President Duterte Stands Firm on Open-Pit Mining Ban
| Date: Nov 23, 2017 |
| In September, Duterte said he agreed with former Environment Secretary Gina Lopez that open-pit mining in the Philippines should stop.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected the Mining Industry Coordinating Council’s recommendation to lift an open-pit mining ban in the country. Duterte said mining brings “good profit” but noted that he does not want open-pit mining because it is “destroying the soil, the environment and there are no immediate corrective measures.” The ban was introduced by former Environment Secretary Gina Lopez in April. In addition to rejecting the recommendation from the interagency panel, he threatened to close any mine that finances the New People’s Army, which is fighting to overthrow the government. “It’s almost a public knowledge that mining companies are contributing to the taxation of the NPAs thereby giving them also strength, money to buy arms, and bullets and all in their desire to topple down the Republic of the Philippines,” Duterte said but did not name any specific companies. |
