niceSeems this was a pro ogc hearing organized maybe by ogc.
So stuff is going on, a bit sad that we investors are kept out of the loop.
link to unhappy article by anti miners It was a rigged hearing from the beginning. Critics of Oceanagold’s Didipio gold mine in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya did not receive information of the hearing and its agenda. Only through the vigilance of Bayan Muna’s legislators, who were informed just four days before the event, were critics and oppositionists of the Oceanagold mine officially informed and invited.
The hearing was held inside the mine’s compound, against the ICC/IP Committee’s own rules of holding hearings in government facilities. The program was seemingly orchestrated by the Oceanagold from the looping CSR videos to the 45-minute business pitch of its general manager, David Way, full of sound bites, photo ops, 3D renderings of undelivered promises, and overall little substance.
In his speech, the Australian thanked the Philippine National Police for supposedly securing the event. The venue was peppered with police personnel in full battle gear. Security from what? The protesting anti-Oceanagold community members, local government leaders, and advocates outside the mine compound’s gates?
On the other hand, resource speakers from outside the company’s fold were restricted to just two minutes each. The Commission on Human Rights’ representation offered to also present its investigatory findings of Oceanagold’s human rights track record from 2011 to 2019 but was curtly noted by the ICC/IP Committee.
Oceanagold’s legal counsel and communications officers were allowed to counter each and every one of them with all the time they can get. The pro-Oceangold crowd was allowed to cheer and jeer, often at the expense of the dignity of Oceanagold’s critics, to their heart’s content.