Manila Bulletin: Nation’s biggest mining conference set this February

Nation’s biggest mining conference set this February
By GENALYN D. KABILING
Manila Bulletin

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has promised to put premium on the environment and the people rather than accommodate business interests when she hosts the biggest mining conference in the country in February next year.

While she intends to lure foreign and local mining firms to tap the country’s profitable mineral reserves, the President said the government would also consult with non-government organizations (NGOs) to craft a comprehensive strategy for sustainable mining operations during the summit tentatively scheduled in the first week of February.

The President vowed to ensure that mining operations, which are expected to increase following the Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of Mining Act of 1995, would not be "disastrous" for the environment and instead would have a "sanitary effect on the economy."

"This February, I intend to attend to the issue of mining not just on investor confidence in mining, we will have meeting and consultation with the NGOs on how best to preserve and protect the interest of the indigenous people and the environment," she said last Monday night in a press conference in Baguio City.

If necessary, Arroyo said she would ask Congress to pass a legislation that would guarantee the protection of the environment from mining activities in the country.

Arroyo earlier hailed the Supreme Court ruling on the Mining Act of 1995 allowing foreign companies to undertake mining in the Philippines, believing it would bring in vast revenues for the government and create more economic opportunities and jobs for Filipinos.

The President said she believes the Philippines, which she considered the world’s fifth mining power, would gain considerable economic benefits from its mineral riches estimated at $840 billion or ten times the annual gross domestic product (GDP).

"This can easily wipe out our foreign debt of $56 billion while leaving much more for future generations," she said. "This can give a lot of income to our people. But let us all work together to make sure that it is going to be socially responsible mining."

Aside from the environmental and social safeguards of the Mining Act, Arroyo noted that today’s mining operations, which utilize modern technology, are "very pro-environment."

"I do not even think that the funding agencies, JBIC (Japan Bank for International Cooperation) for instance, would be funding any project that have not undergone the test of environmental consciousness," she said.

Total reserves of gold in the Philippines have been estimated at a total of 162.7 million metric tons, and its copper reserves at 4.05 million metric tons.

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