Mining permit in Biak-na-Bato restricted to mineral reservation area
THIS concerns the mineral production sharing agreement granted to Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 2002.
It must be emphasized that the agreement””a permit to mine a 330-hectare area in the historic mountains of Biak-na-Bato in Bulacan””was not granted to mine inside the national park, but outside the park within a mineral reservation area where mining is allowed by law.
Rosemoor owner Dr. Lourdes S. Pascual fought a 20-year legal battle, beginning in 1986 for the right to mine in the area for 25 years. In 2002 the Court of Appeals decided in favor of Rosemoor, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court on March 30, 2004.
Being a mere privilege, a mining permit is not a license that vests absolute rights in the holder to mine. Rosemoor was given a mineral production sharing agreement in a mineral reservation but it cannot mine against the rules of sustainable development.
Once Rosemoor’s operations go against conditions of sustainable development, which was the basis for granting the sharing agreement in the first place, its permit must be revoked or canceled.
Heherson T. Alvarez Founding chairman
EarthSavers Movement
