SURIGAO Rep. Ace Barbers on Tuesday urged Environment Secretary Gina Lopez to go after the environment officials who approved the contracts of 75 mining firms and allowed them to operate near watersheds and to foul the environment.
He said Lopez must retreat, investigate and prosecute those officials responsible for her decision to decide to close the 75 mining firms without due process.
“She must be unforgiving not only to the erring mining firms but also to those DENR people who committed irregularities and corrupt practices by extending and approving the contracts that allow them to operate near watersheds,” Barbers said.
He made his statement after Lopez decided to cancel the contracts of the 75 mining firms whose operations reportedly damaged watersheds and caused the siltation of coastal waters and farmland.
Barbers made his statement even as an official said a technical working group will recommend to the Mining Industry Coordinating Council before March this year the start of a review of mining operations in the country.
Finance Undersecretary Bayani Agabin said that, if approved by the Cabinet-level MICC, a review team would start with the 23 mining companies previously ordered closed by Lopez.
“If you look at the mandate of the MICC, it’s supposed to cover all 311 contracts thus far issued, but we are starting with just the 23,” Agabin said.
“We will recommend to the MICC [to start the review] and it’s up to the MICC what they want to do.”
Meanwhile, Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. said Tuesday its wholly-owned subsidiary Platinum Group Metals Corp. on Monday received a Show Cause Notice from the Environment Department ordering it to explain why it should not be held liable in violation of Section 71 of the Mining Act on the creation and deposit of a mine rehabilitation fund.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange, FNI said PGMC had only deposited P56.5 million out of a commitment of P1.26 billion for the Final Mine Rehabilitation and/or Decommissioning Plan.
“The letter is neither a closure nor a suspension order,” FNI said.
“The P1,259,670,677.00 has no basis. Based on the DENR’s records, the Fund Commitment of PGMC is only P74,593,674.”
The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 says a mine rehabilitation fund shall be created based on the contractor’s approved work program, and will be deposited as a trust fund in a government depository bank and used for the physical and social rehabilitation of the areas and communities affected by mining activities.