DENR bares plan to reinvent mining

Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu (Photo courtesy of DENR)

MANILA — In line with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s warning to mining companies to shape up, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will soon come up with a policy reinventing the mining sector.

“We will be coming out with the proposed policy reinventing mining that will spread the benefits to the people without compromising the environment and natural resources of the country,” DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu said during last Thursday’s pre-State of the Nation Address 2018 Forum at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Cimatu, chair of the Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction, said mining companies are being consulted about the plan to reinvent mining.

In the DENR’s accomplishment report, a total of 89 cease and desist orders have been issued against illegal mining operations, resulting in the filing of 51 cases.

Cimatu reported that DENR has been reviewing mine closures and suspension orders “with the help of third-party experts”.

“We expect the results of the review to be available this July,” he said, referring to closure and suspension orders imposed by former DENR Secretary Regina Paz Lopez to 26 of the 41 operating mines in the Philippines.

Duterte earlier expressed his determination to ban open-pit mining which destroys the environment. He said the PHP70 billion that the government receives from open-pit mining can be obtained from other sources.