Atienza reviews new mining policy

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza will review an order imposing a new set of fiscal requirements for foreign-owned mining projects. The order was issued just a couple of weeks before former DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes was reassigned to head the Department of Energy.

In an interview with The STAR, Atienza said he would look into the request of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (CMP) to amend certain provisions of the new fiscal requirements.

Atienza said he would call a meeting with officials and members of the CMP to address their concerns and assure them of his support for the mining industry, even as he stressed that he would adhere to existing laws.

“I will take a look at it (CMP request). I assure them our policies will protect the balance of interest of industry and preserving our natural resources,” Atienza told The STAR.

He noted that there are enough existing laws ensuring environmental compliance, although he did not rule out the possibility of proposing new ones or seeking the revision of existing laws, if warranted.

“I don’t intend to put in more policies. If I can, I will not tamper with what works,” Atienza said. A provision on the marketing and sales contracts of mining firms does not sit well with members of the CMP.

The CMP has already formally written the DENR to remove the provision requiring prior DENR approval of marketing and sales contracts of foreign-owned mining projects under Administrative Order 2007-12.

In a letter addressed to Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Horacio C. Ramos, the CMP argued that seeking prior approval “might unduly deprive the financial and technical assistance agreement (FTAA) contractor and necessarily the Philippine government of contractual opportunities that need to be decided upon on an urgent and regular basis.”

Instead, the CMP suggested, the DENR “should allow FTAA contractor to seek the approval of the DENR of the contracts through the submission of a summary of the content of the signed marketing contract between the company and its buyer.”

The summary would detail tonnage and metal specifications, market price, penalties, port of exit and entry and other information vital to the determination of government share, the chamber said.

The submission could be done after the marketing and sales contract has been signed, it added. According to CMP, the requirement to submit for prior approval marketing and sales contract “defeats their confidentiality because these contracts become public documents upon registration.”