Open pit mining legal, says South Cotabato legislator

MANILA, Philippines -  A lawyer and South Cotabato provincial board member stopped short of calling the province’s Environment Code’s ban on open pit mining as illegal during the board’s joint environment and legal committee meeting in Koronadal City early this week.

“Under the 1995 Mining Act and the Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement, a contractor has the option to determine the most feasible mining method based on a technical study made,” provincial board member Cecile Diel said during the session called to hear the arguments of the Church sector against open pit mining.

Diel chairs the provincial legal committee when South Cotabato passed the Environment Code in July last year effectively banning open pit mining in the entire province.

Last year, Diel also expressed in an interview over a local radio station that the South Cotabato Environment Code is “ultra vires,” saying it is beyond the scope of the provincial government to enact a ban on open pit mining as it contradicts the more superior 1995 Mining Act.

“When you enact an ordinance which in effect amends any provision of a superior law, that’s ultra vires,” Diel said.

Diel also said the 1995 Mining Act does not ban the open pit method, thus the South Cotabato Environment Code in effect amends the national law.

“Only Congress can amend a law,” Diel said.

Diel also pointed out supposed errors in the Environment Code, saying it “lacks research” and “is not comprehensive.”

Last November, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo issued a memorandum directing South Cotabato officials to review and amend the ban on open pit mining, saying it is not aligned with the national law and government policies on responsible mining.

Also last year, former Supreme Court Justice Reynato Puno said, “Critical industries such as mining should be regulated by the national government or Congress.”

“Local governments are not prepared to take on the function of regulating critical industries such as mining,” Puno said.