At the approach of Christmas, good cheer ironically seems to be in short supply. Traffic has predictably gotten worse, while the MRT continues to be besieged by unending interruptions. A tax reform bill that is supposed to bring relief to many Filipinos is expected to have a burdening effect on low-income consumers, all while the Department of Health tries to control the fall-out from a controversial vaccination program.
The mining industry, which for years had been mired in controversy, will at least end 2017 in high spirits. Two Philippine miners have won top honors at the inaugural Asean Minerals Awards (AMA). Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC) in Palawan won in the Best Practices in Mineral Mining category, while OceanaGold’s Didipio Gold-Copper mine in Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya bagged the citation for the Best Practices in Mineral Processing category. The awards were given at the 17th ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Minerals held at the M Gallery Hotel, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.
The two members of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines bested several entries from other member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or Asean, indicative perhaps of the level of standard for mining that these firms practice. Unfortunately, much of their efforts had been overshadowed by the highly emotional debate brought to fore by the appointment of the environmentalist and former Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez.
In fact, the Chamber this year, in coordination with the DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau, has formally announced that it is adopting the Towards Sustainable Mining initiative, an emerging mining sustainability standard developed by the Mining Association of Canada.
COMP is the first Southeast Asian association to adopt the standard and only the fourth outside of Canada to do so, after Finland, Argentina, and Botswana.
The mechanism is mandatory for all the Canadian operations of the association, although many members also voluntarily apply it to their international sites. Under TSM, the Philippine mining sector can likewise finally realize its vision of a country fully benefiting from a robust and responsible industry.
“There is so much that minerals development, done responsibly, can contribute to the economy of a nation and to the welfare of mining communities, as shown by numerous examples in the Philippines,” said Gerard H. Brimo, Chairman of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, and President and CEO of the Nickel Asia Corporation. “The adoption of TSM by members of the Chamber of Mines is intended to institutionalize practices that secure these contributions for the long term.”
Launched in 2014, TSM covers tools designed to improve the environmental and social performance of a country’s mining industry, including engagement with civil society and enhanced transparency and accountability. In particular, it requires mining companies to annually assess the performance of their facilities in key areas, such as tailings management, community outreach, safety and health, biodiversity conservation, crisis management, and energy use and greenhouse gas emissions management. The results from the audit are freely available to the public and are subject to external verification every three years.
COMP said it will tailor its performance areas to the unique reality of the domestic mining sector while still strongly aligning them with the original intent of the initiative. For instance, if TSM is designed to be under the guidance of an independent, multi-interest advisory panel, the local implementation will also make use of a similar mechanism to perform the critical oversight function.
“It is our privilege to share our tools and expertise in sustainable mining practices with the world. With the Philippines’ adoption of TSM, we’re proud to say that our made-in-Canada program is now in five countries on five continents,” said Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada.
These positive developments come after the inter-agency Mining Industry Coordinating Council officially voted to lift the ban on open-pit mining issued six months ago by Lopez “provided that mining laws, rules, and regulations are strictly enforced.” DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu, had said the agency would follow MICC’s recommendation, in what is a marked turnaround from the previous leadership’s staunchly anti-mining stance.
This string of good developments will boost the serious initiative of large-scale mining firms under the Chamber of Mines to cleanse its ranks and weed out the non-compliant mining operations toward setting a high standard for responsible mining and self-regulation. The adoption of the TSM, which President Rodrigo Duterte himself cited as a viable system to implement, thus represents a major breakthrough for the sector.