Alvarez: No ‘midnight deals’ in 2 MPSAs

Former Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson Alvarez denied yesterday that there were "midnight deals" involving two mineral production sharing agreements (MPSAs) as alleged by Borongan, Eastern Samar Bishop Leonardo Medroso.

He said the MPSAs of Bauxite Resources Inc. and Alumina Corp. were approved in accordance with the full specifications of the law.

In a press conference last Thursday, Medroso and Calbiga Mayor Melchor Nacario alleged that the MPSAs of Bauxite Resources and Alumina Corp. were "midnight deals," saying that they were signed last Dec. 4, shortly before Alvarez was replaced as environment and natural resources secretary on Dec. 15.

Alvarez said in a statement that the allegation was "pure fiction."

He said the processing of an MPSA is a "long drawn-out process, including years of technical study and social preparation."

"In the case of Samar, you can date back the process to the 80s. The MGB (Mines and Geosciences Bureau) had engaged in the identification of this site since the 1980s when it was identified as a mineral reservation, and the intensive processing began in May 2001, a month after my assumption in office," he said.

"There can be no overnight or midnight wonders," he added.

Alvarez said that during his two-year tenure as secretary, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources approved more than 20 mineral sites for exploration and mining.

He said the bauxite deposit site in Samar is the only one of its kind in the country and because of its strategic importance to a traditionally poor area, it was "prepared with a well-studied concern precisely for sustainable development."

Alvarez also clarified that the MPSAs issued within the Samar bauxite mining reservation "cover only the exploration activities" of the two mining companies and "do not grant them the right to mine."