Velasco lauds landmark 1993 Marcopper disaster ruling
SPEAKER Lord Allan Velasco has hailed the Marinduque Regional Trial Court (RTC) for awarding damages to complainants of the 1993 Marcopper disaster in his province.
Velasco was referring to the ruling of Marinduque RTC Branch 38 Judge Emmanuel Recalde ordering Marcopper Mining Corp. to pay damages to at least 30 complainants.
“We applaud the Marinduque Regional Trial Court’s decision ordering Marcopper Mining Corporation to pay damages to those affected when the firm’s siltation dam burst in 1993, killing the Mogpog River and flooding nearby communities with toxic residues of heavy metals and silt,” Velasco said.
The December 6, 1993 disaster caused widespread damage to agriculture and properties.
The ruling was reached after 21 years of a legal battle.
Three years later or in 1996, Velasco recalled “a much worse disaster took place when a fracture in the drainage tunnel of Marcopper’s Taipan pit spilled more than 1.6 million cubic meters of toxic mine tailings, flooding villages and poisoning the Boac River.”
“This recent court ruling is very welcome and long overdue. It is a major victory for the people of Marinduque against the company responsible for one of the worst mining and environmental disasters in Philippine history,” Velasco said.
“But the quest for justice for all victims is far from over. In fact, in 2020, authorities discovered about 100 barrels containing what they described as ‘toxic substances’ in Marcopper’s old storage facility,” Velasco stressed.
“It is regrettable that even after more than two and a half decades, we are still hounded by the Marcopper tragedy that caused the biological death of Boac River, killing the livelihood of thousands of farmers, fisherfolk, and other residents of at least 20 villages who are dependent on the river,” Velasco said.
To this day, Velasco said people in the area continue to suffer the effects of the mining tragedy as evidenced by health problems, making it imperative to come up with stringent and long-term environmental solutions.
“We strongly believe that the government must continue to exact accountability from Marcopper for the consequences of its irresponsible mining practices that have caused irreparable damage to the environment and the people of Marinduque,” Velasco said. By Ryan Ponce Pacpaco
