Mining moratorium not an answer: ex-envoy

Thursday, June 16, 2011

A MORATORIUM on mining activities is not the answer to the mining woes in the country, said former presidential envoy for mining Delia Albert.

Earlier, Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat Jr. started moves in Congress to suspend the issuance of mine applications in order to correct loopholes in the Mining Act of 1997.

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Specifically, Baguilat wanted more protection for indigenous peoples living within or near identified mineral areas.

But Albert reminded the congressman, it was mining that sustained the Cordillera when the National Government did not have the resources to maintain the region.

She told anti-mining advocates that the city was built by the pioneer mining companies, specifically Benguet Corporation.

Albert said everyone, especially the anti-mining advocates, should read the mining act to be able to understand its intricacies.

"We, all of us, should understand the mining act and monitor it [in order to allow development and protect IP rights]," she said Wednesday during a tree planting activity led by the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association at the Botanical Garden in Baguio.

She also stressed strict compliance to the revised mining act should be followed in order to get the best of both worlds.

"Everyone should obey the rules!" she emphasized... We should recognize what development means to the country and the employment that [mining] generates," Albert said.

She reminded Baguio and the region that they were sustained by mining companies during the American period.

Albert was formerly named special envoy of the President for mining, and has been overseeing procedures to help speed up the mining business and attending regional and international conferences where mining is discussed.

She organized a Minerals Development Council, patterned after similar institutions in other mining countries, but tailoring its functions to the unique Philippine situation.

The council also aims to ensure responsible mining practices, including transparency, environmental concerns and safety measures.

It was in the 19th century when Spanish colonizers started to explore the mountains of Northern Luzon and saw a land of fertile valleys, hills and mountains and an abundance of minerals such as copper, gold and ore.