By:
Nestor Corrales - 02:42 PM November 20, 2017
The ban on open pit
mining in the Philippines remains even after the interagency Mining
Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) voted to reverse the policy, a Palace
official said on Monday.
“I assure you that this
is one of the instances when I personally asked the President if there’s been a
change in policy and he says, that there is still no new policy on this, there
is still a ban on new open pit mining,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque
said in a Place briefing.
Environment Secretary
Roy Cimatu had earlier told reporters that the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) would issue a DAO (DENR Administrative Order)
restoring open-pit mining operations.
“A majority of the MICC members voted to
recommend a change in the policy of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources with regard to DAO 2017-10, particularly, that the DENR lift the ban
on open-pit mining provided that mining laws, rules and regulations are
strictly enforced,” Cimatu said.
Cimatu co-chairs the
Cabinet-level, interagency MICC together with Finance Secretary Carlos
Dominguez III.
In April, former
environment secretary Regina “Gina” Lopez issued DAO 2017-10 that imposed a ban
on the open-pit method of mining
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