DENR to harmonize MICC, Lopez audit findings

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is coming up with the final decision on the suspension and closure of 27 mining sites after the release of the Mining Industry Coordinating Council’s (MICC) audit report.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said the decision would be made after the DENR has harmonized the audit report of the MICC with the one conducted by former environment secretary Gina Lopez.

“MICC presented their final finding results and we will still harmonize it with the previous findings of the previous secretary,” Cimatu told reporters in an interview after MICC’s meeting yesterday.

Cimatu said the harmonized audit report would be presented to President Duterte.

However, the environment chief clarified that the DENR would still rely heavily on the report of the MICC in deciding the fate of the closed and suspended mining sites.

He said DENR’s decision would focus on the 13 companies which filed their appeal with the agency, while the other 14 will be covered by the Office of the President.

Earlier, Finance Undersecretary Bayani Agabin said four out of the 27 mining operations covered in the MICC review scored low based on the benchmark set by the technical review teams.

They were assessed based on the social, technical, legal, and environmental aspects of their operations.

According to Cimatu, the format of the review would be adopted as a template for the succeeding audits to be conducted by the MICC in compliance with its mandate.

Under Executive Order 79, the MICC is tasked to conduct a multistakeholder review on all mining operations nationwide every two years.