DENR lifts suspension order vs mining firm that caused river siltation in Davao Oriental

DAVAO ORIENTAL, Philippines – A large-scale mining company that was shut down by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) due to the damage it caused to two rivers has been allowed to operate again in Davao Oriental, a province where the new governor has just ordered a crackdown on destructive mining activities.

The DENR’s cease-and-desist order against Riverbend Consolidated Mining Corporation-Arc Nickel Resources Incorporated was lifted after the company spent more than P100 million to rehabilitate its concession area in Banaybanay town, Davao Oriental’s Provincial Mining Regulatory Board confirmed on Monday, July 11.

The cease-and-desist order was lifted just before then-president Rodrigo Duterte stepped down and passed on the country’s leadership to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Officials said the mining site accident caused heavy siltation at the Mapagba and Pintatagan rivers in Banaybanay, prompting then-environment secretary Roy Cimatu to slap Riverbend-Arc Nickel with a cease-and-desist order in January. 

After five months, it will be business as usual again for Riverbend-Arc Nickel which has thousands of hectares of concession area in Davao Oriental.

This came just days after new Governor Corazon Malanyaon promised to stop destructive mining operations in the province, particularly illegal operations.

John Ed Fernandez, the head of the secretariat of the local mining regulatory board, confirmed that the company has been allowed to resume operations and that it has already secured a notice to proceed after it completed the rehabilitation of the upper portion of its mining site. 

The rehabilitation included putting in place siltation ponds to prevent another spillover.

Fernandez said executives of the mining company were set to meet with the governor.

Riverbend-Arc Nickel has a mineral production sharing agreement with the government, allowing it to extract nickel laterites from its 6,000-hectare mining concession area.

The company was ordered to stop operations on January 17 after the regional offices of the DENR, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) established that its extraction operations damaged the Mapagba and Pintatagan rivers.

A DENR report in January read in part, “Heavy and continuous rains have pushed overburdened materials which contributed to the overflowing of [the] silt pond, draining towards the said rivers.”

Cimatu ordered the company fined, and to stop operations. This is upon the request of then-Davao Oriental governor Nelson Dayanghirang who called the mining firm’s operations “a blatant disregard” of its environmental protection and enhancement commitments.

Dayanghirang said the damage was “immeasurable,” and required immediate corrective measures. 

Fernandez said nine large-scale mining companies were operating in the province, and only Riverbend-Arc Nickel figured in an accident.

Another mining company, the Austral-Asi Link Mining Corporation-Hallmark Mining Corporation (AMCOR), which operates in Mati City, was ordered suspended by Cimatu’s predecessor, the late secretary Gina Lopez, for violating environmental laws. But the DENR later allowed it to resume operations after it showed that it undertook corrective measures. 

AMCOR has been operating near two protected areas in Davao Oriental – the Pujada Bay in Mati City, and the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary. 

Fernandez, however, said AMCOR’s operations were outside an expanded buffer zone.

Mining investments and operations in the province have raised at least P65.3 million in net revenues for the Davao Oriental of the provincial government since 2016, according to Fernandez. – Rappler.com