Lopez questions award for miners facing suspension
THE Environment secretary said the nomination for environmental awards of miners her department recommended for suspension reflects the lax criteria in use for the awards.
Referring to nominations for the Presidential Mineral Industry Environmental Award (PMIEA), Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez said in a text message: “The criteria for the awards are very different. For instance, whether or not there is siltation is not a factor in the awards; having an abandoned open pit for over 20 years is not a disqualification.”
“(The award body) does not go down to the issues, down to the lowly farmer. It just talks to the mining staff and to whoever are presented by the mine,” she added, noting the absence of “legitimate” civil society organizations’ role in selection.
Miners nominated for the award which the audit identified for possible suspension are Marcventures Mining and Development Corp., Agata Mining Ventures, Inc., Hinatuan Mining Corporation — Taganaan, Oceanagold ( Philippines), Inc., and SR Metals, Inc. — all for the Surface Mining Operation category. All but Marcventures are also nominated for the implementation of their Mining Forest Programs.
The nationwide crackdown against miners with substandard environmental measures placed more than three quarters of the country’s metal mines either facing suspension or under threat of such order. —