Duterte Economic Team Wants to Bring Mining Industry Back

The outgoing administration’s NEDA, DOF, DENR, and the Development Academy of the Philippines released a joint report that shows quarrying and mining “contributed significantly to the regional gross domestic product (GDP) in regions where there are mining operations.”

The push by the outgoing President’s team is driven by the development of rural communities surrounding the mines and the intention of creating more jobs. 

The published paper detailed the data of the interagency Mining Industry Coordinating Council’s (MICC) review of large-scale metallic mines back in 2018 – 2020. It was this report by the MICC that led former DENR Secretary Gina Lopez to shut down over 23 mining operations last 2017 citing environmental issues. 

However, last 2021 President Rodrigo Duterte lifted Lopez’s closure orders and new mining permits. It was also last year when DENR lifted the four-year prohibition on open-pit mining also put in place by Lopez. 

MICC’s report stated that “there is no doubt that mining has contributed substantially to the local economy, as evidenced by the economic progress of communities relative to other non-mining communities in the same area.”

The report goes on to assert that “[Mining] brought employment, and the demand for labor helped increase the local population, which became the driver of the surge in economic activities. An increase in services comes with rapid population growth, promoting business growth, including the backward and forward linkages of the mining operation,”

Despite this, the MICC points out that environmental concerns should still be given attention together with countryside development. 

The report also says that growing consumer demand, theoretically, translates to additional pressure to exploit natural capital. This scenario brings a dilemma, which pits conserving biodiversity against land development. Otherwise, the communities will have to outsource their consumption demand,”

Source: Inquirer