President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Saturday his administration will do a meticulous balancing act to protect the environment and enforce the country’s law on responsible mining.
In a media interview after attending the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) alumni homecoming in Camp Gregorio Del Pilar, Baguio City, the President was asked about his policy direction toward protecting the environment in the Cordillera amid mining projects in the area.
He said mineral exploration and extraction are very important parts of his administration’s plan for the economy, even as he stressed the government does not want a repeat of the unfortunate incidents that happened in the past.
“So it is really a question of enforcing the law in terms of responsible mining and that is what we will continue to do. We will always make sure that the mining companies who come in, once they are finished mining, that they leave the site in the same condition as it was when they found it,” the President said.
“In terms of protecting the environment, it’s very clear that the position of this government has always been an important part of all our policies—that we are environmentally conscious, that we are moving the economy toward green technologies. We are moving our production of power towards renewables,” he said.
The President said the Philippines can now monetize its forest cover—giving it a peso value or a dollar value—and also take advantage of being more active in promoting and monitoring, regulating and encouraging the care of its forests.
“So in that regard, all our forest cover is important and must remain– that is giving the Philippines, we fall into the category of a carbon sink country because of our forest cover, and so that is a very valuable asset for the Philippines,” he added.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources oversees 15 million hectares of land classified as forestlands.
In 2011, the country’s forest cover was 6.8 million hectares. It increased by 5.6 percent or to 7.2 million hectares, according to the recent 2020 data captured by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA).