QUEZON CITY, (PIA) – Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), has brought together various stakeholders during an online forum to tackle the recent policies and developments to better promote responsible mining.

With the theme ‘Know Mine, Know Life: Elevating the Mission of Responsible Mining’, the forum tackled relevant policy matters and had an engaging discussion with policy experts from MGB and Presidential Mineral Industry Environmental Awardees (PMIEA).

“The gauge of responsible mining is not because there are mining incidents. The gauge of responsibility is what the company does in response to those incidents,” VP for Corporate Communications of Nickel Asia Corporation Jose Bayani Baylon said in the forum.

Baylon added that an organization that abides by the rules, regulations, customs, and fulfill its obligations to its stakeholders is what made a responsible organization or operations in mining.

Meanwhile, the MGB cited its efforts to prevent illegal small-scale mining.

“There were efforts in the past to formalize the small-scale mining industry or sector, but its only during the time of President Duterte’s administration when we started to declare people’s small-scale mining areas o Minahang Bayan,” MGB Director Atty. Wilfredo Moncano said.

Moncano added that there are only 6 Minahang Bayan in 2016, but now there are 49 Minahang Bayan all over the country.

“There are still a lot 115 pending applications for this. Kailangan pa namin itong bilisan para this illegal small-scale mining shall be legalized and formalized,” Moncano stated.

The MGB chief cited that there was a law passed in 2019 where it exempts small-scale mining from payment of income and excise taxes.

“This should encourage them to be legalized because hindi na sila hahabulin ng kanilang income and excise taxes. That’s why pinapabilis na natin ang formalization and legalization of illegal small-scale miners,” Moncano added. (MCG/PIA-IDPD)