Gov’t keen on asking miners to allot bigger funds for rehab
While Environment Chief Roy Cimatu is yet to identify what kind of changes he will push for in the mining sector, he is now keen on looking at a policy shift focused on rehabilitation — which would either require miners to allot bigger funds for rehab or compel them to do progressive rehabilitation, or both.
Jonas Leones, undersecretary at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), said the government is now looking at increasing the rehabilitation funds that are required of miners as well as come up with a policy that will oblige them to do progressive rehabilitation while their operations are still ongoing.
"Mining operations in the Philippines will continue to exist but there will be some changes in the policy," Leones, who particularly serves as the Environment Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and International Affairs at the DENR, said in an interview.
He said that to adhere to President Rodrigo Duterte's call for miners to restore the ecological balance in areas that were disturbed because of their operations, the possibility of requiring them a bigger rehabilitation fund is now in the offing.
"This is because the President said that miners need to bring back what has been destroyed and then second, they have to ensure the protection of the communities. [They have to] make amends [for what they did in the mining areas]," Leones told Business Bulletin.
Under the Philippine Mining Act, a Mine Rehabilitation Fund (MRF) shall be deposited as a trust fund in a government depository bank and shall be used for physical and social rehabilitation of areas and communities affected by mining activities and for research on the social, technical and preventive aspects of rehabilitation.
Based on the data of Philippines Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PH-EITI), mining companies have been spending nearly R3 billion every year for environmental and social development programs alone.
Aside from the increase in minimum rehabilitation fund requirement, the DENR is also looking at obliging companies to do progressive rehabilitation, which would force them to start their rehabilitation efforts even if their operations are still taking place.
"If you go to mining areas, you will see that these miners will first cut all the trees in all their mine sites in order to start their exploration. That's why they look bad in pictures," Leones told Business Bulletin.
"Before, rehabilitation happens after the mining operation. Now, rehabilitation efforts should happen while mining operations are ongoing so that there would be no more open areas [in mine sites]," he added.
The point is, according to him, is to emphasize to the public that it is possible for mine sites not to look too destructive.
As a compromise, Leones said that the DENR is now coordinating with the mining industry to help them draft new policies.
For his part, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) Executive Director Ronald Recidoro said that they "understand the concern and the need to ensure that there are adequate funds for environmental protection and rehabilitation of mined out areas."
"These rules were issued in the 1990s and 2000s and may need some revision or tweaking already to conform with current needs, demands, and standards. We appreciate the plan to consult with industry," Recidoro further said in a text message.
When asked what would be the acceptable amount of increase in the rehabilitation funds for the industry, he only said "we will have to go in-depth into what needs to be done and fund that."
"If there's really a need to spend more for rehabilitation, we have no choice but to spend for it," he pointed out.
Philippines is currently the leading producer of nickel, a significant producer of gold and copper, and exports some iron ore, chromium, zinc and silver.