THE Supreme Court yesterday denied with finality the bid of
two mining firms seeking the cancellation of the mining contracts of Macroasia
Corp., the holding firm of taipan Lucio Tan, over a 1,000 hectare-property in
Sitio Linao, Brookes Point, Palawan.
The SC's Second Division turned down the motion for
reconsideration filed by petitioners Celestial Nickel Mining Exploration Corp.
and Blue Ridge Mineral Corp. after they failed to present new issues to warrant
a reversal of the Court's Dec. 19, 2007 decision affirming the subsisting rights
of Macroasia over said property.
In its petition, Celestial and Blueridge argued that the
Mines and Adjudication Board (MAB) erred when it overturned the decision of the
Panel of Arbitrators (POA) of the Bureau of Mines finding Macroasia and another
mining firm Lebach not only automatically abandoned their areas but likewise had
lost their rights to the mining claims.
The POA granted the petition of Celestial to cancel the seven
mining lease contracts of Macroasia and gave the said mining firm the
preferential right to the latter's mining areas. The panel also upheld Blueridge
petition but only against the mining lease contract areas of Lebach. It gave
Blueridge priority right to the Lebach's mining claims.
But the SC said that the POA and the MAB have no jurisdiction
over the petition for cancellation of Macroasia's mining lease and they could
not have made any binding pronouncement that Macroasia had abandoned its mining
claims.
Among the mining contracts questioned by petitioners were the
Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSA) granted by former DENR Secretary
Michael Defensor to Macroasia in 2005. In its Dec. 19, 2007 ruling, the SC
affirmed the CA decision declaring that only the DENR secretary can revoke or
cancel mineral agreements under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.
Macroasia reiterated that it did not abandon its mining claims, and even if
mining was not listed among its purposes in its amended Articles of
Incorporation, it was nevertheless ratified as a secondary purpose by its
stockholders in subsequent amendments of its Articles of Incorporation. -
Evangeline C. de Vera
