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LISTED
Oriental Peninsula Resources Group Inc. reiterated that
it did not violate any rule and that their mineral
production sharing agreement (MPSA) for nickel mining in
Palawan was rightfully secured after obtaining the
consent of indigenous communities through Platinum Group
Metals Corp. (PGMC) and Olympic Mines and Development
Corp. (OMDC)..
In a
statement to the stock exchange, Oriental Peninsula said
its subsidiary Citinickel Mines and Development
Resources Group obtained the consent through a deed of
assignment from Olympic, which has an operating
agreement with PGMC for the nickel mines.
“PGMC
entered into a memorandum of agreement [MOA] with said
indigenous communities for and on behalf of OMDC, in its
capacity as the latter’s contractor. Thus, with the Deed
of Assignment, all title and rights of OMDC over the
MPSA application AMA-IVB-40 were transferred to
Citinickel,” Oriental Peninsula said.
However,
copies of the MOA between PGMC and the Tagbanua and
Palawano indigenous peoples and indigenous cultural
communities specifically provide that the “free and
prior informed consent granted by the Palawano/Tagbanua
ICCs/IPs…to PGMC for the conduct of the project
activities shall not be transferable to any other
entity….”
The
agreement added the consent can only be transferred in
cases of merger, transfer of rights, acquisition,
reorganization, or joint venture provided that the
interest and rights of the indigenous peoples over both
mine sites in Narra and Sofronio Española, Palawan, are
preserved.
In a
letter to PGMC president Rafael Atayde dated May 2,
2006, then National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)
chairperson Jannette Serrano had denied a request from
PGMC to change the name of its certification
precondition into the name of Olympic.
Serrano
noted the name in the certificate cannot be changed
since it was processed by the NCIP under the name of
PGMC, which had conducted the free prior and informed
consent activities and negotiated with the Tagbanua and
Palawano and, as a result, the consent was given only to
PGMC.
Atayde
said PGMC has not signed any agreement for a merger,
joint venture or any reorganization that would have
legally transferred the consent of the indigenous
peoples from PGMC to Citinickel or Oriental Peninsula.
The
validity of the claim of Oriental Peninsula on the two
Palawan mining sites was questioned by the indigenous
peoples, saying they have not given the company
permission to conduct mining activities as required by
law.
In a
letter to NCIP chairman Eugenio Insigne, senior leaders
of the Tagbanua and Palawano of Narra and Sofronio
Española, appealed for help and sought the nullification
of the MPSA granted to Citinickel Mining.
The
indigenous group said PGMC was the only company they
have given permission to mine in their ancestral land,
and thus cannot understand how Citinickel could have
secured an MPSA for nickel mining there. |
