Duterte to issue EO soon banning open-pit mining

Malacañang on Thursday said President Duterte would ban open-pit mining soon through an executive order.

“He will—and he has said it before—soon prohibit open-pit mining.

I don’t know when, but I guess when the executive order for this is prepared,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing in Zamboanga Sibugay.

Roque made the remarks when asked if the implementing rules and regulations on the ban against open-pit mining had been crafted.

Mr. Duterte said last month that he wanted to shut down open-pit mining operations by the end of the year. The President has said that open-pit mining is destroying the environment.—JULIE M. AURELIO