Published
May 2, 2017, 10:01 PM By Madelaine B. Miraflor
All mining contractors
are now mandated to comply with the disclosure requirements of the Philippine
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PH-EITI), a statement from Mines
and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said.
According to MGB,
Environment Chief Gina Lopez signed the Administrative Order No. 2017-07
requiring all mining contractors to take part in PH-EITI in accordance with the
requirements set by Philippines Multi-stakeholders Group.
According to the Order,
if the mining contractor fails to comply with the disclosure requirements of
the PH-EITI, their Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC)s will be
suspended and they will not be issued Ore Transport Permits and Mineral Export
Permits.
“The certificates and
permits will remain cancelled until the mining companies are able to comply
with the PH-EITI requirements,” MGB noted.
The MGB and the
Environmental Management Bureau are also directed to disclose all information
requested by the PH-EITI in a timely manner.
Administrative Order
2017-07 was signed on March 10, 2017 and shall take effect immediately upon
publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
According to the
PH-EITI website, the EITI is an “international multi-stakeholder group that
sets international standards for transparency in extractive industry payments
and receipts, where companies are required to publish what they pay to
governments and governments are required to publish what they receive from
companies.”
The PH-EITI
Multi-Stakeholder Group (PHEITI MSG) is a group that provides a platform for
business and civil society stakeholders to engage government in the
implementation of EITI in the Philippines.
On an unrelated
development, MGB recently established an open data and web-based Legal
Information System (LegIS), which will provide the public with an updated and
accurate information on the status and rulings from both the quasi-judicial
bodies in the DENR and MGB.
Aimed at making vital
legal-related information available to ordinary people and employees, the
system will soon be on-line this year.
The project development
and the implementation of the system was approved under Tier 2 for in-house
development under the three-year MGB Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP)
covering the period January 2015 to December 2017.
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