AMID his renewed plan to stop the operations of all mining firms in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte lamented on Tuesday, September 18, that mining has "created a monster" that caused environmental degradation and human misery.
Duterte, during a post-typhoon briefing held in Isabela province, clarified that he does not "hate" mining, stressing that he could not merely accept that the environment has already been "overused and abused."
"Noon pa ako gusto ko na talagang pigilin (Even before, I really want to stop it). But were it not for the fact that it's allowed by law, and if it's allowed by law, little could I do anything about it," the President said.
"I cannot stop mining because I'm not allowed to abrogate any law here. But I want to stop it because it has created a monster in this country," he added.
The number of people killed in the aftermath of Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut), which battered northern Luzon, has climbed to 63, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said earlier Tuesday, September 18.
The Philippine National Police said the death toll has risen to 74.
Dozens have also been feared buried in the landslide that hit a miners' bunkhouse in Itogon, Benguet, prompting Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to order the stoppage of all small-scale mining in the Cordillera region.
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Roque likened the closure of small-scale mining companies in the Cordillera to the six-month closure of Boracay Island.
The Palace official said that just like Boracay, the order in Cordillera would pave the way for the rehabilitation of mined out areas of the region.
"Itong nangyari sa Itogon, mabuti na lang po meron tayong model and that was Boracay. So alam na po ng mga ahensiya ng gobyerno ang gagawin. (On what happened to Itogon, it's good that we have a model and that was Boracay. So the government agencies already know what to do). It's very similar to what happened to Boracay," Roque said.
"It's akin to rehabilitating the mined out areas of the Cordilleras and it would be an attempt to actually allow the environment to recover because this is actually a result of environment degradation," he added. (SunStar Philippines)