Open-pit mining ban stays for now

THE GOVERNMENT’s Environment chief said on Monday he would not lift a ban on open-pit mining imposed in April by his controversial predecessor, as an inter-agency mining council reviews how miners are taxed.

“There is a department order on the ban on open-pit mining issued by Secretary (Regina Paz L.) Lopez,” Roy A. Cimatu, secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), said in a briefing yesterday.

“It still stays.”

Mr. Cimatu, a former general, was appointed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte in May after the latter’s previous choice, Ms. Lopez, failed to secure congressional confirmation after a drive to implement radical environment protection measures that raised mining industry hackles.

Staunch environmentalist Ms. Lopez led a 10-month campaign to rein in the mining industry, ordering early in February the closure or suspension of 28 of 41 operational mines in the world’s top nickel ore supplier and imposing a ban on open-pit mining.

Later that month, she also cracked down on 75 other projects in pre-production stage, triggering concern in the wider business community and prompting Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III to convene the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC), which he co-chairs with the Environment chief.

The fate of those mines has remained uncertain, with Mr. Cimatu taking a more measured approach since taking office.

He told reporters on Monday that he was in no rush to make a decision on whether to maintain, modify or reverse his predecessor’s orders.

“I don’t want to put pressure on my people,” Mr. Cimatu said.

“No need to rush. We have to review voluminous documents. I need to look at all the evidence that companies gave us.”

Monday saw the mining and oil sectoral index join a bourse-wide retreat, scaling back 0.47% by the end of trading, compared to the 0.66% drop suffered by the Philippine Stock Exchange index.

In his second State of the Nation Address on Monday last week, Mr. Duterte said he wanted to stop exporting unprocessed mineral resources and warned miners in the world’s top nickel ore supplier he would impose more taxes on the industry to raise money to help communities hurt by their operations.

Asked on a possible ban on ore exports, Mr. Cimatu replied that “[t]his is really a policy issue,” adding that it is “being discussed in the MICC.”

TOUGH ENVIRONMENT
The country’s mining sector has been reeling from an unfriendly policy environment since former president Benigno S.C. Aquino III issued Executive Order No. 79 in July 2012 that formed the MICC and slapped a moratorium on new mining projects until a new mine revenue sharing scheme is enacted.

Such a bill was filed in the House of Representatives four months before Mr. Aquino’s administration ended and remained unacted on when the 16^th Congress finished its term on June 30 last year.

Sought for comment, Ronald S. Recidoro, Legal and Policy vice-president of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, said the industry was giving the new Environment chief time to study issues, noting that “[t]he open-pit mining ban is a very complex policy decision…”

“We’d rather he studies the matter carefully… [and] accounts for the interest of all stakeholders before he makes a final decision,” Mr. Recidoro said in a telephone interview.

“Kasi ang hazardniyan kung di siya firm, magfi-flip-flop lang eh (The hazard of not being firm is a flip-flop on his part).”

Mr. Recidoro gave the same measured remarks on plans to tax the industry more and stop ore shipments which he described as “complex” issues.

“He wants all his policies to be very well-studied and to be backed by research and evidence. We appreciate that a lot. [He is] quite different from the previous secretary,” Mr. Recidoro added, referring to Ms. Lopez.

Shipment of metallic minerals from the Philippines continues despite the tough business environment and uncertain future that miners are facing, as well as a seasonal drop in local output due to unfavorable weather.

Nickel ore output in the Philippines fell 51% in the first quarter due to rains and the suspension of mine operations, according to the latest government data available.

Miners who faced sanctions under Ms. Lopez and who appealed their fate to the Office of the President will have to wait a bit longer for a decision on their cases, even as the review was supposed to have been completed in July, Environment Undersecretary for Legal affairs Maria Paz G. Luna said, noting the department has just completed the submission of its comments on these cases. She admitted, however, that “may mga destruction na nakita for a few (we saw some destruction of mining sites by a few companies).”

“We’re not really worried,” Mr. Recidoro said.

“[Mr. Cimatu] wants to really study the matter. That to me sounds positive.” — Reuters and Janina C. Lim