Endorsement for Tampakan project under new SouthCot execs unlikely
By Bong S. Sarmiento
May 20 2013

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/20 May)— The ban on open pit mining in South Cotabato will remain a major stumbling block to the effort of foreign-backed Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) to operate the Tampakan project with the election of the new set of provincial officials during the May 13 polls.

This after Rep. Daisy Avance-Fuentes (second district), who has been elected as the new governor, vowed to implement the ban on open-pit mining in the next three years, or until 2016.

It was Fuentes who signed the controversial Environment Code that bans open-pit mining before stepping down as governor in 2010 after completing three straight terms.

Fuentes (Nationalist People’s Coalition) defeated incumbent Gov. Arthur Pingoy Jr. (United Nationalist Alliance) on Monday’s elections on a vote of 117,855 and 111,214, respectively, or a margin of 6,641 votes.

“I will implement the provisions of the Environment Code that bans open-pit mining,” Fuentes said, noting she was the one who signed the controversial measure.

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