After 16 years Marinduque folk still seeking

justice for Marcopper tragedy

“We have been waiting for almost two decades now. We are old. Most of us

are already senior citizens. We cannot afford to wait another 16 years to get

justice,” said Manang Rita Natal, one of the original plaintiffs in the case

against Marcopper Mining, a copper mining company reportedly co-owned by

then-president Ferdinand Marcos and Canada’s Placer Dome.

The plaintiffs, many of them already in their 60s and 70s, filed a mandamus

petition before the Supreme Court today to compel the judge handling the

case to rule on their motion to be allowed access to the Marcopper mine site

and secure copies of important company documents. This would allow them

to gather more evidence to bolster their case.

“We seek Supreme Court intervention to speed up this case. There is

simply no reason to allow it to drag on. We are hoping that the SC

will continue its stellar pro-environment record under Chief Justice

Reynato S. Puno by ruling in our favor,” said Atty. Minerva Quintela,

lead counsel of the plaintiffs, and from the cause-oriented group

Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC-KsK).

The Rita Natal et. al., vs. Marcopper Mining Corp. case was filed in 2001 by

60 plaintiffs from Barangays Magapua and Bocboc, in Mogpog, Marinduque

who were the first victims when the Marcopper siltation dam burst in 1993.

“We are hoping that the Supreme Court will take up this case as a

test to its commitment in the recently approved Rules of Procedure

for Environmental Cases.” Atty. Quintela added.

For almost two decades, Marinduque has served as the most prominent

symbol of the disastrous impact of mining in the Philippines, after two mining

disasters—the Mogpog disaster of 1993 and the Boac disaster of 1996 —

killed off the provinces’ two most important rivers. The case has remained

unresolved for 16 years, prompting advocates to call it a “legacy case”.

“This is the unfortunate legacy of mining in the country. A legacy of disasters

and impunity that began under the Marcos dictatorship and wholeheartedly

revived by Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. We must not allow a continuation

of this,” Quintela said.

For more information please contact Ronald A. Gregorio, Atty. Minerva A.

Quintela, Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, +632 926-4409, +632

434-4079, +639175481674, +639995895023, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ,

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .