MANILA, Philippines — Local mining
firms maintained that they have taken steps to ensure the safety of the
environment after President Duterte hit them anew.
During his third State of the Nation
Address, Duterte again warned the mining industry not to destroy the
environment or even compromise the country’s natural resources.
The Chamber of Mines of the
Philippines (COMP), which consists of the country’s largest mining companies,
reiterated that its members are complying with his directive to protect the
environment.
“There are many responsible miners
in the country. We hope the President will see what responsible miners have
been able to do in terms of environmental protection and social development in
their host communities,” COMP executive director Ronald Recidoro told The
STAR.
Recidoro said Duterte must
distinguish the responsible miners from the illegal mining operators that
proliferate in the various gold rush areas of the country.
“Our members are already embarking
on accelerated re-greening programs to limit disturbed areas within their mine
sites to the utmost minimum, while increasing the areas that are covered by
trees and vegetation,” Recidoro said.
“We hope to be able to invite the
President to visit one of our mines to show him how we are complying with his
instructions,” he added.
Duterte reiterated earlier this
month that there would be no open pit mining in his administration as the
government continues to move toward responsible extraction of minerals in the
country.
While mining is contributing
approximately P70 billion in revenues, Duterte remained firm that the
government can recover that from intensified collection efforts from the Bureau
of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs.
The Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) said mining companies have to reinvent themselves and
find a way to extract minerals without using the open pit method.
Pangilinan-led Philex Mining Corp.,
for one, is moving towards full underground operations with the scrapping of
its planned open-pit mining for its $2 billion Silangan copper and gold
project.
Former environment chief Gina Lopez
implemented the ban in April 2017, shortly before she got removed from
her post.
No comments:
Post a Comment