The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) said over the weekend that it would appeal with the Office of the President the delay in the implementation of the Revised Guidelines on Free and Prior Informed Consent published by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
“This single and independent act of the NCIP, coupled with the long-delayed release of the administration’s mining policy, will undoubtedly further weaken investor confidence,” the chamber said, citing excerpts from its letter to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. concerning the guidelines.
COMP had been calling for industry consultations while the guidelines were being crafted.
“With the guidelines’ publication [last May 16], we are certain that the country will again lose hard-fought investments larger than the P10.4 billion foreign direct investments (FDI) outflow in the mining sector in 2011, aside from delaying a number of key exploration and mining projects,” COMP said.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau’s mining investment target of $1 billion for 2011 was not attained, and the industry forecast of $3.76 billion investments for 2012 for gold, copper and nickel will also likely fall short, COMP said.
“In fact, several investors working on large-scale mining projects and exploration activities are already having second thoughts on whether they will still pursue their projects or pull out from the country,” COMP said. “If allowed to proceed, the impact of the Revised Guidelines will have on the mining industry in particular, and the economy in general, will be grave.”
Once implemented, the guidelines “will mean that 13 percent of the population (indigenous peoples) will control 33 percent of the total land area of the country, to the exclusion of the 80 million Filipinos who have a similar right to benefit from our natural resources,” COMP said.
NCIP has already issued Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADTs) covering approximately 5 million hectares throughout the country. It may also release additional titles that will cover 5 million more hectares by 2013.
“This figure [of 10 million hectares] far exceeds the original concept of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act to allocate only 2 million hectares for the indigenous peoples.”
COMP said the only alternative is to delay the implementation of the revised guidelines, subject to appropriate consultation and revision of questionable provisions.
Despite the revised guidelines’ direct effect on all prospective exploration and mining operations in the country, the mining industry was never consulted by the NCIP during the development of such guidelines.
Since March, miners had expressed concern over the new guidelines as a game-changing set of rules on the way permission is obtained from indigenous Peoples for mining activities.