The Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) has finished its mining operational reviews but has not released formal decisions as a result of the audit, leaving mining firms in the dark and unable to plan for the next phase of their operations.
This was the concern raised by Eramen Minerals Inc. executive Enrique Fernandez during the Philippine Mining Club’s luncheon on October 25.
“We expected that those who would have passed the audit would have been allowed to operate officially. And those who have failed maybe they can still appeal their cases. But the point is we have no closure and I think some of us are wondering how to proceed, how to plan long-term, what to tell our employees, especially this coming Christmas time,” Fernandez said.
Earlier this year, the MICC conducted the second round of mining audits as part of the government’s efforts to promote responsible mining in the country.
The review covered the environmental, economic, social, legal and technical aspects of the mining operations.
The first round of the mining operations review included 26 mining sites, while the second round covered 17 mining operations in the country.
Under the Executive Order 79, the MICC is responsible to hold a multistakeholder reviews every two years and advise the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on the performance of existing mining operations, in consultation with local government units.
Department of Finance (DOF) Undersecretary Bayani Agabin explained that what they report to the MICC is recommendatory.
“The audit is recommendatory. In the end, the final authority is the DENR for filing of recon, and the Office of the President for the filing of the appeal,” he said.
Program emcee Atty. Leo Dominguez noted that the audit results were not given to mining companies, leaving them clueless on what their next steps should be.
“So you get a mining company stuck, doesn’t know what to do and has no copy of the report. It’s in the Office of the President, which is effectively a blackhole, right? And for 18 months, the DENR has said we cannot help you because it’s in the Office of the President,” Dominguez said.
“This has been the exasperation of the mining industry,” he added.
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