Mining industry unfazed by lobby

Leaders of the mining industry expressed confidence that the anti-mining lobby being waged by a group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will not prosper even at the grassroots level as they noted an outpouring of support for the industry by a wide cross section of society.

Nelia Halcon, executive vice president of the Chamber of Mines of the Phils., the umbrella group of mining companies in the country, said since they issued a counter call against the so-called "Dapitan Initiative," there have been numerous expressions of support relayed to them by various groups – from laborers and workers unions to banks and financial institutions, as well as government agencies.

"We are overwhelmed by the support of these groups; they understand and recognize the role the mining industry plays in our social and economic lives," she said.

The CMP leads a 13-member strong coalition involved in the local mining industry which last week challenged the industry’s detractors to come up with a responsible plan of action that would uplift, rather than inflict more damage to the already deteriorating state of mineral exploration in the country.

They were reacting to the launching last month of the Dapitan Initiative, named after its place of origin in Mindanao, by a multi-sectoral movement made up of NGOs, Church-affiliated groups and political parties.

The mining critics were decrying the continued mining exploration in the country and even asked for the scrapping of the 1995 Mining Act, saying the entry of foreign capitalists has sidelined the locals, especially the small-scale miners, adding that their compliance to environmental laws remain wanting – noting the disastrous outcome of the Marcopper pit spillage in Marinduque.

Aside from CMP, those in the coalition also include associations of miming, metallurgical and geological engineers, mine safety and environment, marble and non-metallic producers, mineral exploration, research and development.

The counter-campaign is also being supported by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and worker groups belonging to the National Mines and Allied Workers Union and the APSOTEU-Trade Union Congress of the Phils.

Halcon even cited a World Bank study conducted early this year which called on the reactivation of mineral exporting to diversify the country’s dollar-earning capability.

"Mineral exports, which have the potential to generate more than $1 billion in export earnings and $400 million in tax revenues, have languished," the WB study said.

It pointed out that removing the obstacles to 100-percent foreign ownership of mines and putting in place clear environmental standards, safeguards, and monitoring procedures could mobilize the investments required to fully tap the economic potential of the mining sector.

With five world-class metallic mines occupying about 5,000 hectares or barely 0.017 percent of the entire Philippine land, the mining sector contributes $2 billion annually to export revenues; P20 billion in taxes and around 300,000 in direct and indirect employment.

CMP chairman and Philex Mining president Gerard H. Brimo said the slump in the mining industry since the early ’80s caused its contribution to export revenues to dwindle heavily, from over 21 percent in 1980 to a mere 1.8 percent by 1999.

While Brimo added it was the relaxation of the capital limit on foreign investments in mining, concretized by the 1995 mining law, that gave the industry the much-needed boost, a dearth of new investments has plagued the mining sector once more as the Constitutional challenge to the Mining Act, the backlash of the Marcopper incident, and peace and order problems in the exploration areas further discouraged the entry of foreigners.