Congress’ bid to franchise mining just ‘money-making stunt’

An environment group scored on Saturday as just a “money-making stunt” a proposal in Congress to require legislative franchises for mining operations because it will just abet corruption among lawmakers.

Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, in a statement, said the proposal “speaks volumes about the self-interests” of President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies in Congress.

Instead of crafting a strong mining policy, lawmakers chose to prioritize a bill that would add another source of corruption.

“If regulators had a strong mandate from a stringent mining policy backbone, Congress will not have to add a layer of bureaucracy to manage our minerals industry in the first place,” it said. —Melvin Gascon