MICC commences review of 26 mine sites

The interagency Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) has kicked off its “fact-finding and science-based” review of an initial batch of mine sites ordered either suspended or shutdown by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) last year.

In a statement, Finance Undersecretary Bayani H. Agabin, said that the on-site visits of initial 26 mine sites began this month that covered the legal, technical and environmental concerns raised during the MICC meetings.

Agabin, who represented the Department of Finance (DOF) at the MICC, said the first phase will be completed within three-months, while the social and economic aspects of the study will be done in another three months as requested by the technical review teams (TRTs).

“When we were looking at this, we set the period for review for three months. But when the teams were formed, the concern, especially on the economic study, is that they will need the inputs from the technical, the legal and the environment,” Agabin said.

The finance official also said that the MICC review team would conduct a house-to-house survey to better gauge the social and economic aspects of the issues raised by the stakeholders.

“They were quite strict, the teams that we got. In fact, they didn't want to continue on if there will not be an honest-to-goodness scientific survey done within the affected communities. That’s how meticulous they are,” he added.

According to Marian de los Angeles, the overall coordinator of the TRTs, the experts comprising the teams are now in the field and commencing their review of the 26 mining sites.

De Los Angeles said the second phase of the review focusing on the social and economic aspects will include a “social cost benefit analysis” and an “evaluation of the changes in the ecosystem” as well as a “more in-detail look into the equity aspects” of the mining operations.

Agabin earlier said 25 experts will comprise the five TRTs tasked to conduct the review of these 26 mining operations.

The MICC is co-chaired by Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III.

According to Finance Assistant Secretary Teresa Habitan, the MICC has tapped the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) to implement and manage the “fact-finding and science-based” review process on the 26 mining operations.