Miners are not without option in dealing with communist rebels

Shots have been fired again at miners that even if they have been victims of revolutionary taxes just like other companies across different sectors, it still looks like that they're the bad guys in the situation.

This was after President Rodrigo Duterte warned them that if they will not stop paying revolutionary taxes to National People's Army (NPA) — which they only do in order to protect their operations and employees — the government will close them down.

But mining companies are not without option, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Director Wilfredo Moncano said.

Shying away from the President's commentary, he said that at the end of the day, companies are still allowed to ask the government to provide them with security force.

"I was the MGB Regional Director of Region 11 and the Commander in the area advised the mining companies there that if they intend to secure their areas, they are allowed to set up like military force [under] special CAPCOM [Capital Region Command] because it is supervised by the government. It will be a business decision. It will be very expensive because it will require them to hire people to secure their operations," Moncano said at the sidelines of the 64th Annual National Mine Safety and Safety Conference (ANMSEC).

"They have a lot of options," he added.

Moncano admitted that giving in to demands of rebels is indeed one of the challenges that the mining sector has been dealing with for the longest time.

"It's reality. I was once working for a private company operating in a very remote area and we have to accept that unless you establish your own security force in the mountains. You have to decide. It's a business decision," Moncano said.

For his part, Kalinga Representative Allen Jesse Mangaoang said that miners in the country should not be reluctant to seek for the government's help when dealing with communist rebels.

Mangaoang, who is the legislative caretaker of the lone district of Mountain Province, said that mining companies should formalize their appeal against being asked by New People's Army (NPA) to pay revolutionary taxes.

"They should put it on paper. They should bring out their voice. The House of Representative is a listening body. All the issues, as long as they are legitimate, just give it to us and we are there to listen like other issues that are being brought by the other side," Mangaoang said.

As the peace talks collapsed between the government and NPA, the practice of mining companies to pay revolutionary taxes in order to protect their operations also caught the attention of Duterte.

"If you continue to support them financially, I will close you down. In the interest of the security of the state, all those funding the NPA, we will trace you," Duterte told the miners.

According to him, these taxes that NPA regularly get allow them to thrive.

This week, Duterte also said that he will reject the recommendation of the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) to lift the ban on open-pit mining because he thinks there still isn't enough measures to fix the negative impact of the method to the environment.