RP to pursue mining without risking environment: Ramos
RP to pursue mining without risking environment: Ramos
MANILA (AFP): Philippine President Fidel Ramos said yesterday his government would pursue mining as a "dependable option" for economic development without risking the environment.
Noting an increase in mining applications from foreign firms, Ramos said "high returns of investments" would be guaranteed by the government's move towards sustainable mining.
"Its intent is clear -- pursue mineral resources development as one option for economic growth, but without compromising the environment," Ramos said at the launch of mineral industry environmental awards.
Through sustainable mining, "only large, high-quality deposits able to absorb the social and environmental cost of mining" would be economical ventures and would attract capital investments.
Under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, foreigners are allowed 100 percent control of large-scale mining operations.
Ramos said there had been 120 applications for financial and technical assistance agreements (FTAA), mostly from foreign firms, and 60 mineral products sharing agreements (MPSA), since the legislation was passed.
The FTAAs allow companies with more than 50 percent foreign equity to explore, develop and utilize up to 81,000 hectares (200,700 acres) of mineral-rich lands.
The MPSA allows firms with only up to 40 percent foreign equity to explore up to 8,100 hectares (20,007 acres), the mines bureau said.
Critics of the mining law have warned that only 65 of the FTAA applications already covered 22 percent of the Philippines' total land area.
Ramos urged mining firms to commit funds and expertise to "protect the general welfare."
"Then probably we would see the last of the disasters," Ramos added.
A subsidiary of Canada's Placer Dome Holdings has been ordered to clean up the Boac river in the central Philippine island of Marinduque, after millions of tons of mining waste spilled into the waterway in March 1996.
The local government in Boac has also demanded billions of pesos in compensation aside from the clean-up to cover for the loss of livelihood of residents there.