Governor defends miners hit by Duterte

SURIGAO CITY—The governor of a province cited by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte as a hot spot for irresponsible mining came to the defense of mining operators in her turf, saying they had been operating responsibly.

Gov. Sol Matugas, of Surigao del Norte, said mining operators in her province were the responsible type.

“The mining industry is, I think, implementing what we call responsible mining,” she said on Tuesday.

Matugas’ statement followed Duterte’s speech during which he singled out the province as a haven of irresponsible miners who had destroyed the land.

The governor said she surmised that Duterte mentioned the province because of Caraga Region’s status as the country’s de facto mining capital.

Duterte ‘impressions’

At least 23 of 44 productive mines in the country are operating in the region, according to 2015 data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

“Maybe he (Duterte) thinks that all mining activities are sources of environmental problems. Maybe that’s his impression,” said Matugas, who won reelection as a Liberal Party candidate.

The governor’s husband, outgoing Rep. Francisco Matugas, chairs the House committee on natural resources, which tackles legislation related to the mining sector.

However, the governor’s defensive tone appears to differ from that of the head of the Chamber of Mines-Caraga Region Inc.

(CMRI), who has called on the incoming administration to “punish irresponsible miners.”

“There are good ones (mining firms) who religiously comply with the law, but we can’t deny that a few have been remiss,” said Dulmar Raagas, president of CMRI.

Raagas declined to name names but said irresponsible miners “can easily be distinguished through honest and unbiased audit.”

Chinese operations

Blatant environmental violation, he said, was widespread among large-scale Chinese mining operators in the region.

It’s not the first time that Matugas has taken up the cudgels for mining firms in the province, even those who have been found to be polluters.

In 2012, Matugas interceded on behalf of a suspended Chinese nickel firm found to have converted the shoreline as a waste pond. In a letter to Environment Secretary Ramon Paje on Oct. 22, 2012, the governor requested that Shenzhou Mining Group Corp.’s (SMGC) ore stockpile be shipped to prevent it from causing “environmental hazards due to heavy rains.”

Three months before Matugas wrote the letter, SMGC had been suspended following the discovery by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources  that the Chinese firm had built a giant settling pond on the shoreline to act as a “last-stage siltation control” facility.

Siltation, or settling, pond is a structure where silt-laden discharges are impounded temporarily to allow waste materials to settle down and for water to overflow silt-free.

Request of province

Five months after the governor’s request, MGB Director Leo Jasareno, on March 25, 2013, ordered the issuance of ore transport permits to allow SMGC to ship its ore to China.

That earned SMGC, despite being suspended for flagrant environmental violations, at least P174.9 million, according to MGB records.

Asked why the MGB and  DENR ordered the shipment instead of simply requiring SMGC to contain siltation, Jasareno told the Inquirer by phone that the agency “merely acceded to the request of the provincial government.” Danilo V. Adorador III, Inquirer Mindanao