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By Prince Golez, Manila Reporter
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MANILA – Bayan Muna party-list has called for the modernization of small-scale mining industry in the Philippines.
To ensure the protection of the environment from the impact of illegal mining operations, Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate is pushing for a “progressive,” “pro-people,” and “pro-environment” mining law.
Zarate lamented the policies under the current Mining Act, saying the law is “lopsided in the favor of large-scale mining corporations.”
The party-list solon also denounced the statement by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that small-scale mining is “illegal” and that it needs to stop.
“This is livelihood for thousands of people,” he said during a gathering of small- and large-scale miners in Benguet recently, “and it has been so for generations especially here in the Cordillera.”
Meanwhile, Zarate asked DENR secretary Gina Lopez to heed the plight of ordinary small-scale miners and support calls to modernize the country’s small-scale mining industry.
The government is forcing small-scale miners to legalize operations “under a regime that requires very steep, with little to no support at all from the government,” he furthered.
The 20,000-member Benguet Federation of Small Scale Miners submitted to him a petition criticizing the “stringent requirements” set for them by the environment sector.
“We cannot treat our people this way. The Filipinos and our quest for national industrialization must be the primary beneficiaries of our rich mineral resources,” Zarate said.
The House Committee on Natural Resources is deliberating on comprehensive mining bills to replace the current law.
The panel will also look into amending Republic Act 7076 or the Small-Scale Mining Act./PN
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