Community coalition backs OceanaGold, registers with SEC amidst disputes

A community coalition supporting the Australian-Canadian mining firm OceanaGold registered at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) amidst the ongoing feud over the company’s operations in the country.

“Just recently, last year, we organized and formed a group. We call that “Coalition of Communities for Sustainable Development.” We just realized that we really need to form a group when we are meeting with government officials,” OceanaGold’s Communications Supervisor Jury D. Baguilat was quoted as saying in a BusinessWorld report.

Baguilat expressed in the report that the coalition represents 90 percent of indigenous peoples residing in the area, members of Didipio, and members of neighboring communities.

“We want the project to continue because we want our barangay to get developed,” Baguilat expressed.

Since its operations, OceanaGold has been implementing development initiatives in the area, investing in infrastructure, health, and education.

In related news, the mining company said that they might start cutting staff numbers if its Financial and/or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) is not renewed by the end of the month.

OceanaGold’s FTAA expired in June 2019 and its Didipio-based gold and copper mine in Nueva Vizcaya ceased operations in October last year.

“If we can’t get the FTAA approved by the end of February, then we have to start looking at different scenarios and there will be some impacts potentially on staff numbers on that,” OceanaGold Global Corporate Communications Manager Melissa Bowerman stated in the report.