Mining Act amendment to be filed in next Congress

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines  --  Amendments in the Mining Act of 1995 (RA 7942) will be refiled with the next Congress,  Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Bauilat Jr. said Monday.

Baguilat, who got a second term and is currently the chairman of the House Committee on National Cultural Communities said, he intends to refile in the 16th Congress the bill seeking to repeal RA 7942 and hopes to put in place an “Alternative Minerals Management law” that “will be more responsive to the needs of host communities and sensitive to the environment.”

Baguilat said the present mining law needs amendments “because mining communities and adjacent areas have been devastated by ecological disasters, health problems, decreasing agricultural productivity and loss of biodiversity because of the effects of mining.”

At the same time, government does not earn as much as it should from the mining permits that it has issued and from the operations that it has allowed,  he said. 

Mining’s contributions, Baguilat  said,  to the local economy  is inadequate  for the environmental and social cost it incurs  such as displacement of families and discord among people.

The proposed Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB) wants excise taxes on mined products raised, as well as royalties to indigenous peoples as the majority of mining claims are in ancestral domains.

The new measure also wants to include a provision to set up an environmental guarantee fee to ensure that companies will be able to pay affected people in the event of an environmental disaster.

“Likewise, we propose that companies must set up processing plants in the Philippines for more employment and higher value of mineral products, which will also mean higher taxes, instead of us just exporting raw ore,” said Baguilat.

Baguilat added that the concurrence or rejection to mining operations of local government units or IP communities would be respected under the proposed law.

The Ifugao lawmaker  also seeks to include the identification of more protected areas where the mining ban will be strictly enforced. These include prime agricultural lands, critical watersheds and small island ecosystems.

“The new mining law will  be in the agenda of the next congress," . Baguilat said.

He added that on the matter of taxes, most stakeholders such as the Chamber of Mines and government agencies agree that they should be increased to help the country.

“The new mining law shouldn’t be just about money, but rather the protection of people’s lives and safeguarding of environment,” Baguilat said.