Surigao mining firm disputes DENR suspension order

Mining firm Pacific Nickel on Wednesday disputed the bases of the national government for suspending its operations and export permit in Surigao del Norte, claiming they have not defaulted on their payments. “No, we are not in default. The claim of the Department of Finance that the government did not receive any payment is not accurate. Our agreement provides that the payment is due when the new plant is already operating, although some payments have already been paid," Pacific Nickel president and CEO Evaristo M. Narvaez Jr. said. Narvaez explained that an issue pending in court is the return of the bulk of the nickel refinery to the government. The refinery, Narvaez said, originally cost the government some $200 million. The company was unable to convince a strategic partner because of the Asian and global financial crisis, as well as the peace and order situation in Mindanao. Narvaez claimed Pacific Nickel did not get “any financial credit or reduction in its obligations to the government." Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said, in a letter dated May 16, the mining firm paid only $1.25 million of the total $263.8 million it owed the government since 1996. Purisima then issued a press release on May 19, 2011. The following day, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources ordered the suspension of Pacific Nickel's mining operations, Ore Transport Permit and Mineral Ore Export Permit. The order caught Pacific Nickel by surprise and the company argued that it was treated unfairly because they were not given a fair hearing on the MGB order. "How come the MGB will order the suspension based on DOF’s request? The sudden suspension was done arbitrarily, hastily and without due process," Narvaez asserted. He added that the suspension order will mean the dislocation of at least 1,400 workers and the loss of free electricity and water for the local community of about 4,000 residents in Nonoc Island. The firm’s support to the schools on Nonoc island will also be suspended. — ELR/VS, GMA News