MICC to meet on Oct. 24 to discuss open-pit policy

THE Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) will be convening next week to arrive at a recommendation on the Environment department’s ban on open-pit mining, an official from the Department of Finance (DoF) said.

A technical working group of the MICC met for the third time last Friday to hear affected parties’ sides on the ban.

“At the last MICC, we were asked to look at the department order imposing a ban on open-pit mining. So this is actually our third meeting to discus the advantages or disadvantages of retaining the ban,” Finance Undersecretary Bayani H. Agabin told reporters after the meeting, which was held at the National Economic and Development Authority office in Mandaluyong.

The group met with the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, whose members were affected by the order, as well as former Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez, who signed the order when she was the head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Ms. Lopez signed in April Department Administrative Order 2017-10, which prohibits the extraction of copper, gold, silver, among other minerals, through open-pit methods.

Mr. Agabin however did not provide an answer when asked whether the group has formulated a recommendation to reverse the ban.

“We’re discussing the legal basis, and the technical basis. So it’s also trying to get information, so that we’ll have an intelligent consultation,” he said.

Inputs generated from Friday’s meeting will then be presented on Oct. 24 to the whole MICC, which the DoF and the DENR co-chair, according to Mr. Agabin.

“After this, we’ll discuss among ourselves. But this is a technical working group. So we’ll have to recommend to the MICC,” he said.

He noted that any proposal from the MICC will only be recommendatory to the Secretary of DENR.

DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said in September that the open-pit mining ban “still stays,” but will still be hearing recommendations from the MICC.

Asked whether it is possible for the order to be revoked, Mr. Agabin said: “That’s in the realm of possibility. Of course we have to balance. I believe that the concerns in the Department Order are valid, but is the solution right?”

“We try to look at all angles as much as we can.”

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau has said that the order has no legal basis.

Since the appointment of Mr. Cimatu in May, the mining industry has been counting on the reversal of the orders of Ms. Lopez.

These include the closure of more than half of the country’s operating mines, and the suspension of some others, as well as the cancellation of mineral production sharing agreements. —