Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on Tuesday ordered the publication of the key findings of experts tasked by the Mining Industry Coordinating Council to conduct a comprehensive review of large-scale mines across the country by the second quarter next year.
Dominguez said the report should be reader-friendly and made available not only to government officials but also to the public.
The report would show that the MICC accomplished its job as mandated under Executive Order 79 and made mining companies accountable for their lapses and inefficiencies, Dominguez said.
Dominguez, who co-chairs the MICC with Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, said the report should be completed and released by the second quarter of 2022.
He said the report should cover not only the two-phase audit recently completed by the experts, but also the upcoming review of mines in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that is set to begin in October.
“May I suggest that as this administration is ending its term in eight and a half months, that the MICC secretariat prepare a report of all the activities of the MICC, particularly in these reviews that were done,” Dominguez said during the 41st meeting of the MICC held via Zoom.
Dominguez said releasing the report would enhance the public’s trust and confidence in government and demonstrate the capability of Filipino experts in conducting mining audits.
“The report should be in such a form that can be used by the ordinary reader and the public, and that it be made widely available, not only to government officials, the legislature, maybe even in the judiciary, but also to the public in general,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez said the publication and release of the report on large-scale mines would encourage the provincial/city mining regulatory boards, which are under the direct supervision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, to undertake similar audits on small-scale mining operations under their respective jurisdictions.