THE CHAMBER of Mines of the Philippines is pushing for the regulation of small-scale miners by the national government. It is also looking for decisive action on the open-pit mining ban, as well as increased coordination with the government to educate the public on responsible mining and on revenue-sharing to minimize opposition to the industry and allow more investments to come in the country, an industry official said on Friday.
Speaking at the Philippine Mining Luncheon held at the Makati Shangri-la on Friday, Benjamin Philip G. Romualdez, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines President, said that more mining investments can come in the country if the challenges in the industry are addressed.
“Mining investments could be much higher if only some issues and concerns are resolved,” he said.
He said that among the roadblocks faced by the industry are a movement to stop mining in the province of Palawan, the ban on open pit mining imposed by the local government of South Cotabato, as well as the seeming bias of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples against legitimate large-scale mining.
Among the recommendations to address the roadblocks, he said, is to transfer the supervision of small-scale miners to the national government from the local government units (LGU) since the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is more knowledgeable in regulating those miners.
“The entire permitting process, regulation, control and supervision of small-scale miners should be given to the DENR instead of the LGUs, which do not have the technical competence to deal with fiscal and environmental issues related to mining,” he said.
He said there is also a need to have small-scale miners be subject to the same standards as large-scale miners as the proliferation of illegal small-scale mining activity has given legitimate and responsible mining a bad name.
He said decisive action by the government is needed on whether national laws or local legislation should prevail in order to put an end to provincial ordinances like the imposition of a ban on open pit mining which can damage the confidence of foreign investors.
He cited the Tampakan copper-gold project of Sagittarius Mines, Inc. and Indophil Resources NL, as being threatened by a ban on open pit mining imposed by the province of South Cotabato.
The Tampakan copper-gold project is said to cover the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposit in Southeast Asia, and has been described as having the potential to be the largest mine in the Philippines and the fifth largest copper mine in the world by 2016.
Mr. Romualdez said the government must likewise help the industry inform the public that mining can be done responsibly.
Responsible mining, he said, must be given emphasis in earth and social science subjects in elementary and high school.
“An informed citizenry will have a better grasp of mining-related issues and be better able to distinguish between reality and propaganda,” he said.
He also said that the government must meet with the mining industry to discuss how both parties can find a way to have a revenue-sharing model that will be favorable to both parties.
“There needs to be fora where government will meet with stakeholders to find the right formula for revenue-sharing,” he said.
Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje said earlier that the government is pushing to declare all mine sites as mineral reservations which would allow the government to earn more.
By declaring an area a mineral reservation, investors will be protected from land use conflict and the government will receive a 5% royalty on top of the 2% excise tax collected from the gross sales of production from the mine site.
Mr. Romualdez said they oppose the move to collect the additional 5% royalty from all mining companies, saying that having to pay such an amount to the government will hurt miners once metal prices fall.
“The challenge for the government is to find the right formula in revenue-sharing,” he said.
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By: Louella D. Desiderio
Source: Business World, Oct. 21, 2011
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