The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has terminated more than 500 mining permits and applications that have remained inactive and incomplete in terms of requirements, a Cabinet official said Friday. Environment Secretary Ramon Jesus Paje also said the department's regional offices were given two deadlines — on Feb. 20 and in December this year — to clear all pending mining applications and permits that have not been used. Paje said the clearing of "ageing" mining applications is in line with the department's anti-corruption program. "We have to decide... what to do with all of these mining applications pending in our regional offices. Otherwise, the public will continue to perceive us as inefficient and corrupt," Paje said. At present, some 2,180 mining applications are pending in various regional offices, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) records show. Paje said the Environment Department is strictly implementing the "three letter-notice policy" in demanding for compliance with all the application requirements. According to Paje, the requirements in filing for mining applications include:
- Free and Prior Informed Consent as certified by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP);
- NCIP Certificate of Non-Overlap within one year; and
- NCIP Certification Precondition (Compliance Certificate) within three years from the date of receipt by National Indigenous Commission of the pertinent letter-requests from MGB.
The mining applicant must also submit proofs of consultation with the local council within two years from the date of acceptance of the mining application, Paje said. Publication, posting, and radio announcement within one year from the date of acceptance of the mining application are also required, he added. Paje said that failure on the part of applicants to comply with any of these requirements should be enough grounds for mining permit denial.
Permit revocation Paje pointed out that the permit revocation includes all mining agreements for exploration, mineral production sharing agreement, and financial and technical assistance agreement. Exploration contracts that have been expired for five years or more and mining contracts that have not implemented the three-year work program for two consecutive years will also be revoked, Paje said. Permits for financial and technical agreement in Region 13 and mineral production agreement in Region 4A have remained idle for 16 and 15 years, respectively, the Environment Department noted. Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that the Environment Department has stopped accepting and processing new applications for mining claims since January this year, as stated in Memorandum Order 1. The memorandum order — titled "Suspension of Acceptance of All Types of Mining Applications" — was issued on Jan. 18, 2011. Lacierda said in a press briefing in Malacañang that the order is in accordance with President Benigno Aquino III's thrust to protect the environment. "We need to have a government that will encourage sustainable use of resources to benefit the present and future generations," Lacierda said. "We believe that we need to enforce properly the mining regulations and mining laws."
— with reporting by Amita O. Legaspi/JE/TJD, GMANews.TV 
GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
