MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has repeated his desire to shut all mines in the country following deadly landslides that some government officials and large miners said have been exacerbated by illegal small-scale mining.
“If I were to try to do my thing I will close all mining in the Philippines,” Duterte said, presiding over a televised meeting of the government’s disaster response team in Benguet two days after typhoon “Ompong” struck.
Duterte, however, admitted that ending mining needs congressional action.
“If we cannot end mining because of the law, it is Congress that will have to abrogate the law,” he said, adding that mining has not contributed “substantially” to the national economy.
The President apologized to Benguet governor Crescencio Pacalso, who was also at the briefing, because they had to “suffer this kind of crisis” even as he reminded everyone of the Murphy’s Law, an adage which says anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Duterte has often criticized the mining industry, saying the environmental damage far outweighs any benefit to the economy.
Mining accounts for less than 1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, although only 3 percent of the 9 million hectares identified by the state as having high mineral reserves is being mined.
Mining has been a contentious issue in the Philippines, the world’s No. 2 nickel ore supplier after Indonesia, due to cases of environmental mismanagement.
The government estimates that 60-70 percent of small-scale miners in the country operate illegally, many of them digging for gold, silver and chromite.
Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu earlier on Monday ordered all small-scale mining stopped in the Cordillera region, where landslides killed at least 34 people.
He also said he was revoking temporary mining permits given to 10 associations in the Cordillera region in the wake of the landslides.
Some of those who died were illegally mining for gold near an abandoned bunkhouse owned by gold miner Benguet Corp, according to the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines.
The chamber, of which Benguet Corp is a member, said mining operators there had been repeatedly told to leave the area because of the threat of landslides. (GMA News)
