After helping mitigate the devastation wrought by the Petron oil spill in Guimaras Island, the Esperanza led a flotilla in protest against the gold and silver mining operations of Lafayette in the Philippines, funded by banks such as ABN-AMRO and ANZ. The Australian-owned mine was reopened in July despite government investigations which revealed ongoing leakages of highly toxic chemicals into the pristine waters of the Albay Gulf.