RESPONSIBLE mining exists in the Philippines, said a non-governmental organization (NGO) advocating for the environment.
The Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST) issued the statement in response to the earlier pronouncement of Environment Secretary Regina Lopez that “where there is mining, there is poverty.”
PBEST, as an environmental NGO, advocates for the compliance of the country’s businesses with all the environmental rules and regulations.
The convenors of PBEST believe that instead of being branded as the enemy of the environment, the mining industry should be leading the cause of environmental stewardship, given their resources and culture of innovation.
“We place emphasis on stewardship to connote sound management of resources or sustainable development that upholds the principle of intergenerational equity,” PBEST Secretary General Ysan Castillo said.
Dr. Carlos Primo C. David, lead convenor of PBEST and a professor at UP National Institute of Geological Science, earlier developed the Environmental Performance Tracking Program (EPTP), designed to provide the industry with a self-regulating tool.
For the first run of the EPTP, PBEST challenged the controversial mining industry to be open to scrutiny. Some of the biggest mines in the country responded to the call, and PBEST observed that responsible mining does exist.
“It means operating in a way that follows the various laws and regulations and going beyond what is required with respect to social development and environmental programs. The group arrived at this conclusion after site visits and analysis of documentary evidence and other factual information gathered,” PBEST said.
“To say that ‘where there is mining, there is poverty’ is bereft of factual basis. This statement may be an understandable claim from advocates, but it sends the wrong signal when it comes from the head of the DENR, the government agency tasked to properly implement the environmental laws of the land,” PBEST said.
Policies, especially those involving the very complex concept of the environment, must be grounded on facts and science, not on emotions or any other agenda, according to PBEST.
It said government officials should have the necessary skills and technical competence to adequately fulfil their sworn duties.
PBEST said with the kind of pronouncements from the new environment secretary, the environmental policies of the Duterte administration may disregard facts and science and fail to distinguish between the role of an advocate and the responsibility of a regulator.
“PBEST stands by its findings that there exists responsible mining as distinguished from illegal and destructive mining,” said David, in the policy book Thinking Beyond Politics.
“It must also be noted that illegal small-scale mining is responsible for the significant environmental damage being charged to the mining industry at large today. Small-scale mining is largely unregulated, both from an environmental and fiscal perspective. Small-scale miners generally do not have environmental protection or mitigation systems in place, and hardly pay the taxes due to the government,” PBEST said.
This article was originally published in Business Mirror.