Opposition Senator Leila de Lima has called on the Senate to conduct an inquiry into the recent decision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to lift the ban on open-pit mining in the country.
De Lima in filing the resolution urged the Senate to review the said decision and explore other avenues for generating wealth without compromising people’s safety and damaging the environment.
“There is a need to conduct a thorough review of this policy decision as this can potentially open up the country once more to irresponsible mining practices which could further compromise the environment and pose health and safety risks to people and their communities,” De Lima said in the Senate Resolution which has been electronically filed to the Senate Legislative Bills and Index Service last January 10.
“It beehoves the government to exert all efforts to explore other avenues before resorting to possibly catastrophic means of generating wealth for our country at the cost of sustainability and the welfare of present and future Filipinos,” added the senator, who is seeking re-election in the upcoming May 2022 elections.
The resolution has yet to be numbered as the Senate is still currently under total closure for disinfection purposes against COVID-19.
Last Dec. 23, 2021, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu signed Administrative Order No. 2021-40, lifting the four-year ban on open-pit mining instituted by his predecessor in the department, Regina Lopez.
The government defended the move as against environmental groups who criticized the decision as “shortsighted and misplaced development priority” saying it is part of attempts to revitalize the economy that is reeling from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
De Lima agreed with the environmental groups saying open-pit mining poses great risks to human life. She said it is imperative for the State to always err on the side of caution.
The senator said the adverse environmental impacts of unregulated open-pit mining are well-documented, citing, among others, the 1996 Marcopper mining disaster in the province of Marinduque.
“It is evident from the numerous mining disasters that have occurred in the country that we have still yet to figure out how to consistently extract our mineral resources in a safe and efficient manner and reduce or altogether prevent such accidents from occurring,” she said.
“In this case most especially, when open-pit mining has been time and again proven to virtually eliminate any biologic life at the surface of earth, the State must first ask whether it would be prudent to think of only short-term benefits even when confronted with proof that open-pit mining results in the stripping of vegetation which leaves the surface of every dig site completely barren,” she added.
De Lima said it is also imperative to determine whether policies on replanting have been put in place before the lifting of the moratorium.
“It must also first be determined whether policies on replanting and restoring the ecosystem have been put in place before lifting the moratorium given that open-pit mining sites take decades to recover,” she explained.
The lawmaker also said there is need for an evaluation of DENR’s present regulatory capacity “to ensure that the present safeguards can be implemented and that our regulators will not be overwhelmed by the operations of the mining companies.”