SC orders CA to resolve case vs Marcopper

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the Court of Appeals (CA) to resolve the writ of kalikasan case in connection with the March 24, 1996 disaster in the operations of the Marcopper mining company in Marinduque.

In a six-page notice, the SC remanded the case to the appellate court “in observance of the doctrine of hierarchy of courts and in the interest of the orderly and expeditious conduct of the proceedings of the case.”

Last March, the SC issued a writ of kalikasan upon the petition of Marinduque residents Eliza Hernandez, Mamerto Lanete and Godofredo Manoy against Placer Dome Inc. and Barric Gold Corp.

Placer Dome is the mother company of Marcopper, which ran mining operations in Marinduque from 1964 to 1997.

The petitioners asked the SC to hold Placer Dome liable for expelling some two million cubic meters of toxic industrial waste into the Boac River where a drainage plug holding the waste broke.

They said Placer Dome, despite a binding contract with no less than former President Fidel Ramos, failed to rehabilitate the waters of Marinduque as well as Romblon and Quezon.

According to court records, the spillage of the mining waste caused flash floods that isolated 4,400 people in five riverbank villages.

One of the villages, Hinapulan, was buried under six feet of muddy floodwater, contaminating the source of drinking water and poisoning fish, freshwater shrimps and pigs.

To reach the isolated villages, helicopters had to fly in order to provide food, water and medical supplies to the residents.

The petitioners said they were dismayed at how five lawsuits against Marcopper have failed to prosper. Through their legal counsel, Fr. Joaquin Bernas, they said all of these cases are still “mired in the courts” and that after 15 years of litigation, have not “even reached the trial stage.”