Duterte rejects recommendation to lift ban on open pit mining

November 21, 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte rejected on Tuesday the recommendation of the Mining Industry Coordinating Council to lift the ban on open pit mining.

In an interview in Taguig City, Duterte said no study is needed to see the destruction of the environment due to open pit mining.

"I don't like because it is destroying the soil, the environment. And there are no immediate corrective measures," he said when asked on the MICC recommendation to lift the ban on open pit mining.

He said it is only the companies engaged in open pit mining and the communist New People's Army which benefit from this kind of mining.

The NPA is allegedly engaged in extorting money from mining firms.

Duterte noted that under open pit mining, the above soil is being scraped until a big hole is produced.

"Here, they will just scrape the surface of the earth because the nickel is there. Nickel is just above the ground...it’s good profit maybe," he said.

But he said no trees were immediately planted on those open pits.

"I must see the trees growing or blooming. Otherwise, why will I suffer for you? I’m depriving the country (by allowing open pit mining)," he said.

Duterte said he would rather have these  mining firms closed.

"How much do I earn from the taxation? About 70 billion (pesos) a year? I can let it go," he said.

Former Environment Secretary Regina Lopez had ordered the ban on open pit mining before her nomination as Cabinet member was rejected by the Commission on Appointments.

The MICC, an interagency body co-chaired by Lopez's successor Roy Cimatu and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, however, recommended last month the lifting of the ban. Celerina Monte/DMS