Mining firm clarifies report

A mining corporation has clarified that the areas covered by its applications for mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) in the Agusan del Sur towns of Rosario and Bunawan are not within a protected area, but are timberlands and alienable and disposable lands.

In a letter to The STAR, retired Col. Samuel Afdal, president of Philsaga Mining Corp. (formerly Base Metals Mineral Resources Corp. or BMMRC), said this is shown in the two "area status/clearance for mining right application," both dated Aug. 25, 1997, of the Caraga executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Being timber or forestlands, the areas covered by the MPSA applications, Afdal said, are "open to mining operations" pursuant to Section 18 of Republic Act 7942 of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

Afdal added that the disputed areas were previously covered by a mines temporary permit issued by the DENR secretary.

"There is also no truth to the newspaper report that the applications for MPSA of BMMRC have been approved," he said.