"[Press Release] Pacific Metals Acknowledges De Facto Non-Compliance with Supply Chain Human Rights Guidelines in Written Reply to NGO," 29 July 2026

...Friends of the Earth Japan (FoE Japan), an international environmental NGO, and the Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC), both based in Tokyo, received a response from Pacific Metals Co., Ltd. (PAMCO), a major Japanese non-ferrous metals company, to a letter of inquiry the two organizations had sent on June 16, 2026, concerning the environmental and human rights issues surrounding the Rio Tuba nickel mine development on Palawan Island, the Philippines. The two organizations point out that PAMCO’s response effectively amounts to a declaration of non-compliance with the Japanese government’s Guidelines on Respecting Human Rights in Responsible Supply Chains (the “Guidelines”) — the very framework PAMCO claims to rely on. ...

Questionnaire: Pacific Metals Letter of Inquiry (Japanese)
Response: Pacific Metals Response (Japanese)

The fundamental problem with PAMCO’s response is the complete lack of any willingness to investigate or verify the concerns regarding local legal violations, environmental destruction, and risks of human rights abuses. Citing its status as a listed company, PAMCO stated that “it is difficult to necessarily respond regarding non-public information,” and limited their answers entirely to speaking on behalf of reports from Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC), the parent company of the project operator, Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC). This significantly deviates from international norms and standards, as well as from the Guidelines that PAMCO purports to reference.

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Due Diligence Reduced to a Formality

Regarding the expansion plan for the Rio Tuba Nickel Mine, PAMCO responded, “We understand that the government would not grant permission if the area were a development-prohibited zone, and since the business is operating having obtained permission from the government, we understand the concerns are unwarranted.” However, such a response clearly violates the spirit of the Guidelines. ...

Furthermore, Mount Bulanjao, which lies within the area targeted by the Rio Tuba mine’s expansion plan, is a region of rich biodiversity and encompasses critical forests and watersheds upon which indigenous peoples and local communities deeply depend for their livelihoods. Indigenous peoples and local communities whose lives depend on this forest and its watershed, together with the local environmental group ELAC, have voiced grave concerns over Special Tree Cutting and Earth Balling Permits (STCEP) for a total of 87,090 trees in the area covered by the expansion plan, issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of the Philippines since 2024. ...

Ineffective Grievance Mechanism

PAMCO claims that as part of their “Human Rights Initiatives,” they have established a basic policy on human rights respect, are working to build a human rights due diligence system, and continue to implement the system. However, regarding PAMCO’s hotline, which is one of the grievance mechanisms under these initiatives, the company responded “no foreign-language hotline has been established.” Also, they made no mention of the possibility of implementing multilingual support in the future, answering as if this were a matter of course. This can hardly be called an effective hotline. ...

Ignoring 15-Plus Years of Hexavalent Chromium Contamination

In the Togpon River, which flows near the Rio Tuba nickel mine, hexavalent chromium — a known carcinogen — has continued to be detected at levels exceeding both World Health Organization (WHO) drinking-water standards and local environmental standards for more than 15 years. Although we presented an investigative report on this serious water contamination, PAMCO responded briefly that “we have been informed by the mining company that it is responding appropriately in light of local laws and regulations.”

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