Bp. Arturo Bastes of the Diocese of Sorsogon, together with the clergy of the diocese, affixed their signatures to the Pastoral Bulletin written by Bp. Lucilo Quiambao, Apostolic Administrator of Legazpi, on the most recent fish kill in Rapu-Rapu, Albay, on Tuesday, 4 December 2007, during the clergy's weekly get-together at the bishop's residence.
Bp. Bastes said, one of the priests read the pastoral letter and everybody agreed to adopt it as a fitting pastoral response to yet another ecological and socio-economic disaster in Rapu-Rapu. He also pointed out that the town of Prieto Diaz in Sorsogon is much nearer to Rapu-Rapu, than Legazpi City or Sto. Domingo town in Albay.
In 2005, Prieto Diaz has been the site of a fish scare and several cases of illness due to contact with toxic substances. The fish scare in 2005 wreak havoc to the fishing industry of Rapu-Rapu and nearby towns in Albay and Sorsogon. It was the health cases though that prompted Malacañang to create the Rapu-Rapu Fact Finding Commission, with Bp. Bastes as head.
In 2006, the Bastes Commission's final report found Lafayette guilty of two fish kill incidents and the fish scare that ensued because of them. The Commission also recommended the closure of the Lafayette mine. But in February 2007, Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes lifted the DENR's earlier suspension order, thus, permitting the mining firm to commence with its regular operation.
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