By Louise Maureen Simeon (The
Philippine Star) | Updated July 13, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines – The country’s
small-scale miners have called for support and legalization from the
administration to improve their livelihood as the new government demands for
responsible mining.
Local miners have established the
Philippine National Coalition for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (PNCASM)
that represents the ASM sector to appeal to the government to respond to the
most pressing issues of poverty, legalization, amendment of mining laws and
environmental impact affecting the people involved.
“We are seeking support from the
government for small-scale miners to become medium scale,” PNCASM
vice-president Gil Indino said.
The ASM communities aim to be
recognized as a legitimate part of the economy as they have been regarded as
illegal despite providing employment to around 500,000 people involved in
producing 80 percent of the country’s annual gold production.
The new coalition also calls for the
creation of policy on tax reforms for gold produced by ASM to prevent black
market trading and the immediate amendment of RA 7076 to enact legislation that
will address the needs of the sector.
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