Lifting of ban on open-pit mining cheered

The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) of the Philippines and the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) have welcomed the Duterte administration’s recent move to lift the ban on open-pit mining, saying it will allow the mining sector to contribute to the country’s economic growth.

The JFC added in a statement that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) decision “will benefit Filipinos, particularly those in remote mining areas where poverty and unemployment rates are high.”

The FEF, meanwhile, said the lifting of the ban would give the economy a much-needed boost, especially at this time when the country is still reeling from the pandemic.

“Lifting the ban on open-pit mining will accelerate the growth of the mining industry, which will generate good paying jobs in the countryside and help dent rural unemployment and poverty,” the FEF said in a statement.

On Dec. 23, 2021, the DENR issued an order repealing the moratorium on the open-pit method of mining for copper, gold, silver, and complex ores in the country.

The ban was enforced four years ago by the late Environment Secretary Regina Paz Lopez, who referred to open pits as “perpetual liabilities” that have caused “adverse impacts to the environment.”

The DENR order covers all mining tenement holders that will adopt surface mining method and sets strict conditions and requirements for those that will use the open-pit method. INQ