The provincial mining regulatory board (PMRB) of South Cotabato has failed to define the implementing rules and regulation (IRR) of the open-pit mining ban in the province.
This, after the board met recently to resolve several issues, foremost of which were the environment code’s definition of open-pit mining and its implementing guidelines on the ban. The PMRB was unable to resolve the matter in the meeting.
The provincial code broadly defined open-pit mining as applicable to all mining conducted above ground. By this definition, the ban applies to all quarrying activities in the province as well.
If the ordinance is implemented now, the mining of building materials such as sand, gravel, limestone, as well as small-scale mining would be outlawed within the province.
Engr. Constancio Paye, chair of the PMRB and regional director for mines and geosciences bureau (MGB) region 12, sought to clarify the matter with the board. The PMRB, however, was unable to resolve the matter.
In a letter he sent to former governor Daisy Fuentes last June, Paye warned the former governor of the code’s possible contravention of the Mining Act of 1995 and its “effect of banning all forms of mining activities in the area.”
Fuentes, now a congresswoman, had signed the ordinance into law, just before her successor, Arturo Pingoy, took over the provincial reins.
Pingoy said he will review the code before implementing it.
The passing of the code was perceived by some as a move to hinder the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project, considered as the single biggest investment in the Philippines. Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) holds a financial and technical assistance agreement (FTAA) with the national government to develop and operate the project.
The Tampakan Project is expected to provide employment to an estimated 9,000 workers in its construction phase and over 2,000 during its operation. Taxes and royalties that are to be paid to local government units, host barangays and tribal communities were estimated to be at least P65 billion, while the national government stands to receive a total of P225 billion in taxes during the life of the mine.
