Confusing corporate structure and foreign ownership of RRMI and RRPI
The corporate structure of the polymetallic project is confusing even to the DENR.
The (Rapu-Rapu Fact-Finding) Commission reported that there is a confusing corporate set-up, that is, that there are at least two corporate entities (RRMI and RRPI) holding mining-related permits and operating inside the Rapu- Rapu Island.
Upon closer scrutiny of the existing records of these companies, the DENR agrees with this finding. Under present circumstances, the concept of piercing the veil of corporate fiction is justified considering that the Supreme Court held that there are three (3) instances when piercing is allowed:
1. When the corporate entity is used to commit a fraud or to do a wrong (fraud causes);
2. When the corporate entity is merely a farce since the corporation is merely the alter ego, business conduit or instrumentality of a person or another entity (alter ego cases); and
3. When piercing the corporate fiction is necessary to achieve justice and equity
Additionally, the documents regarding F & N Property Holdings, Inc. reflected that there are only four (4) incorporators of this company. Clearly, this is a violation of a very basic requirement of The Corporation Code which under Section 10, Title 11 thereof, requires not less than five (5) incorporators to form a company.
Furthermore, records submitted by the Project to the DENR would show that these companies involved in the Rapu-Rapu Project are structured in a manner that is so complicated, hence the need to pierce the corporate fiction.
Reference: DENR Assessment of the Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic Project; p. 23
How are RRMI and RRPI related?
They are the two “hands” of Lafayette Philippines, Inc. RRMI digs the ground for ores and “sells” them to RRPI which in turn crushes the ores and extracts the metals by using cyanide and sulfuric acid. In effect, the left hand “sells” to the right hand. LPI owns 100% of RRPI and 64% of RRMI. The remaining 36% of RRMI is owned by a law firm called Fortun Narvasa Salazar Creenola. LPI is owned by three foreign companies: Korea Resources Corporation (Kores), 26%; LG International Corporation (LGI), 44%; and Malaysia Smelting Corporation (MSC), 30%.
Simplified, the structure shows that RRPI is 100% foreign-owned and RRMI is 36% owned by Fortun, Narvasa and Salazar law firm.
The DENR assessment also states:
Foregoing, another indication of seeming farcity and fraud that the DENR had observed is the use of common corporate addresses, office building and facilities of these companies. RRPI and LPI use a common business address as indicated in the General Information Sheet they submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), at 178 Salcedo St., Legaspi Village, Makati. Upon verification, RRMI is also holding office in the same address, while RRMI, RRHI and F & N Holding, Inc., use the common business address at 23/F Multinational Bancorporation Centre, 6805 Ayala Ave., Makati, which is actually the Law Office of Fortun, Narvasa and Salazar.
The DENR therefore has endorsed the issue of the corporate structures of the five companies to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), the SEC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for proper investigation and if warranted, the filing of appropriate charges.
Reference: DENR Assessment of the Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic Project, 2006; p. 27
Poverty has reached calamitous proportions
On May 10-13, 2009, an International Solidarity Mission went to Rapu-Rapu to have an ocular inspection. The group was composed of NGO’s in Bicol, Manila and Japan. The situation in Rapu-Rapu Island is desperate, according to the ISM. Hunger, disease and ecological disasters are unabated and continue to worsen day by day. It demands the attention of local and national authorities.
Filipino and Japanese participants went to the island and walked through the mining area but were escorted by armed company guards who restricted them to footpaths away from the facilities. In its previous pronouncements, Lafayette Philippines, Inc. vouched for transparency of its operations with claims that interested parties are welcome to visit the site. However, as experienced by other before, unscheduled visits are banned. The company, indeed, would want enough time to clean up the areas before any visitor can see the pollution.
Talking to residents of Carugcog, Tinopan, Buenavista, Viga and other villages, the ISM participants, according to Dr. Geneve Rivera of Health Alliance for Democracy, learned that children die of diarrhea and vomiting for lack of medical services. Respiratory problems are common. These cases, they confirm, never happened with the same frequency in the past as after the start of mining operations. Fish is scarce in the waters offshore. Even “tagunason,” an edible marine organism that used to be abundant on the shorelines during low tide, is gone. They cannot bathe in the beaches because they experience skin itch and rashes.
The creeks are yellowish-red, an indication of acid mine drainage, and no longer host freshwater fish. The dap-dap trees along the banks are dead. Corrals still stand but are pale and likewise dead, according to Mr. Clemente Baustista of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment. No fish can be seen around them. The residents estimate that 50% of the corrals near Buenavista are dead. This explains the observation that fish catch is down from 20 kilograms per outing to almost zero. The blue marlin used to be abundant in April and May and 20 could be caught in years past. This year, only 6 have been caught. For the entire island, fish catch decline is estimated at 80-90% since the mine started to operate, according to PAMALAKAYA national chair Mr. Fernando Hicap.
There is severe scarcity of drinking water. In fact, as early as September 12, 2007, in a letter to the mining company, Municipal Council Secretary Allan L. Asuncion complained about the total absence of drinking water in Pagcolbon, one of the direct-impact villages. No reply was reported.
There is no end in sight for the suffering of the people of Rapu-Rapu. In Mananao, exploration is complete and full-scale operations may start anytime. That village is on the northeast end of the island while the current mining operations are in the south and southeast.“We continue to suffer from the adverse effects of mining operation of Lafayette. Foreign mining companies have grabbed our lands, poisoned our seas and destroyed our environment. Worse, the Arroyo government, instead of helping, has abandoned us and is stubbornly forcing us to accept the destructive operation of Lafayette mining,” said Antonio Casitas, leader of the local organization Sagip-Isla Sagip-Kapwa.
The residents are calling for the immediate closure of the mine. They believe that the local government units have the power to do so but refuse. They also urge authorities to investigate the marine degradation in the area and provide food and financial assistance to the poor communities of the island. “Once and for all, the Arroyo government should listen to the people and immediately stop large-scale mining in our beloved island,” said Mr. Casitas.
One of the Japanese participants, Ms. Shoko Murakami of Takaki Citizen Science Foundation, vowed to disseminate the information they obtained in international fora.The International Solidarity Mission was joined by Kalikasan, People’s Network for the Environment, Center for Ecological Concerns Philippines, Health Alliance for Democracy, Community Medicine Development Foundation, Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas, Peace for Life, Philippine Collegian, Bulatlat, AGHAM, Redemptorist Baclaran, Takaki Citizen Science Foundation, Friends of the Earth Japan, BAYAN Bikol, KMP Bikol, Ugnayan ng mga Mamamayan Laban sa Pagmimina at Kombersyong Agraryo Camarines Norte, BAYAN Camarines Sur, PAMALAKAYA Masbate, KMU Bikol, ABAKA Catanduanes, KADAMAY Bikol, Camarines Sur People’s Organization, Bikol Express Multimedia, AMLDM, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, and Sagip-Isla Sagip-Kapwa.
Like the early conquistadors who promised so much to our ancestors, these foreigners are promising many benefits from their operations. As Andres Bonifacio wrote in his “Ang Dapat Mabatid ng Mga Tagalog”, our people only reaped enslavement and oppression:
Dumating ang mga Kastila at dumulog na nakipagkaibigan. Sa mabuti nilang hikayat na diumano, tayo’y aakayin sa lalong kagalingan at lalong imumulat ang ating kaisipan, ang nasabing nagsisipamahala ay nangyaring nalamuyot sa tamis ng kanilang dila sa paghibo.
Gayon man sila’y ipinailalim sa talagang kaugaliang pinagkayarian sa pamamagitan ng isang panunumpa na kumuha ng kaunting dugo sa kani-kanilang mga ugat, at yao’y inihalo’t ininom nila kapwa tanda ng tunay at lubos na pagtatapat na di magtataksil sa pinagkayarian.
Ito’y siyang tinatawag na “Pacto de Sangre” ng haring Sikatuna at ni Legaspi na pinakakatawanan ng hari sa Espana.
Buhat nang ito’y mangyari ay bumubilang na ngayon sa tatlong daang taon mahigit na ang lahi ni Legaspi ay ating binubuhay sa lubos na kasaganaan, ating pinagtatamasa at binubusog, kahit abutin natin ang kasalatan at kadayukdukan.
As in colonial times, foreigners are unbridled in their exploitation of our natural resources, leaving Filipinos destitute and robbed of their chance to rise from poverty. There are Filipinos who assist foreigners in the exploitation and oppression of their countrymen. During the Japanese Occupation they were called “Makapili” and “collaborators."
Radio Veritas Legazpi organized a debate on April 29,2009 between the SARA Spokesperson Virgilio S. Perdigon, Jr. and Ms. Cecille Calleja, VP for Community Relations of Lafayette. Ms. Calleja accepted the invitation. One day before the schedule, Mr. Corpus sent a letter to the organizers that they could not come to the debate with no reason cited. Said Mr. Corpus in his letter to Ms. Meg Alcantara dated April 27, 2009:
We very much want to see a continuing communication process that will give an accurate and in-depth understanding of the mining industry. Unfortunately we will not be able to participate in the program. Rest assured, however, that we remain interested in opportunities that will promote genuine dialogue and effectively share factual information particularly about Rapu-Rapu polymetallic project since its resumption of operation last October 2008.
Rogelio E. Corpus
President, RRMI
In a letter to Ms. Alcantara dated April 29, 2009, Mr. Perdigon wrote:
The scheduled program was one of their "opportunities that will promote genuine dialogue and effectively share factual information particularly about Rapu-Rapu polymetallic project since its resumption of operation last October 2008." Yet they were a NO SHOW. So much about their remaining interest. They did not even accord you the courtesy of citing any reason for their last-minute back-out after initially accepting your invitation. Next time they say anything, virtually anything, we do not have to believe. This development only confirms our observation that they have neither the heart nor the mind to defend what they claim to believe in.
Virgilio S. Perdigon, Jr.
Spokesperson
In summary, SARA has shown the evidence, facts and bases. The preceding information reveals it is Mr. Corpus who utters statements that are “baseless, speculative and in no way supported by facts or evidence.” If he does not accept that, then we challenge him, Ms. Cecille Calleja, Ms. Carmelita Pacis, Mr. Christopher Flores or any of their colleagues and apologists to take a weekly dip in the mouths of the creeks where Lafayette discharges its allegedly “treated” waste water and eat any fish caught in the area. If they can do that, then all else is moot and academic. Only then can Mr. Corpus use such words as “baseless, speculative and in no way supported by facts or evidence.” If they cannot do that, then they should shut up, close the mine, clean the area, pay for the damages, pack up and leave Rapu-Rapu.
Save Rapu-Rapu Alliance
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