Miners rap ‘trial by publicity’

Posted on September 29, 2016
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=TopStory&title=miners-rap-&145trial-by-publicity&8217&id=134144

THE ORGANIZATION of miners in the country yesterday hit the Environment department’s release ahead of formal notice to companies results of its two-month audit, arguing besides that the government may not yet comprehend the economic impact of its treatment of the industry.

Benjamin Philip G. Romualdez, president of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (CoMP), decried what appears to be a “trial by publicity” of mining companies in the way the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Tuesday announced those found deficient even before individual firms were formally notified on Wednesday.

“We haven’t seen the audit results yet; that’s why we’re curious with the results being so public. The results of the audit have been made public before they were even presented to us, so it seems like there is a trial by publicity,” Mr. Romualdez told reporters on the sidelines of an economic forum of the ADR Institute yesterday.

“You haven’t even gotten letters, then there’s a statement of suspension,” he noted.

“We lament the way it’s being handled. We understand the passion of the (Environment) Secretary (Regina Paz L. Lopez), but hopefully we can have more collaborative working relations between the minerals industry and government who is our main partner,” he added.

“We are not the enemy here.”

The department on Tuesday named 20 more metal mines facing suspension due to various violations under a nationwide audit that started in July, among them the lack of tree cutting permit, unregistered treatment facilities, as well as incorrect storage and disposal of tailings.

Those add to 10 other mines suspended earlier.

The additional 20 will be given a chance to explain why their operations should not be suspended and a final decision on their fate could be reached in two weeks, DENR officials had said.

That brings to 30 the total number of mines that risk being shuttered, out of a total of 41 such facilities spread across the country.

Global nickel prices have see-sawed since President Rodrigo R. Duterte announced soon after he took office on June 30 an impending crackdown on mines deemed irresponsible to the environment and host communities. The Philippines is the world’s biggest nickel exporter. Of the 30 mines either facing suspension or whose operations have already been halted, 18 are nickel producers that account for 55.5% of the country’s total output in 2015.

Mr. Romualdez, who sits as president and chief executive officer of Benguet Corp., also questioned audit procedures. Subsidiary Benguet Corp. Nickel Mines, Inc. was suspended in the earlier days of the audit and the parent itself risks the same fate.

“The conduct of audit was a bit suspect even the beginning. The person in charge of audit was actually the Mines bureau director for the past six years so there’s a conflict of interest and a bit of confusion,” Mr. Romualdez also said during the forum, referring to DENR Undersecretary Leo L. Jasareno, who led the Mines and Geosciences Bureau under former President Benigno S. C. Aquino III and who supervised the recent industry-wide audit.

“What we’re wondering today is what was seemingly okay for the past six years is now suddenly not okay?”

Mr. Romualdez likewise questioned the involvement in the audit of civic group Alyansa Tigil Mina (Alliance to Stop Mining).

‘REPUTATIONS HAVE BEEN DAMAGED’
In a statement sent to journalists yesterday, CoMP separately criticized DENR’s “rash public pronouncements.”

The statement quoted Ronald S. Recidoro, the group’s vice-president for Legal and Policy Division, as saying that ‘[r]eputations have been damaged.”

“To be clear, none of these companies are suspended. But the pronouncements yesterday gave the impression that the companies named have already been suspended.”

He also warned that “[t]he audit findings have serious impact not only on our present mining projects but also upcoming projects,” referring to $22 billion already in the pipeline.

Latest DENR data show that mining has contributed up to 0.7% to gross domestic product, 4.8% to total merchandise exports and up to 0.6% to total jobs, while CoMP itself said the industry employs some 75,000 workers. -- Melissa Luz T. Lopez with J. C. Lim