Citinickel Mines and Development Corp., the mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) holder in the 2,200 hectare mining area in two nickel-rich towns in Palawan, has entered into an agreement with the Palawano and Tagbanua ethnic communities there to outline the commitment and responsibilities of the two parties in the operations and exploitation of the sprawling mining concession.
Citinickel, represented by its president Ferdinand Pallera, and top leaders of five barangays in Narra and another five barangays in Sofromo Espanola signed on June 13 in Puerto Princesa City a memorandum of agreement that defines specifically the rights and obligations of each party in the mining area.
The accord was an offshoot of the May 27 decision of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to cancel a compliance certificate it earlier gave to Platinum Group Metals Corporation (PGMC) and re-issue a new one to Citinickel. The re-issuance rests on the completion of an agreement with the Palawano and Tagbanua communities there.
The signing of the new memorandum of agreement between the two parties virtually erases any legal impediment for the re-issuance of a new compliance certificate to Citinickel.
The NCIP took back the compliance certificate from PGMC and was posed to give a new one to Citinickel by virtue of Resolution 246, which its chair, Eugenio Insigne, and six commissioners have unanimously approved last May 27.
The NCIP said it was issuing a new compliance certificate to Citinickel on the basis of its submission of a MPSA copy, which showed Olympic Mines and Development Corporation (OMDC) transferring its right over the mining area to Citinickel. The MPSA allows Citinickel to exploit the mining area and any other party that encroaches on the mining claim area is regarded as a marauder or a squatter.
Essentially, the agreement says the Palawano and Tagbanua ethnic communities have acknowledged that Citinickel is the legitimate MPSA holder to the mining claim and that they have were willing to cooperate with Citinickel in the exploitation and development of the mining area.
On the other hand, Citinickel, according to the agreement, has recognized that the mining area is part of the ancestral domain of the two ethnic communities and that it would remit to them one percent of the gross revenues from mining.
The agreement also says the Tagbanua and Palawano ethnic communities would allow
Citinickel personnel to have access to the mining site and that they would provide security to them within the ancestral domain.
This appeared in the June 23 issue of the Daily Tribune, Business Section article by Mar Santos
