TVIRD, whose main office is in Makati City in Luzon Island, operates a mining project in the town of Siocon in Zamboanga del Norte province. The charges were filed in Makati City by Emmanuel Cayton, TVIRD’s Director for Security; Paul Vincent Arias, its security manager for the Balabag gold project in Zamboanga del Zur’s Bayog town; and lawyer Eugene Mateo, its president.
In their complaint, Cayton, Arias and Mateo assailed the two weekly newspapers for publishing a so-called “memorandum” that was allegedly issued by TVIRD and made to appear that the mining firm and its employees had hatched a plan to harm Julito Monding, a member of the municipal council of Bayog.
“The advertisement is an utter falsity and lie because no such plan exist or has ever existed. No such memorandum was ever written, prepared and received by TVIRD personnel. Mr. Arias has not written or prepared any memorandum similar to the memorandum contained in the paid advertisement that was published in the Pagadian City Star and Mindanao Balitang Lokal.”
“Neither did Mr Cayton receive any such memorandum from Mr. Arias. TVIRD and its personnel do not engage in nefarious and evil conduct described in the memorandum in question,” according to the joint affidavit of the complainants, who said that the memorandum was a bogus document.
They said the publication was allegedly motivated by ill will and malice and intended to destroy the good name and reputation of TVIRD as well as that of the complainants.
The three TVIRD officials said the publication of the fake memorandum as a paid advertisement was intended to harass, dishonor and discredit them and the good name of the company.
TVIRD said among those charged were Monding, and Toefisto Deocades, Jr., and Artemio Locsin, publishers of Mindanao Balitang Lokal; Mike Mijares and Alili Mae Noquiao, both are editors of the newspaper; including its business manager, Gerarda Locsin.
Also charged were lawyer Aquilles Ceniza, Sr., publisher of Pagadian City Star; Venus Joy Viradio, the editor-in-chief; Cristorey Ramones, its editorial consultant, and Gerarda Locsin, the newspaper’s business manager.
Both newspapers are based in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur. There was no immediate statement from the accused and the politician is allegedly into illegal mining activities in Balabag where hundreds of families are also engaged in illegal mining of gold.
TVIRD, an advocate of responsible mining, has been well accepted by the Subanons in Zamboanga del Norte which host its copper-zinc mining operation in Mount Canatuan.
It is now looking beyond the development of the Canatuan sulphide plant to its second development-stage property and planned production center at the Balabag gold and silver project in Bayog town.
TVIRD has provided the indigenous peoples college scholarship program, school buildings and classrooms, and farm-to-market roads, coffee and rubber clones and seedlings for sustainable livelihood and employment, including a health facility that offers free consultation and admission of patients, among many others.
The mining firm has received various awards not only for its outstanding environmental protection and enhancement program, but also as a ‘model employer” in Zamboanga del Norte and in the Zamboanga Peninsula region. Just recently, TVIRD was also awarded by the local government of Siocon for its contribution to the town’s growing economy. (Mindanao Examiner)
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