Mining firms bat for regulatory reforms

Mining executives are batting for additional reforms to unlock additional investments in the Philippine mining sector.

In particular, tycoon Manuel Pangilinan, who serves as chair of listed mining company Philex Mining Corp., called for separating the functions of regulating and promoting the industry.

Pangilinan said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), both under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), have “conflicting goals” as it places the DENR in a “policy dilemma.”

“Our suggestion is to spin off the EMB into a separate and independent body, similar to the Environmental Protection Agency in the US. We don’t need to create a new department with a separate budget,” Pangilinan said in his speech during the Mining Philippines 2023 International Conference and Exhibition held earlier.

Pangilinan said the MGB is responsible for promoting, developing and supervising mining while the EMB is tasked with enforcing environmental laws on mining.

The businessman also raised health-related and safety concerns and the exploitation of women and child workers.

The sector, he added, lacks “clarity of plans and actionable postmining rehabilitation, which can restore mine sites to their original natural state.”

Meanwhile, Tulsi Das Reyes, president of DMCI Mining Corp., the mining business of Consunji-owned DMCI Holdings Inc., said while the current administration is “very much supportive” of the mining sector, the permitting process is something the government can improve.

“The Department of Energy is setting the bar with one-stop shop and if we can replicate that, I think that’s great,” Reyes said in a press briefing.