Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, said the Duterte administration should legalize small-scale mining in the Philippines.
Interviewed before her keynote speech during the First National Biodiversity Congress at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Ortigas, Pasig City, Villar said small-scale miners are “mere fronts” of big companies engaged in illegal mining activities.
“There is no such thing as small-scale mining. Small-scale miners are fronts of illegal miners. What we should do is legalize small-scale mining,” she said.
There are an estimated 500,000 small-scale miners in the Philip-pines, working for small-scale mining companies, or mining cooperative.
There are also individuals engaged in gold-panning, which has been a way of life in mineral-rich areas, such as Masbate and Camarines Norte, and some parts of Mindanao endowed with gold deposits.
Under the law, small-scale mining should be confined in areas as declared Minahang Bayan. However, there are only five Minahang Bayan in the country, making most small-scale mining operations illegal.
There is no accurate account of small-scale mining’s gold output, as small-scale miners sell their gold produce in the black market instead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas gold buying stations to avoid paying taxes.
Villar also rejected the idea of banning open-pit mining method in the Philippines, saying most, if not all, mining operations in the Philippines are done through open-pit mining. She said the Philippines should not shut its door to mining investments as the industry has provided jobs to tens of thousands of Filipinos.
“The employees would suffer if mining operations would stop,” she said. Those opposed to mining, Villar said, should “push harder” for the amendment of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 to stop it or prevent irresponsible mining and enhance environmental protection.
“If you’re going to ask me, we should not stop mining. Miners would lose their jobs. What we should do is go after illegal mining operations and illegal loggers,” she said. Villar said big companies are listed companies and they are accountable to their investors. “We should encourage them to practice responsible mining because they are legitimate companies. What we can’t control are small-scale miners.”
The First National Biodiversity Congress highlighted the country’s rich biodiversity and the various initiatives for its protection and conservation against various threats.
During her speech, she said she sponsored a bill in the Senate seeking to expand the coverage of the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act.
Villar underscored the importance of protecting and the country’s rich biodiversity being “a source of pride and joy” for all Filipinos. “We actively protect and strongly defend the breadth and depth of our territories to ensure that the future generation of Filipinos will still have the opportunity to take pride and find joy in our country’s rich biodiversity,” she said.
Villar said Republic Act (RA) 7586, or the Nipas Act, is a strong mechanism for the protection and conservation of biodiversity.
Enacted by Congress in June 1992, the law provides the legal framework for the establishment and management of protected areas in the country.
“Under the proposed Expanded Nipas Act of 2017, the Nipas shall recognize conservation areas and the management regimes of local government units [LGUs], communities and indigenous peoples (IPs),” Villar said.
She said the Expanded Nipas also ensures that the State shall establish “the institutional mechanism for the mobilization of resources and for adequate scientific and technical support for the conservation of biodiversity and integrity of the ecosystem”.
“Preservation, maintenance and sustainability are key considerations when it comes to Nipas. Particularly, considering that the Philippines is also known as one of the 35 world’s biodiversity hot spots or regions containing exceptional concentrations of plant endemism, but experiencing high rates of habitat loss,” Villar said.
“Hot spots have lost around 86 percent of their original habitat and are also considered to be significantly threatened by extinctions induced by climate change,” she added. Currently the Nipas is comprised of 240 protected areas—170 of which are terrestrial or land-based and 70 are marine-protected areas (MPAs).
Of the 240 protected areas, 113 protected areas as of March 2017 have been established through Presidential Proclamation. These comprise 29 MPAs and 84 terrestrial protected areas.
Of the 113 protected areas established through Presidential Proclamation, 13 have been legislated by Congress. The Expanded Nipas bill will facilitate the legislation of 92 more protected areas.
Of those 92 protected areas, at least six are internationally recognized. These are Asean Heritage Sites Mount Timpoong-Hibok-Hibok and Mount Iglit-Baco; Malaysia-Philippines Heritage Parks, Turtles Islands Heritage Protected Area; and Ramsar Sites Agusan Marsh, Olango Island and, Las Piňas—Paraňaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area.
“The proposed Expanded Nipas Act will allow for greater involvement of communities and LGUs, as well as IPs and other sectors, especially marginalized ones. It will also revise the prohibited acts and updates penalties for easy evidence gathering and prosecution,” she said.
In a news briefing, Undersecretary Analiza Teh of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the agency will respect the prior rights of mining companies over declared protected areas.
Teh said the DENR is finalizing a map that will identify areas covered by the Nipas as well as areas declared as mining no-go zones.
Executive Order 79 signed by then President Benigno Simeon S. Aquino III prohibits mining in protected areas but some mining companies have prior rights over certain areas because their Mineral Production Sharing Agreements were granted by the DENR prior to gaining the designation.
Also, Teh said the DENR is now in the process of reviewing former Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez’s controversial orders, such as the ban on prospective open-pit mining and the ban on destructive development projects, particularly within or near watersheds.
The definition of watersheds, she said, will also be reviewed by the DENR.
2 comments
Small scale mining should be strictly monitored as they are the ones which uses toxic chemicals such as Mercury and Cyanide to recover the gold and do not treat these chemicals to render them neutralized prior to disposal. Also, small scale miners do not rehabilitate the areas they have mined and just leave when the resources are already depleted.
There already is legalized small scale mining covered by the Small Scale Mining Act (RA 7076) which defines small scale-mining as “mining activities which rely heavily manual
labor using simple implements and methods and do not use explosive or heavy mining equipment.” As the article above shows, many of these mines simply violate the Act, mainly because they are hardly, if ever, mionitored. It is they who give the entire mining industry a bad name. As always, it’s not the law but the enforcement.