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**CERTIFICATION**

I, Thomas C. Shrake, certify that: 

I have reviewed this annual report on Form 40-F of Pacific Rim  Mining Corp.;

1.           Based  on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material  fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made,  in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading  with respect to the period covered by this report;

2.           Based  on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included  in this annual report, fairly present in all material respects the financial  condition, results of operations and cash flows of the issuer as of, and for,  the periods presented in this report;

3.           The  issuer’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing  and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act  Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting  (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the issuer and  have:

4.            (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure  controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that  material information relating to the issuer, including its consolidated subsidiaries,  is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the  period in which this report is being prepared;

              (b)  Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal  control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide  reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the  preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with  generally accepted accounting principles;

              (c)  Evaluated the effectiveness of the issuer’s disclosure controls and procedures  and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the  disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this  report based on such evaluation; and

              (d)  Disclosed in this report any change in the issuer’s internal control over  financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by the annual report  that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect,  the issuer’s internal control over financial reporting; and

5.           The  issuer’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our  most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the  issuer’s auditors and the audit committee of the issuer’s board of  directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

              (a)  All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation  of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to  adversely affect the issuer’s ability to record, process, summarize and  report financial information; and

              (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees  who have a significant role in the issuer’s internal control over financial  reporting.