With help from 25 experts, the inter-agency Mining Industry Coordinating Council is set to release on July 31 the result of its “fact-finding and science-based review” of mining operations ordered either suspended or shut down.
“We have been reviewing the mining closure and suspension orders with the help of third-party experts based on economic, social, environmental, legal and technical criteria,” Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said.
The outcome of the review would be released on July 31, he added.
In February 2017, then environment secretary Gina Lopez ordered the closure of 23 mines and suspended five others for supposed destruction of the watershed areas and “indiscriminate mining.”
President Rodrigo Duterte told Lopez to stay fair and legal.
Last January, the MICC, co-chaired by Cimatu and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, started its technical reevaluation of the mines ordered suspended and closed.
In another development, Cimatu vowed to intensify the protection of ecosystems and communities against threats of climate change.
Since July 2017, the DENR has been working toward improving the country’s forest cover, rehabilitating mined-out areas, conserving coastal and marine resources and enforcing environmental laws to help ecosystems and communities adapt to and mitigate the effects of changing the climate.
“These programs undoubtedly show the government’s resolve to deal decisively with extreme weather events and disturbances so that environment and people can bounce back more easily from their negative impacts,” Cimatu said.