Itogon requests permanent lifting of suspension order vs Philex
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By DELIA BAGNI
www.nordis.net
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — Members of the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Itogon forwarded a resolution to the Benguet Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) requesting President Benigno Aquino III through Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon Paje and Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) acting director Leo Jasareno to permanently lift the suspension of operations of Philex Mining Corporation.
The operations of the mining company has been indefinitely suspended days by MGB-DENR after more than 20.6 million metric tons of mine wastes was spilled after its tailings pond 3 breach at the height of the heavy rains brought about by typhoon Gener on August 2012. The spillage heavily polluted Balog Creek and Agno River.
The MGB fined Philex P1.034 billion over the spill. On November 2012, the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) also slapped the mining company with a P92.8 million fine.
On February 2013, MGB ordered the lifting of the suspension of operations of Philex for four months after the latter paid the penalty imposed by MGB. The mining company then was allowed to fill up the void in TP3 with fresh tailings to avoid greater risk of a collapse of the main dike due to the volume of water that occupied the said void. About 3.5 million metric tons of tailings is needed to fill the void.
Another resolution of the Itogon SB was forwarded to the SP meanwhile requesting MGB to extend the four-month long temporary permit for Philex to operate. It was stated in the resolution that the extension of Philex’s operation is needed by the employees of the mining company and their families.
It was stated in both resolutions that an ocular inspection of the TP3 was conducted and was noted that the company was doing its best to address environmental concerns as well as issues brought about by the incident. It was also stated that the SB believes the resumption of normal operation of Philex is beneficial to the local government unit of Itogon, all concerned sectors including the employees, dependents, outlying communities, the neighboring town of Tuba and the whole province of Benguet as well. # nordis.net
