New Mining Law is Needed to Protect the Environment

Filling up of a subsidence area in an underground mining
operation. 

A new mining law is needed to correct its infirmities and replaced the existing Philippine Mining Act of 1995 or Republic Act 7942.

Among the features that should be included in the new law/regulations are:

1. Specify the mine rehabilitation goals, apart from the general environmental protection objectives like preservation of water quality and natural habitats and prevention of air and noise pollution.  Specific objectives and criteria like the need for sustainable and productive ecosystems, resilience to disturbance, and increase in job opportunities and business promotion should be considered.
2. Obtain the full participation of all stakeholders, including the property rights owners or claimants, in the determination of the post-mining land-use capability and the compensation level for possible damages. For new mines, this should be conducted during the pre-mining phase, as the penultimate part of environmental impact assessment and cost-and-benefit study of the mining project, so that everyone would know what is expected of them if the mining operations push-through. For old mines, it should be done as soon as possible.
3.  Shift the burden of proof from the victims of mining damages to the agent causing the damage or from the recipient to the source of the unwanted cause. This applies to the surface rights or property rights owners who were inadvertently ignored, as well as those who suffer damages as a result of the mining operation. This will also preclude the possibility of some victims or recipients of damages from not being compensated at all.
4. Establish an adequate amount of sinking fund or trust deposit during the productive life-of-the-mine that is proportional to the degree of disturbance. This is to ensure there are enough funds for rehabilitation at the suspension or closure of the mine, independent of the fate of the mining operator. The adequate amount should be determined by in-situ assessment and study of the area to be rehabilitated, not as a percentage of the cost of implementing the EPEP (Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program) with P5 million maximum.
5. Require the DENR-MGB a transition plan (from the old regulatory system to the new one) and commitments, in consultation with the stakeholders, to increase effectiveness of implementation of the new regulations.
6. Instead of ad hoc groups or committees (MMT, MRF Committee, and CLRF Steering Committee), whose members' resources are thinly spread which prevents timely, responsible, and efficient decisions, full time and qualified officers in the MGB should be commissioned  to discharge the functions.