The joint House committees on natural resources and legislative franchises on Wednesday approved the measure requiring mining companies to secure legislative franchises before being allowed to operate.
The committee, chaired by Representatives Arnel Ty of LPGMA party-list and Franz Alvarez of Palawan, respectively, approved the substitute bill, with Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as one of the principal authors.
This as Alvarez hailed the passage of the bill even as he earlier called for the “great” reorganization of the bureaucracy, saying Congress must require that operators of casinos, public transportation, as well as mining companies, secure a legislative franchise from it prior to their operations “to make certain that the public’s interest will always be protected.”
“By requiring mining firms to acquire a legislative franchise, the people, through their elected representatives, would be able to scrutinize the applicants, their capability and track record, in order to make sure that only responsible mining firms are allowed to operate in the country,” Alvarez said.
In filing the bill, Alvarez said the Philippines is among the top five countries in the world in terms of minerals, with an estimated value of $ 1.4 trillion. In 2009-201 some P650 billion worth of minerals were extracted in the country.
But the mining industry is among the least contributors to the country’s wealth which only peaked at 1.63 percent in 2007. The present mining companies are not performing at par with the potential of the industry.
The substitute bill requires private firms to secure the legislative franchise first before they can apply for a mineral exploration permit or a large-scale quarrying permit. It also requires the terms of mining permits and agreements to be made public.
The bill also provides that holders of mineral agreements and exploration permits are given two years to secure a legislative franchise. Failure to acquire it will render their permits terminated “without need for further court action.”
Alvarez and other authors of House Bill 6259 initially proposed a one-year grace period.
The committee level-approved bill also provides that the transfer of rights, the conversion of exploration permits to a mineral agreement, and the withdrawal of the contractor from a financial or technical assistance agreement must be able to secure a prior congressional nod before the environment secretary can approve it.
It also proposes to amend the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 to extend the length of minerals processing permit from the current five to 25 years to 10 to 30 years.
The substitute bill requires mining contractors to rehabilitate the areas where they operate within 10 years of the expiration or cancellation of their permits or agreements.
It proposes a fine of P100 million for every hectare of land that the contractors fail to rehabilitate even as it also proposes to impose a P2-million fine or a prison sentence of six to 12 years on public officers who helped approve mining permits in areas closed to mining operations, including their private conspirators.