The interagency Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) plans to review the remaining active mining operations in the country starting in March with the same technical team that administered the first review.
Finance Undersecretary Bayani H. Agabin told reporters on Monday, January 21, that the next round of review of mining operations has an allotted fund of P 25 million already taken from the budgets of the departments of Finance (DOF) and Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the co-chair of MICC.
Agabin also added that March was the opportune season to conduct reviews since it is part of the dry season, making some of the mines accessible for auditing compared to any other time in a year.
This second round of audit is expected to be completed by June according to the DOF.
To date, only about 40 mining firms are still active. All are going to undergo the review.
Last year, the MICC audited 26 mining companies that ended up receiving shut down orders or suspension from former Environment Secretary Regina Paz Lopez due to adverse findings.
The result of the first review done by MICC was already submitted to the Office of the President, however, DENR has their own separate audit.
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