South Cotabato execs may face raps over open pit mining ban

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday warned of possible charges against provincial officials of South Cotabato for passing a resolution prohibiting a $5.9-billion copper-gold mining project despite the national government’s policy allowing open pit mining.

In an interview, De Lima took offense in the resolution of the South Cotabato provincial board led by Vice Gov. Elmo Tolosa that banned open pit mining in the province.

She questioned why the provincial board still passed the resolution despite a standing position of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which allows open pit mining under Republic Act 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

De Lima cited her legal opinion in November last year supporting the DILG’s plan to initiate administrative cases against local executives who would insist on implementing ordinances prohibiting open pit mining in their respective provinces and towns.

“Whenever we issue one on any legal issue or concern referred to us, we deem our views expressed therein as having strong persuasive effect, especially among government functionaries and as such we are entitled to respect,” she said.

According to the DOJ, such ordinances and resolutions of local government units (LGUs) have been declared void by the law, which means their implementation is tantamount to grave abuse of authority or grave misconduct.

“LGUs cannot arbitrarily hide under the cloak of ‘local autonomy’ or presumption of validity of ordinance to circumvent the law or primordial compliance with the well-entrenched test of valid ordinance, long established by the Supreme Court in various cases,” the DOJ said.

Aside from the filing of administrative cases, the DILG has also proposed the issuance of a memorandum circular directing a review of questionable ordinances and the signing of a memorandum of agreement with the Office of the Ombudsman to address abuse of power by local officials invoking local autonomy to implement such invalid ordinances.

Apart from administrative sanctions, the DOJ said the DILG may also file petitions in court to seek the nullification of such ordinances.