Gov’t finalizing terms for OceanaGold’s FTAA renewal
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- Published: Wednesday, 05 May 2021 16:01
Madelaine B. Miraflor
Australian-Canadian miner OceanaGold Corporation (OceanaGold) and the Philippine government are now finalizing the terms of their updated Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) for the resumption of the operations of the Didipio gold and copper mine in Nueva Vizcaya.
In a regulatory filing with the Toronto Stock Exchange and Australian Securities Exchange, OceanaGold disclosed that it had multiple meetings with Philippine government officials in December to finalize the terms of the FTAA renewal.
It also said the renewal is expected to be endorsed to the Office of the President for approval.
Spokesperson for the Australian National Campaign on Mining in the Philippines (ANCoMP) Andrew Morrison believes that Australian-Canadian mining company OceanaGold is misleading the public about its mine in Didipio in Central Luzon.
President Rodrigo Duterte has lifted a ban on issuing licenses for new mining operations in the Philippines, marking an about-face from a previous anti-mining stance that saw him ban open-pit mining in 2017 and close or suspend 26 mining operations for environmental violations.
A petition calling on the Canadian Government to act in response to increasing extrajudicial killings of civilians and human rights defenders in the Philippines will be tabled by the Member of Parliament for Edmonton Strathcona, Heather McPherson, in the House of Commons on February 25, 2021, at 10:00 A.M. EST. Viewers can watch Ms. McPherson Heather table the petition on “House of Commons proceedings Live at 10” on CPAC. She will hold an online press conference following the tabling of the petition (details below). Canada is implicated in the rights abuses through military aid to the Philippines and through the role that Canadian mining companies play in the country. “The Philippines is now one of the two most dangerous countries for defenders of human and environmental rights according to Global Witness,” said Patricia Lisson of ICHRP-Canada (International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines-Canada). “In 2020, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report highlighting severe human rights violations, reinforced by harmful rhetoric from high-level officials against human rights organizations, lawyers, political, judicial actors, journalists, trade unionists, and religious groups,” she added.