Mike Defensor's $150M mining deal with Chinese firm hit

Former Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor's ties to two mining companies that recently bagged a multimillion-dollar exploration deal with a Chinese firm was slammed by administration critics and activist groups Friday, questioning whether he used his government connections in securing the contract.

Black and White Movement (BWM), a critic of the Arroyo administration, said the government has no "delicadeza" (sense of propriety) when it gave the go-signal for the signing of the deal between China's Jiangxi Rare Earth and Rare Metals Tungsten Group and Filipino companies NiHAO Mineral Resources Inc. and Geograce Resources Philippines.

Defensor's links to NiHAO and Geograce were revealed during the signing Thursday of the $150-million joint venture agreement for mineral exploration in Botolan, Zambales between the two companies and Jiangxi.

Defensor is chairman of NiHAO and a director in Geograce.

President Arroyo witnessed the signing of the deal in Chengdu in Sichuan province.

BWM spokesman Vicente Romano said the deal also showed the lack of propriety on the part of Rene Puno, brother of Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, who also has links to the two firms.

Romano said that even if Defensor would argue that he has no government post at the moment, he already knew that the signing would take place long before. The BWM spokesman added that Defensor should not have accepted the post of task force chief to oversee the opening of Ninoy Aquino International Airport's Terminal 3.

After handling the task force, Defensor is now overseeing the Northrail project for the government.

Romano also said that the deal is also a conflict of interest, and he suspectd that ithe deal is also part of the government's investments deal with the Chinese government like Northrail, Southrail, and the NBN projects.

He also lamented the fact that foreigners would be exploiting the country's natural resources, and that he would not be surprised if there is also a sort of "tongpats" or share in the earnings in the deal.