Mining industry complaints legit, Diokno admits

One of the economic managers of President Duterte said the government was acknowledging the legitimate grievances of the mining industry a day after it announced that 20 mining firms face suspension following an audit of their operations by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Asked about miners’ concerns that the audit will bring more harm than good, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said: “That’s legitimate. I sympathize with them.”

Economic importance

“Mining has been very important to the economy. But its contribution to the economy now is less than 2 percent. If we expand the contribution of mining to the economy to 10 percent, we will have more revenues,” Diokno noted.

The Budget chief said the audit would have to be “threshed out,” as it was not really a policy.

Diokno added that the Cabinet had always actively discussed the issue on

mining.

“We have to balance the concern, conservation with the need to develop the sector. We must really have responsible mining, not the small-time miners,” Diokno said.