Sparks fly at mining meet

MANILA, Philippines - Environmental advocate Regina Paz “Gina” Lopez called mining groups liars, while industrialist Manuel V. Pangilinan, whose vast conglomerate includes Philex Mining, grabbed a microphone and stood up at one point to tell her, “Now you’re lying.”

Sparks flew at an afternoon forum at InterContinental Manila in Makati City yesterday among miners, anti-mining groups and stakeholders.

Lopez, managing director of the ABS-CBN Foundation and a scion of the clan that owns or has significant shares in the ABS-CBN network and the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), came out swinging against the environmental destruction caused by mining. She was booed briefly after she bristled over a reminder that her family is also engaged in extractive activities for energy particularly in natural gas.

She claimed mining communities were among the poorest in the country – a point disputed by members of the Chamber of Mines.

Lopez, convenor of the Save Palawan Movement, talked about the damage that mining has done in various biodiverse provinces in the country.

She also dismissed the alleged benefits to surrounding communities where mining companies operate, saying the poorest areas in the country are mining areas.

“I’m not against the whole mining industry. My stand is, in an island ecosystem, whether large-scale or small-scale, mining is grossly irresponsible,” she told the conference.

She offered eco-tourism as an alternative to mining.

“We can get our people out of poverty if we invest in our ecosystem. Why don’t we rather invest in our islands?”

Earlier, Pangilinan said in his speech that while there are alternative uses for mineral lands such as tourism and agriculture, most of the lands being mined lack the features to make such uses work.

He said Lopez was lying after the latter claimed that the businessman had called ugly all sites that are being mined.

“You can’t make a statement that all the sites that are going to be mined are ugly anyway,” Lopez told Pangilinan.

Pangilinan said tourism was certainly an option to consider although most mining sites are not ideal for tourism.

He cited that the Pacdal mine of Philex in Benguet province is located in an area that does not have the features of an attractive tourist site.

“And even if tourism were possible, we must ask: are the expected returns from tourism comparable to benefits which mining can provide?” he said.

He said that while lands can also be used for agriculture, most mines are situated in areas not hospitable to farming.

“The land is often too steep, too arid or too mineralized for agriculture to prosper,” he said.

Different opinion

Chamber of Mines of the Philippines director Gerard Brimo was quick to defend the mining sector, saying large-scale miners exert effort to rehabilitate the areas they mine.

The barren lands cited by Lopez were not caused by mining, he said, arguing they have been that way due to the presence of minerals that prevent the growth of trees.

“Gina, I love you, too. But you don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Brimo, president and chief executive officer of Nickel Asia Corp.

He blamed the destruction on illegal small-scale mining operations.

“Let’s look at the face of small-scale mining. There was P43 billion worth of gold sold to the central bank. There is child labor, there are no taxes. Why the attack on large-scale? On mining and food security, there’s a misconception,” he said.

“Poverty is misconstrued. This includes small-scale areas, these are not the legitimate large-scale mines,” he added.

Peter Wallace, president of the Wallace Business Forum, meantime, said mining should not be totally banned because it can help the country’s economy.

“Mining is unavoidable. The answer I believe is to control mining, banning everything that never works. Do the least possible damage, support local community, rehabilitate land during mining and at the end of it,” he said.

Firms want 50-50 profit-sharing

Chamber of Mines of the Philippines president Benjamin Phillip Romualdez said mining firms support a 50-50 profit-sharing scheme from mining operations because it will benefit both parties, instead of the government’s plan to declare all areas being mined as mineral reservations.

“We are open to profit-sharing with the government but the five percent royalty, we hope the government will reconsider it,” he said.

The declaration of all areas being mined as mineral reservations will require all mining firms to remit a five percent royalty on top of the two percent excise tax collected from the gross sales of production from the mine site.

He said miners oppose the plan because having to pay the five percent royalty would hurt miners once metal prices sag.

Pangilinan shared the same view, saying it is a more equitable arrangement since metal prices are unpredictable and depend on the world market.

He said that while mining can provide economic benefits given the rising demand for minerals from other countries, unfortunate accidents in the past and mistakes committed by some players are leading to a perception that mining is dangerous and destructive.

He said concerns raised about mining such as health-related and safety issues, exploitation of child workers as well as the absence of post-mining rehabilitation, are largely due to small-scale miners, which operate freely and are not required to implement environment programs or follow specific standards.

Large-scale miners, on the other hand, he said, are required to put post-rehabilitation programs in place.

“The solution is to subject small-scale miners to the same regulations and sanctions for large-scale mining,” he said.

Brimo said large-scale miners are mining responsibly as they have put in place post-rehabilitation programs such as reforestation of areas that have been mined.

“Mining rehabilitation is a requirement… The mining sector has planted 15 million trees even before the National Greening Program (NGP),” he said.

The NGP was created by Executive Order 26 and seeks to harmonize all the greening efforts in the country. It aims to plant 1.5 billion tree seedlings in 1.5 million hectares nationwide from last year until 2016.

Brimo also said that while miners may apply for permits to mine specific areas, the government does not allow mining in protected areas.

Mark Williams, general manager of Sagittarius Mines Inc., which is behind the massive Tampakan copper-gold project in Mindanao, said in the same event they have already planted 6,600 tree seedlings even if it has not started mining operations yet.

“With regard to virgin forests, it is clear that virgin forests will not be touched for our operations,” he said.

Palace all eyes on the issue

The mining debate comes ahead of the government’s release of a comprehensive mining policy.

Malacañang was supposed to release an executive order laying down new guidelines for the mining industry in February, but deferred it pending more consultations to ensure acceptability to stakeholders.

In yesterday’s forum, Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Leo Jasareno said the government is very much aware of the many issues hounding the industry and is doing all it can to address them.

“This is the main reason why a mining study group was created and tasked to formulate the mining policy and address the environmental and social issues and come up with a socially acceptable mining in the country,” Jasareno said.

He emphasized that “mining should significantly contribute to economic growth in a manner that mitigates the impact to the environment and improves the quality of life of the people or no mining at all.”

The government earlier assured investors that existing mining contracts will be honored and respected.