DENR to revisit mining laws

MANILA, Philippines — Mining laws will be the first to be reviewed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as the Marcos administration puts high priority on revitalizing the sector.

In a press conference yesterday, DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said the agency would take a comprehensive review of the existing legal framework and current policies and practices in each sector it covers, namely mining, biodiversity, land management, environmental management and forest.

“Because mining is actually a priority, this will be the first area wherein we will be conducting a review and that process has already started,” she said.

The Marcos administration said the mining sector has a high growth potential that will help the economy recover amid the pandemic.

In recent years, the mining sector has only been contributing less than one percent to gross domestic product.

With the thrust of the administration on mining, the DENR is eyeing to “build the technical capacities to support that direction,” Loyzaga said.

“We’ve already acknowledged this as a priority and therefore we are going to be undertaking not just a review of the existing policies and laws that are somewhat dated. Some of them are in the ‘90s – the Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991, Philippine Mining Law of 1995,” she said.

“We would like to make sure that the social and physical advances in science and tech, as well as our current context developmentally are now adequately perfected in an updated policy and legal system,” the DENR chief said.

The DENR intends to focus on small-scale mining policies as one of the priorities of the mining review.

Loyzaga said the industry is in dire need of a closer look “because of the need for social protection of our small-scale miners, as well as an improvement in their overall livelihood and well-being.”

Under Loyzaga’s leadership, the DENR will push for responsible mining to contribute to the country’s economic development and recovery.

“Responsible mining responds to the specific context in terms of what mining can deliver to a country’s development strategically and critically. That means not just the extraction of minerals specifically, but what are the implications on the integrity of the ecosystem, on the livelihood and well-being of communities that are actually affected by the different physical changes because of the mining activity,” she said.