Baseless allegations

On behalf of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), I take exception to the Hidden Agenda column of Mary Ann Reyes last Oct. 22 entitled “Quid Pro Quo” that hurled baseless allegations against NAC and its principals which a more careful and responsible media practitioner could have verified.

Ms Reyes begins her piece by effectively insulting the whole Commission on Appointments when she hints that a nominee to a Cabinet position got the nod of the CA because one member was seeking a “quid pro quo.” Her basis? “Reports in media.”

Her carelessness and lack of deep analysis continue to show when she refers to the CA proceedings that decided the fate of the previous DENR nominee, Gina Lopez, claiming among others that principals of NAC were big election supporters of the President. If that were true, would big supporters of the President act against his wishes?

Ms. Reyes then goes on to describe NAC as “no stranger to controversy” and lists some of what she says are accusations leveled against the company – including militarization and unpaid royalties in relation to Taganito Mining Corp., one of our subsidiaries.

And yet Gina Lopez, during her nearly 12 months at the DENR, never had reason to act on any of these accusation Ms Reyes cites. Had these accusations been true, they surely would not have escaped the attention of someone as passionate about responsible mining as Gina Lopez!

Ms. Reyes also perpetuates a canard that the community on Manicani island is opposed to stockpile removal. Had she been more careful she would have known that close to 90 percent of the residents of the four barangays on the island have supported barangay resolutions requesting the DENR to allow resumption of such operations, which netted those employed some P6 million in wages for every month of operations – a figure that does not grow on trees, not even in the backyard of Ms. Reyes.

Again, careful research by Ms. Reyes would have led her to reports from the MGB-DENR that debunk wild accusations from antimining groups, including “excessive soil extraction.”

That Ms. Reyes shoots off a “think piece” so devoid of careful fact checking leaves me wondering who is the one with a hidden agenda” here! –