SOUTH COTABATO ENVIRONMENTAL CODE GETS PRESIDENTIAL THRASHING

President Aquino says “NATIONAL LAWS OVERRIDE ORDINANCES”

BY ROGER M. BALANZA

The South Cotabato Provincial Government’s Environmental Code has found a nemesis in no less than President Benigno Aquino.
The Environmental Code bans use of the open-pit method in mining in the province even as the method is allowed by the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.
A major casualty of the Ennvironmental Code is the Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) US$5.9 million Tampakan Gold-Copper Project in Tampakan, South Cotabato. The Tampakan project is set to start commercial operation in 2016.
The biggest single direct investment in the Philipines today, SMI, backed by world copper producer Xstrata, has been denied an Environmental Certificate of Clearance (ECC) by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on the basis of the existence of the South Cotabato Environmental Code.

Apart from the Environmental Code approved by the Provincial Board and supported  by Governor Arthur Pingoy, the Tampakan Project is also facing opposition from environmentalist groups and the Catholic Church led by Archbishop Dinualdo Gutierrez. Mark Williams, SMI vice president,  assured the project would be implemented under highest international standards with strict adherence to international and local environmental laws.
President Aquino has cleared the air on the country’s new mining policy ahead of an upcoming Executive Order that could save mining companies like SMI hobbled by local ordinances like the South Cotabato Enviromental Code.
President Aquino says “NATIONAL LAWS OVERRIDE ORDINANCES.”

LA TRINIDAD—President Benigno Aquino III said Monday the coming executive order on the country’s mining policy will uphold the primacy of national laws over local ordinances despite the threats from 40 governors who have said they will challenge the order before the Supreme Court once it is signed.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, a member of Mr. Aquino’s Liberal Party, said last week he would oppose the order because it would allow the national government to override the policies of local executives, but the President said he could not believe the governor would take such a position.

“I would like to talk to him [Salceda] but I think the premise of your question is wrong,” Mr. Aquino said.

“Where did that happen? I don’t think Joey Salceda would come up with a statement that says that a municipal order or provincial ordinance takes precedence over our national law.

“The Constitution is very, very clear on that. First, the ordinance-making powers of local governments are limited. Second, they have limited territorial scope. But more than all of these, there is a clause that says local ordinances should be consistent with our national laws.”

Mr. Aquino said that as long as the Philippines was not a federated government, the national laws would always take precedence over local laws. And it was premature to criticize the executive order because he had not signed it yet.

“There is still some language I am not comfortable with,” Mr. Aquino said.

“But if they feel that their rights are being trampled upon, by all means they can go to the appropriate courts. But I am very confident that he [Salceda] did not say that [local] ordinances … will supplant national laws.”

Earlier, Mr. Aquino said the executive order would impose more stringent regulations on small-scale mining operations.

He said the order would also impose a mining ban on 78 eco-tourism sites.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said the order would establish a Mining Council that will resolve the revenue-sharing issues.

The taxes and royalties that the government now collects from mining operations amount to only 10 percent of the total revenues of mining firms.

The President on Monday assured communities that they would enjoy the benefits of mining in their areas of jurisdiction, and that the government would respect local ordinances in line with national laws.

Meanwhile, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, an administration ally, has  filed a resolution seeking an investigation of the billions of  pesos that the national government supposedly loses as a result of the small-scale mining being operated by syndicates.

His House resolution 2326 asks the House committee on natural resources to look into the mining operations being controlled by dishonest people including Chinese businessmen who are not paying taxes.

Castelo says the Environment Department, the Environment Department, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau and the Bureau of Internal Revenue must submit to Congress a comprehensive report on the extent of small-scale mining in the country to determine  those  who are making a killing but not paying taxes.

“The legitimate large-scale mining industry provides two million jobs to the Filipino people and, correspondingly, the taxes on large-scale mining accrue to the government under a closely monitored or regulated arrangement,” Castelo says in his resolution.

By contrast, he says, small-scale miners deprive the government of much-needed revenues.