Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu is on a roll this year with improving mining rules and regulations and has now moved on the process by ordering the establishment of a mining satellite office in the Dinagat Islands under DENR (Department of Environmental and Natural Resources) Administrative Order No. 2018-01.
The newly formed province will have its own office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), the mining regulation unit of the DENR, for direct supervision and management of the regional director of MGB-Caraga Region 13, wherein the MGB cenro will be funding its construction.
The AO also declares the Province of Dinagat Islands as a mineral reservation area because of its rich biological diversity as well as having abundant mineral deposits like nickel and chromite.
Mining companies such as Nickel Asia subsidiaries Hinatuan Mining Corp. and Cagdianao Mining Corp., Vista Buena Mining Corp., and East Coast Mineral Resources are some of the known mining operators in the area.
Ultimately, the AO is set to enforce laws promoting responsible mining in the province that would help lift the mining sector in terms of economic and global competence.
Dinagat Islands have a high eco-tourism potential for its virgin islands and beaches that have been sanctuary to a number of endemic species of animals and plants, including the critically endangered Dinagat bushy-tailed cloud rat, writhed hornbill and Philippine Tarsier.
A natural bonsai forest can also be found in Mt. Redondo and Kambinliw in Loreto town and currently has a pending application for declaration as a World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
