President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III
has issued a new executive order aimed to strengthen the enforcement of
environmental laws on mining.
Under the EO, the government has six months to develop “a national
program and road-map, based on the Philippine Development Plan and a
National Industrialization Plan, for the development of value-adding
activities and downstream industries for strategic metallic ores.”
In the Executive Order No.79 released by Malacanang on Monday, the
Department of Environment and National Resources “shall ensure that
environmental standards in mining, as prescribed by the various mining
and environmental laws, rules, and regulations, shall be fully and
strictly enforced, and appropriate sanctions meted out against violators
thereof.”
The order also identifies areas where mining will not be allowed such
as areas under the National Tourism Development Plan, critical areas
and island eco-systems, as well as agricultural and fisheries
development zones.
According to a briefer from the office of Executive Secretary Paquito
Ochoa Jr., no new permits will be granted for mining in Palawan.
“The ecological uniqueness of Palawan’s flora and fauna and the need
to protect the same is recognized,” the Office of the Executive
Secretary said.
Although existing mining operations will be allowed to continue,
Congress must pass a law “rationalizing existing revenue sharing schemes
and mechanisms” before any new mining agreement is granted, the EO
said.
“The DENR may continue to grant and issue Exploration Permits under
existing laws, rules, and guidelines. The grantees of such permits shall
have the rights under the said laws, rules, and guidelines over the
approved exploration area,” the EO said.
Grantees of the permits will also have the first option to develop
the site as soon as Congress passes a law for revenue sharing.
But Palace to bare details of EO 79 only Monday
President Benigno Aquino III has signed
Executive Order No. 79 spelling out his administration’s policy on
mining and will present it on Monday, a Palace source said Friday.
Presidential Communications Secretary
Ramon Carandang would not confirm the signing of the much-awaited
policy, but he acknowledged that the final draft that was submitted to
the President underscored the need to increase the royalties and the
taxes levied on mining firms.
Mr. Aquino earlier said that the taxes
and royalties collected by the government from mining operations
amounted to only 10 percent of their total revenue.
Carandang said the final draft of the order upheld the primacy of national laws over local laws and ordinances.
The primacy of national laws was earlier
questioned by some 40 governors including Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, an
ally of the President. They threatened to challenge the administration’s
mining policy before the Supreme Court once it was signed by the
President.
Salceda said the order would allow the national government to override the anti- or pro-mining policies of local executives.
“There will always be people that would
question the EO, but we believe it will be acceptable to most of the
reasonable stakeholders,” Carandang said.
Mr. Aquino said the 1987 Constitution was “very, very clear” that national laws would always take precedence.
“If they [the governors] feel that their
rights are being trampled upon, by all means they can go to the
appropriate courts,” the President said earlier.
He said the government would also impose a mining ban on 78 eco-tourism sites through the executive order.
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said
the new order would recoup some P760 million in forgone revenues due to
the failure to collect occupational fees yearly.
“Application and occupational fees are
so dated. The department is planning to hike the P50,000 application fee
and increase by a thousand-fold the occupational fees,” Paje told
reporters on the sidelines of the Environment Department’s 25th
anniversary celebration.
“The moment that a particular area is under a company’s name, that company should start paying its dues. No more grace period.”
A mining company is required to pay its
occupational dues once it is granted an exploration permit, minerals
production sharing agreement or financial and technical assistance
agreement.
The Mining Act actually mandates the
collection of an annual occupation fee of P5 per hectare for the
exploration permit; P50 per hectare for mineral production sharing
agreement and financial or technical assistance agreement; and P100 per
hectare for mineral reservation.
Mining stocks rose on Friday, bucking
the downtrend in other shares amid speculation that the President had
signed an executive order on his minerals policy.
The mining and oil counter, one of the
six sub-sectors in the Philippine Stock Exchange, advanced 2.8 percent
on Friday despite the overall decline of the PSE index. The index
dropped 6 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 5,362.68.
The stocks of Lepanto Consolidated
Mining and Manila Mining Corp. were among the biggest gainers on Friday.
Lepanto Consolidated Mining’s stock price increased 7.3 percent to
P1.47.
The stock of Philodrill Corp., which has
stakes in several mines, also jumped 5.8 percent to P0.055, while
Manila Mining Corp.’s stock rose 5.6 percent to P0.075.
Philex Mining Corp. and Benguet Corp. also saw their stocks rise Friday. With Othel V. Campos/MANILA STANDARD
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.
