Lopez to squeeze more revenue from miners

by Jonathan L. Mayuga - July 13, 2016

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/lopez-to-squeeze-more-revenue-from-miners/

ASIDE from her determination to push for environmentally sound and responsible mining industry, Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez now also wants to squeeze revenue from mining companies some more.

Lopez said she is in favor of rewriting the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 to increase the government’s and communities’ share in mining profit and, possibly, ban open-pit mining method.

The amendment, she said, should make mining companies pay for the precious metals and other minerals they extract, and give more share from mining profits to the communities hosting their operations.

Lopez earlier said, as secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), she will not allow new mining projects, even if mining companies are willing to pay more taxes, if the operation will cause environmental destruction and suffering to communities.

Lopez also reiterated that she is not in favor of open-pit mining, saying “it wreaks [and cause] havoc on our islands.” Interviewed on dzMM on Tuesday, Lopez said the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 is an unfair law and favors mining companies more than the people.

Lopez is skeptical on mining companies’ claim that the sector is giving the economy a boost through its various corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects, as well as the mandatory social-development management program (SDMP).

She noted that of the P35-billion net income of mining companies, P29 billion goes to mining companies and only P6 billion goes to the government.  Out of the P6 billion, people in host communities receive crumbs, “like almost nothing.”

Antimining groups under the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) welcomed Lopez’s recent policy pronouncements on mining.

Jaybee Garganera said in an interview that they support Lopez’s moves to immediately conduct an audit of all mining projects, a moratorium on mining applications, and her personal position against open-pit mining. “Our alliance also believes that Secretary Lopez made the correct call in stating publicly that we need a new mining law,” Garganera said.

“We recommend to Secretary Lopez to ensure that the audit is not limited to technical and operational matters of mining projects, but also look into social, economic, political, health and gender impacts of these mining projects to the host communities,” he added.

Garganera also said it is critical that pending legal cases or complaints against the mining companies and their operations are investigated as part of the audit.

ATM is supporting the passage of the proposed Alternative Minerals Resources Bill, or the Philippine Mineral Resources Act, pending in Congress, which frames the legal and operational definition of responsible mining.

Last week Lopez signed DENR Memorandum Order 2016-01, which formalizes and sets the guidelines for a mining audit and a moratorium on the approval of new mining projects, which triggered howls among mining industry’s big players belonging to the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP).

COMP Vice President for Legal and Policy Ronnie Recidoro said large-scale mining is already heavily regulated and are operating in accordance with existing mining and environmental laws, as against the illegal small-scale mining operations that are more destructive to the environment.

He said Executive Order (EO) 79 had already, in effect, ordered a moratorium on the approval new mining projects and even subjected mining operations under a periodic review.

The results of the review, he said, has not been made known by the DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), challenging the DENR chief to first release the findings of the MGB under such review of mining operations.

On July 7 a preventive-suspension order was jointly issued against Benguet Corp., Nickel Mines Inc. and Zambales Diversified Nickel Corp. by three regional officials of the DENR in Central Luzon—Francisco E. Milla Jr., the DENR  regional executive director; Lope O. Cariño Jr. of the MGB; and Lormelyn E. Claudio of the EMB.

The order, in effect, halted all large-scale mining operations in Zambales, a declared mineral-reservation area.

On July 1 the provincial governor of Zambales issued EO 1, stopping all mining operations.

Local government units have power and authority over small-scale mining, while large-scale mining falls under the national government through the DENR’s MGB, or the Mining Industry Coordinating Council.

On Tuesday the newly formed Philippine National Coalition for Artisanal and Small-scale Mining appealed to President Duterte and Lopez to fix the problems besetting the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector.

Appealing for recognition, they said the ASM sector has been neglected for a long time as they appeal for government to “legalize” their operations.

Under EO 79, small-scale mining should be done within a declared minahang bayan, but this is not strictly enforced.

A minahang bayan, however, is established by the DENR-MGB and has to be approved by the DENR chief upon the recommendation of the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB).

The PMRB issues permit to small-scale mining operators, which is done by small-scale mining firms and cooperatives, although EO 79 has now limited small-scale mining to cooperatives.

There is still an undetermined number of artisanal and small-scale miners engaged in gold-panning and salvaging of gold in rivers, mostly in gold-rich areas.

There are only five declared minahang bayan in the Philippines. These are in Barangay Maputi, Banaybanay town in Davao Oriental; Barangay Waso, Lorente town in Eastern Samar; Buenavista, Quezon; and two others in the provinces of Dinagat Island and Agusan del Sur.

The MGB is eyeing to declare minahang bayan for each of the 16 regions, where small-scale miners can operate under existing laws.