th, 2014 [4], the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) suspended operations of CMDC on June 2014 and CMCD were fined to pay 3 million pesos for 14 days of pollution of water bodies, due to violation of the Clean Water Act of 2004 [5]. The Pasi and Pulot River were heavily poisoned by the chemicals [3;6] and the group Kalikasan PNE, who organized in response an environmental investigation mission (EIM), spoke of a potential biological death of the rivers [7].
However, in an order from the MGB from December 22, 2014, the suspension of the mining activities was lifted and mining operations continued [5]. As part of Citinickel’s long-term development program, the company wants to acquire further mining sites in the area [2]. However, as experienced by the two Citinickel mines, such development, as well as other mining activities in the area, pose continuous risks of further environmental disasters to the communities.
Palawan’s indigenous people continue to strongly oppose the mine operated by CMDC, and on March 23, 2015, thousands of Palaw’ans marched in Sofronio Espanola, to oppose the mining operations [3]. PKP, Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), and other environmental groups have urged the MGB to stop the CMDC project [9] and oppose the Mining Act of 1995 [3]. However, it seems that under the pro-mining government of Aquino, environmental justice, will be difficult to be achieved [6].
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