Executives of a mining company walked out of a community meeting in Nueva Vizcaya province on Saturday after residents protested their exploration project.
Lorne Harvey, president of Woggle Corp., and his team left the Sept. 7 meeting in Barangay Mungia, Dupax del Norte, after they reportedly refused to listen to concerns from community leaders. The confrontation was captured in a video shared by the Mungia Multi-purpose Farmers Cooperative.
The meeting was organized to discuss complaints from local rice and vegetable farmers, many of whom are members of the cooperative.
“The people from Woggle Corp. did not want to hear our side on the alleged illegal mining exploration,” said Roger Molina, president of the 650-member cooperative. “They only wanted to present their business plans without hearing our side.”
Residents had several questions for the company, including why the consultation was being held only after an exploration permit was granted, and what would happen to the private landowners affected by the project.
Molina also said the company had allegedly begun exploration work without securing a tree-cutting permit or written consent from landowners and questioned whether Woggle Corp. had a business permit from the local government.
Rep. Timothy Cayton, of Nueva Vizcaya, earlier told RMN Radio he would conduct an impartial congressional investigation into Woggle Corp.’s activities.
Cayton said he would invite company officials and the regional director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to determine if any laws were violated.
In an Aug. 26 letter to Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Raphael Lotilla, the cooperative questioned the permit issued to Woogle Corp., an affiliate of British firm Metals Exploration PLC, for a 3,101-hectare area.
The cooperative said it “vehemently opposes and objects” to the permit because there was “no prior consultation” with residents, as mandated by law.
The cooperative is a recipient of a DENR National Greening Program grant for a 70-hectare area and is developing it as an agritourism site. It said Woggle’s exploration permit would “run counter” to this project and could destroy forest cover and water sources.
“We depend on these water sources for our daily sustenance and more so for agriculture,” the cooperative wrote. “The potential risk, hazard and danger to these water sources cannot justify the temporary monetary benefit of the government.”
