Case v. OceanaGold mining contract elevated to SC

(Manila, Philippines) The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayombong together with communities in Nueva Vizcaya province elevated to the Supreme Court (SC) its Petition for Certiorari to nullify the illegal renewal of the Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) issued to OceanaGold Philippines, Inc. (OGPI) for allegedly violating the constitutional guarantee of local autonomy and failing to conduct prior consultations and environmental impact assessments among affected communities. 

“We now seek the Supreme Court to review whether the Bayombong Regional Trial Court erred in ruling that the people's right to prior public consultations does not apply to the renewal of FTAAs, and that renewal is mere continuation of the FTAA. We reiterate that the OGPI FTAA renewal is illegal for failing to consult communities and local authorities whose concerns over the risks we face for the next 25 years of destructive mining were overrode,” said Most Rev. Elmer Mangalinao, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Bayombong, who led the petitioners in filing the case. 

The petition to review, filed before the SC last Friday December 19, 2025, continues to challenge executive prerogatives, citing Sections 26 and 27 of the Local Government Code, wherein the national government is required to conduct local consultation and secure prior consent for every environmentally critical project, including the renewal of Oceanagold’s FTAA. 

It was noted in the petition that the RTC’s ruling rests on the mistaken view that the 2019 Addendum and Renewal Agreement simply continued the 1994 FTAA. By accepting this position, the court disregarded the constitutional safeguard that limits mineral agreements to a first period of 25 years and allows only one renewal of 25 years. 

“Our constitutional framers intentionally required a reckoning point in FTAAs at which the State and the affected communities could reconsider whether the extraction of mineral resources should continue under the laws, environmental conditions and community needs of that time. Consider for instance that we are now in an era of unprecedented climate crisis that the Didipio mine’s original designs could not have accounted for,” said Atty. Ryan Roset, senior legal fellow of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center and one of the petitioners’ counsels.

“Renewal covers activities under development and utilization periods of mining operations and thus entails more stringent requirements in view of their environmental impacts. Not only should there be prior consultation, but even more so prior approval,” explained Atty. Roset.

If the petition is granted, the addendum and renewal agreement for FTAA No. 001 will be declared void for failure to comply with relevant laws. It will also compel the Office of the President to cancel the addendum and renewal agreement.###