The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has issued the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for Executive Order No. institutionalizing and implementing reforms in the Philippine mining sector.
EO 79 was issued on July 6, 2012 by President Aquino to institutionalize reforms in the mining industry, with focus on ensuring environmental protection and responsible mining in the utilization of the country’s mineral resources.
Under the IRR, the areas banned from mining have been expanded to include tourism development areas identified not only in the National Tourism Development Plan but also in local development plans.
Other areas where mining are not allowed include those that have been expressly provided for in Republic Act No. 7942 (Philippine Mining Act); protected areas established under the RA 7586 (National Integrated Protected Areas System); prime agricultural lands, lands covered by RA 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law as amended), plantations and areas devoted to valuable crops, and strategic agriculture and fisheries development zones and fish refuge and sanctuaries declared as such by the Department of Agriculture; and other critical areas, island ecosystems and impact areas of mining that the DENR may identify pursuant to existing laws, rules and regulations.
Relative to this, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) has been tasked to create within four months from the effectivity of the IRR, an integrated maps system that will include the areas closed to mining.
Under the new mining policy and its IRR, mining contracts, agreements and concessions approved before the effectivity of the EO shall continue to be valid provided that they strictly comply with existing laws, rules and regulations. All pending mining applications situated in areas that are closed to mining are “deemed denied” under the IRR.
DENR Secretary Paje said that pending the passage of a legislation rationalizing existing revenue sharing schemes and mechanisms, the DENR will not grant any new mineral agreement although it may opt to issue exploration permits and other forms of mining permits such as mineral processing permit, government seabed quarry permit, special minerals extraction permit, industrial sand and gravel permits.
In the new mining policy, small-scale mining shall be governed by RA 7076 or the People’s Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991. Small-scale mining activities shall also be conducted only in areas declared as Minahang Bayan by the DENR.
(Reference: DENR website)
- Executive Order No. 79 (INSTITUTIONALIZING AND IMPLEMENTING REFORMS IN THE PHILIPPINE MINING SECTOR PROVIDING POLICIES AND GUIDELINES TO ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND RESPONSIBLE MINING IN THE UTILIZATION OF MINERAL RESOURCES)
- Administrative Order No. 07, S. 2012 – IRR of Executive Order 79 (Institutionalizing and Implementing Reforms in the Philippine Mining Sector Providing Policies and Guidelines to Ensure Environmental Protection and Responsible Mining in the Utilization of Mineral Resources)