Review of mining audit to cost ₱50 M
The government will be spending additional R50 million for its crackdown on the mining sector, this time to review suspension and closure orders of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on 28 mines.
The Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC), which is co-chaired by Secretaries Carlos Dominguez III of the Department of Finance (DOF) and Regina Lopez of the DENR, has approved on Friday the guidelines on the conduct of an “objective, fact-finding, sciencebased” review of mining operations nationwide.
Based on the guidelines, an estimated budget of R50 million will be requested by the DOF from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the conduct of the review.
The MICC decided to implement the technical review in order to clear the issue surrounding the result of the mining audit that the DENR conducted last year.
When asked how much the DENR actually spent for the audit, Environment Undersecretary Maria Paz Luna said it is "probably less than R50 million."
"I don't have a figure right now but we have 16 teams that went to 41 mines. The spending was based on the eight available funds of agencies that participated in the investigation," Luna said.
The MICC also decided in its Friday meeting to complete the review to be conducted by five interdisciplinary technical review teams (TRTs) within three months, with primary focus on the technical, legal, social, environmental and economic aspects of the affected mining operations.
An adhoc review management unit (RMU) and five TRT shall be organized to manage and undertake the review.
"Each TRT may conduct the review individually. A TRT shall be compensated on the number of report reviewed (per mine), which shall be completed in seven calendar days. The compensation should be subject to the regular government accounting and auditing procedures," the latest MICC resolution reads.
The guidelines approved by the MICC stated that the review shall refer/take off from the existing reports (e.g. audit reports and checklists) prepared/developed by the DENR audit team and Technical Review Committee (TRC).
The DENR will then provide and make available the copies of the documents in the DENR data room for easy reference/access during the conduct of the review.
"Ocular inspections may also be conducted, if deemed necessary, by the TRT and if funds permit,” the guidelines cited.
The MICC will present the findings and submit its recommendations to the Office of the President, which shall make a final decision on the DENR's closure and suspension orders.
It was the MICC's second meeting since Lopez ordered last February 2 the closure of 23 mine sites and the suspension of five others on environmental grounds.
In the meeting attended by representatives of various government agencies, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) expressed concern over the high costs of the emergency employment program that had to be immediately put in place to support workers who might be displaced should the DENR 's closure and suspension orders push through.
Joji Aragon, DOLE’s Assistant Secretary for Legal, Legislative and International Affairs, said at the MICC meeting that the DOLE will assess and look at the impact of the mine closures on employment and job displacement.
Aragon said the DOLE is also currently working on a comprehensive transition plan in case the mines are closed.