Surigao mining firms face shutdown if…

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – President Duterte yesterday warned of shutting down mining firms, including those in quake-ravaged Surigao, particularly if they left extensive damage to the environment.

“I am just warning the mining firms that even if they have billions and then pay off people so that they will be given concessions, I will not allow it,” he said.

Duterte made the warning a few days after Environment Secretary Gina Lopez suspended at least 21 mining companies in a six-month industry-wide audit.

A number of those mining firms that Lopez ordered suspended were located in the provinces of Surigao, Agusan, Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley.

“I closed these mining operations because our mountains have really been destroyed already and you could see the patches,” Duterte told residents of Surigao City who survived last Friday’s devastating earthquake.

Duterte lamented how the areas in Eastern and Southern Mindanao, particularly the Surigao provinces, lost their verdant forests due to unabated mining.

“Surigao is the most mined,” Duterte said, describing it like a soft drink bottle cap. “It is brown all over, even up to Davao.”

Duterte cited the case of the Marcopper Mining Corp. in Marinduque where the mining firm left and ceased operations without cleaning the tailings.

“Marcopper left without cleaning the cyanide and all those chemicals used in their operation. And until now the area is still being cleaned,” he said.

Duterte vowed this would not happen again. “Either they clean it while they are still here or if they won’t do anything, I will really send them away.”

He said whatever is earned from such mining operations, which could amount to P78 billion, does not benefit the Filipino people but rather their foreign financiers.

Duterte admitted though the problem with closing down mining firms is that people would lose jobs.

“The problem is the people will lose source of income. The estimated income is only P78 billion. So, if I find another source of income for these people, especially with the entry of the Chinese which was a result of my visit to China,” he said.

He said China is bent on funding several infrastructure projects like roads and other structures in an effort to help develop the country,

Duterte said he is looking for an industry that would take the place of mining and give people sufficient income.

Duterte suggested a shift to planting rubber trees and coffee. “If one has five hectares of rubber plantation, a farmer becomes millionaire,” he said.

The President said he had given orders for Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez to look into other possible sources of income for those who will be affected by the closure of the mining companies. – With Ben Serrano