(An Excerpt from the Keynote Speech 63rd Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association)
On the part of government, please know that we are serious in having all hands onboard so that all industries can productively contribute in the total effort of seeing the country march to meaningful progress and development.
With this as premise, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau shall pursue five (5) policy directions toward a long-term and stable policy environment that is essential to realize the true potential of our mineral deposits. Focus shall be on the following areas in the days to come.
Policy 1: Minerals and metal-led industrialization initiatives
The following are among the major development agenda for our country: a)investment in human resource capital development especially from the science and technology sectors, b) revitalization of the manufacturing industries, and , c) the levelling up of annual public spending on infrastractures at 5% of GDP or even up to 6% of GDP.
The industrialization in a resource rich country like the Philippines invariably involves value-adding activities for downstream processing of metallic mineral resources. The strategies are:
Ensure continued availability and security of supply of materials and commodities, and thereby, minimize risks to the economic growth trajectory, by planning and establishing a robust mine-to-metal value chain.
Revisit regulatory and compliance policies as regards mining and processing of metallic minerals
Conduct an inventory and further exploration studies, if necessary of the various natural resources in the country especially the magnetite sand deposits, coal, limestone, nickel, chromite, etc.
Policy 2: Streamlining of application procedures
Red tape is a disincentive to investors and presents opportunities for graft and corruption. In order to address red tape, I have instructed to simplify and rationalize applications procedures in terms of documentary requirements, systems and signatories, processing time and processing cost to strengthen the foundation of good governance which is essential in the building of competitive local economies. MGB has to be clearer in its policy issuances, make sure that things are “well understood” and the Bureau is able to cut down on the list of requirements and documents that have to be submitted to make the time of processing be shorter.
Policy 3: MGB-led inter-agency coordination of regulatory agencies in mining projects
MGB shall closely coordinate with other regulatory agencies in the approval of mining projects. These regulatory agencies, among others, include the Environmental Management Bureau for the Environmental Compliance Certificate and other environmental requirements; the Biodiversity Management Bureau for areas closed to mining such as protected areas, national parks; the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples for the required Certification Precondition pursuant to the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act; the National Water Regulatory Board for the water rights; and of course, with the Local Government Units for the required endorsement from the Sanggunian. The management of the country’s mineral resources will stress the sharing of authority among the government agencies.
Policy 4: Strong Community relations programs
The government will work hand-in-hand with community relations practitioners in achieving the government’s and the industry’s common objectives on responsible mining and community development. The challenge is to squarely address legitimate concerns, provide proper information to have shared perspectives of development options, encourage cooperation in order to build trust and shared goals and values and ensure that host communities are deeply involved in the environmental protection and enhancement programs. The government will see to it that host communities are engaged in every step of the way towards responsible mining and adhere to the principle of subsidiarity, which recognizes that decisions should be decentralized and taken as close as possible to the people and communities most directly affected. On the side of the industry, we encourage you to work well with the communities and engage them from day one of the project. Only by engaging host communities and local government officials will give people in the communities a sense of ownership (over a mine) and understand that mining is important in development of a community. Providing vital information about the industry can be addressed by proper information that is verifiable. As for the unreasonable disinformation on mining that will come our way, we need to clarify the wrong perceptions and ideas and show that these are meant to discredit or try to put some doubt on what will be most beneficial for the people.
Policy 5: Final land use options of mineral lands
We all know that mining is just a temporary land use. Hence, we will ensure that final land use options will be thoroughly discussed and consulted with the local government units, the communities and other stakeholders. Greater collaboration between LGus, community, local civil society, and the industry will result in sound land use planning and management and determination of the most suitable and sustainable final land use.
Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority report, although mining contribution to GDP of the Philippines is a measly 0.6%, the mining and quarrying in the regional level such as in MIMAROPA contributes 20% of the GRDP while in CARAGA, it contributes 22% of the GRDP.This information on the mining contribution to GRDP in MIMAROPA and CARAGA is enlightening as we know for a fact that mining is concentrated only in certain areas of the country. Furthermore, if you look at the impact of mining in areas where it is occurring, then it could be 70% of total economic activity and 70% of all employment. Thus, the locality is practically totally dependent on the contribution of taxes and revenues that are generated by the mining operations. We only have 109 active mining areas for metallic and non-metallic mines within the country, so we are not present in all provinces of the Philippines. We may have a small contribution in the overall GDP statistics but in provinces and regions where mining exists a higher Gross Regional Domestic Product is evident which means more beneficial to communities/ provinces/ regions. The industry must grow for it to contribute more to development in areas with potential mineral deposits.
The task before us is daunting especially at this time when mining companies are projected as spoilers of the environment. But, with our collective effort, consistency of purpose and commitment to responsible mining as a way of life, I know we will deliver. We must always bear in mind that utilization of these God-given resources should only be allowed when the proposed mining operation is technically feasible, environmentally compliant, socially acceptable and financially viable. Any of these imperatives absent, it is not time to mine.