Cheers, jeers for lifting of open-pit mining ban

The lifting of the ban on open- pit mining — the first major policy shift of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources under Secretary Roy Cimatu — drew cheers from miners and jeers from environment groups.

The executive director of  the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), Ronaldo Recidoro, on Wednesday said that the decision of the interagency Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) was a “positive development for the mining industry,” adding that open-pit mining was accepted and practiced worldwide.

“It is proven to be safe, efficient and economical, and can be fully rehabilitated post-mining,” Recidoro said.

Cimatu told reporters on Tuesday that “a majority” of the MICC members voted to recommend a reversal of the policy under former Environment Secretary Gina Lopez banning open-pit mining, which had resulted in the closure and suspension of 26 mining operators.

Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. president Dante Bravo also welcomed the decision, saying mining contractors would only be allowed to use the open-pit method if its environmental impact was properly assessed by government regulators.

“If it is not warranted, the government will not issue the permits,” Bravo said. “To ban such method altogether, even if it is environmentally safe and technically feasible, is unreasonable.”

For Marcventures Holdings Inc. chair Isidro Alcantara, open-pit mining was legally justifiable and made business sense.

“The Mining Act allows open-pit mining, and there are deposits that can only be economical if you use open pit,” he said. “The real issue there is how it will be regulated and companies must be able to rehabilitate the sites.”

The Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), a coalition of organizations opposed to large-scale and environmentally destructive mining, lamented MICC’s decision for being “inconsistent with the ‘responsible mining’ track of the mining industry and the government.”

ATM national coordinator Jaybee Garganera said “responsible mining” was a myth.

“There are no parameters to measure it and certainly, lifting the ban advances the practice of irresponsible mining by some mining companies,” Garganera said.

He also complained that unlike COMP, communities that would be affected by open-pit mining were legitimate stakeholders that were not consulted by the MICC.

He said Cimatu’s adherence to the decision of the MICC, which was only a recommendatory body, was a way to escape personal accountability for endorsing the mining method.

Cimatu cochairs the MICC with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

A mining company official told the Inquirer he was informed by an MICC member that eight voted to lift the ban, three were for maintaining it, two abstained and six deferred, which meant they had to consult their principals on what position to take.