Lopez willing to forgo some mining investments

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is willing to forgo parts of the projected $30 billion worth of investments in the mining sector as regulators believe the money would not ultimately benefit the Filipino people.

DENR Secretary Gina Lopez said the government does not mind if some investments expected in the mining sector over the next 10 years would not take place at all, saying the country anyway will not benefit in it.

"Of all those investments, we benefit minimally. Eighty-two percent of their net goes to the mining [company] only, while 18 percent goes to the country and very, very little, if anything even, goes to the community. And those investments don't even mean labor," Lopez told Business Bulletin.

Lopez earlier said she will not allow the $5.9-billion Tampakan project — the country's largest stalled mining project and one of the world's largest copper mines — to take off during her term.

While Lopez has repeatedly stated that she is not against the mining industry, the official also explained that she is willing to deal with disappointed investors over her stringent mining regulations.

"I'm not against the mining industry but the current operations of mining companies cause a lot of suffering," she added.

She even said that mining companies only contribute "0.6 percent to employment and .004 percent in government revenues".

"The costs of destruction that they make far outweigh any benefit that they bring into the country," Lopez further said.

Since the DENR's audit on mining companies began, the number of suspended operations has also been increasing.

While Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) director Leo Jasareno didn't necessarily admit this could dampen the investment climate in the sector, but said the ongoing audit would have a long-term benefit.

"If you have an industry that is clean, they would attract investments," Jasareno said in a separate interview.

Then he said "any mining investor who thinks that the government is not doing it right, they can always complain."

Data from Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) showed that the mining sector could infuse around $20 billion to $30 billion worth of investments into the economy over the next five to 10 years.

This includes the much anticipated Tampakan Mine project that Lopez is not keen about.

When asked what could be an alternative source of investments for the country, she only said "tourism and agriculture has much more benefit to the economy and has much more social impact".

In 2015, the total investments in major mining projects in the Philippines reached $924.94 million in 2015, down by 22.5 percent from the total investments of $1.193 billion made in 2014.

Investments in new mineral exploration projects, on the other hand, stood at $78.97 million, down also by 44.23 percent from last year’s investment of $141.6 million.