Coverage of opposition to Lafayette reopening

Rapu-Rapu reopening continues to get flak
The government’s permission to Lafayette Mining to resume operations on Rapu-Rapu Island in Albay province has continued to draw flak with a leftist fisherfolk group saying an international civil society network has launched an online campaign to convince backers of the Australian firm to withdraw support.

DENR chief assures compliance by Lafayette
Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes assured stakeholders and concerned non-government organizations Saturday that everything has been done to protect the environment as mining operations resumed at Rapu-Rapu island.

With Lafayette mine reopening: Gov’t Unleashed Environmental Time Bomb, Group Says
"I vehemently object to Secretary Reyes' decision. I believe that everything about the Lafayette project is still defective and disadvantageous not only to the residents of Rapu-rapu but to the entire Filipino nation,” Sorsogon Catholic Bishop Arturo Bastes said.

Bishop Bastes, who headed the Rapu-Rapu commission, said that the PAB’s decision is tantamount to throwing away all technical findings and recommendations issued by the RRFFC.

Greenpeace slams Lafayette reopening
...Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigner, said the decision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was “hardly surprising since the government has always wanted to project Lafayette as a model mining operation.”

“From the start we knew that the process initiated by the DENR would eventually lead to this, given the government’s aggressive efforts to promote mining in the country,” Baconguis said.

Protesters regroup as mine due to reopen
Felino Bogaoisan, parish priest of Santa Florentina Parish, told The Manila Times that the people of Rapu-Rapu, including the Sagip Isla Movement and church leaders, will conduct a three-day rally today until Tuesday to condemn the resumption of Lafayette operations.
“We are condemning the reopening of Lafayette. The dictate of money still weighs heavier than destructions to human life as our government is unable to guarantee safety,” Bogaoisan said.

Australian company claims sabotage by Phillipines (sic) anti-mining lobby
Lafayette Managing Director, David Parker told Radio Australia's Karon Snowdon that the company was exonerated and does not use mercury in its operations.
"I think there is a very active anti-mining lobby in the Philippines and we have been targetted," he said.
"[We] became a focal point for those anti-mining groups through the course of 2006.
"The mercury hoax was one incident of an attempt to sabatage our operations."

Reyes assures Lafayette mining operation is safe
Reyes said that in evaluating the test performance of Lafayette, the DENR was guided by the findings of the Rapu-Rapu Fact Finding Commission headed by Bishop Arturo Bastes. The DENR also consulted with scientists and experts from other government agencies, the academe and the science community.