CARMEN PIT, Carmen Copper Corporation in Toledo City. (CDN Digital FILE PHOTO)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Capitol plans to create a special body that will “ensure” transparency and accountability in the mining operations within the province.
The body will be tasked to “institute policies, programs, and mechanisms ensuring transparency and accountability in the mining industry.”
It will also be made up of the representatives from mining companies, provincial government, nongovernment organizations and all mayors,
A proposed ordinance creating the Cebu Provincial Multi-Stakeholder Council (CPMSC) is now pending for review before the Cebu Provincial Board Committee on Environment Conservation and Natural Resources.
The provincial governor will chair the CPMSC with the Provincial Administrator as the vice chair. The members of the council shall include two representatives from the large-scale mining companies, two from small scale mining cooperatives, five from the provincial government, five from concerned NGOs and all mayors of component local government units (LGUs).
Under the proposed ordinance authored by Sixth District Board Member Thadeo Jovito Ouano, the CPMSC aims “to ensure access and appropriate disclosure of relevant information related to the development of the mining industry both large and small scale mining projects.”
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Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, upon her assumption of office in July 2019, has previously ordered for the temporary halt of all mining operations within the province due to alleged violations committed by some mining operators.
She also ordered for the review of the mining operations, particularly the mining companies’ observance of mining rules and the “truthfulness” of their declaration of the amount of minerals they extracted.
Once the proposed ordinance will be passed, the CPMSC will also be tasked to devise a template for the disclosure of information pertaining to their mining permit, contracts, social, environmental and cultural impacts of their operations and the amount of extracted minerals and the corresponding dues that it must remit to the local government units (LGUs)./dbs