Seek legal advice on open-pit mining from outside DENR, Cimatu urged

A mining expert is urging Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to consider other legal advisers from outside the department to reassess and review the order banning all prospective open-pit mines in the country.

According to geologist and professor Carlo Arcilla, Cimatu should have a good and sound legal team to thoroughly discuss the consequences of banning the open pit method. 

On Monday, Cimatu announced that former Secretary Gina Lopez’s order stays for now as it will still be taken up at the interagency Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC). 

“Cimatu must have a very good legal adviser in order to reverse the decision. If his legal person is the same with that of Gina, there’s a problem with that,” Arcilla said on the sidelines of the Rotary Club of Makati meeting on Tuesday. 

Arcilla was referring to Environment Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Maria Paz Luna, a Lopez appointee who has retained the position under Cimatu.

“The order is ambiguous and has caused a lot of confusion. The root cause is that the person who did it is incompetent or they chose to obfuscate,” said Arcilla, professor of earth sciences at the University of the Philippines.

Before she she was rejected by the Commission on Appointments, Lopez banned the open-pit method of mining for copper, gold, silver and complex ores all over the country.

Arcilla is suggesting that Cimatu get an independent opinion from outside the department.

“It is unclear and the statements were so motherhood. From that fact alone, there’s something wrong with that already,” Arcilla said. 

“DENR is a huge bureaucracy, mining should be just a small part of that, but right now, it’s becoming the Department of Mining,” he added. 

In her defense, Luna said in a text message that all decisions were within Lopez's discretion and that she did not feel alluded to. 

"Now five undersecretaries and the MGB director [Wilfredo Moncano] are all lawyers. Arcilla is guessing," she added.

'Study the science side'

While Arcilla believes that Cimatu is still assessing information from different sectors, he said the scientific side of the industry should also be looked into.

“I think the side of science of minerals should be given a chance to explain and not just the advocacy side which has been fairly covered already,” he said. 

“The man [Cimatu] is willing to study. But the problem is that not a lot of studies can be digested. It’s a difficult industry to defend because of bad history and the nature of the industry, but it is necessary,” he added.

Open-pit is defined as an excavation or cut made on the surface of the ground for the purpose of extracting ore and which is open to the surface for the duration of the mine’s life.

The order was issued even if open-pit mining is allowed under the Philippine Mining Act. The Constitution even gives the state the duty to explore, develop, and utilize the country’s mineral resources

SOURCE:http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/08/01/1723593/seek-legal-advice-open-pit-mining-outside-denr-cimatu-urged