By Domini M. Torrevillas
Publication Date: [Thursday, September 21, 2006]
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/show_content.asp?article=276287
Following in the heels of the successful Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ greening of Philippine highways program, Secretary Angelo T. Reyes is again set to prove that he is the country’s No. One protector of the country’s natural resources. I am referring to his invitation to the world’s 350 leading mining companies to consider investing in the Philippines – but with a caveat. And that is that the Philippines would only welcome mining investments whose proponents (both local and foreign), would strictly follow the country’s mining laws and adopt the best international mining practices. This means that not any Tom, Dick or Josie can start mining operations without observing the country’s laws.
At the opening of the four-day 10th Indaba Mining Conference held in Makati recently, Reyes made it clear that the Philippine government intends to make sure that wealth generation from the mining sector would redound to the good of all – the investors, the government, local communities, and the general population.
Reyes said that the Philippines’ commitment to revitalize mining in the country while ensuring the protection of the environment, as well as social equity in the sharing of the proceeds from mining activities.
The sharing of mining resources can be done, he said, if the country’s metallic and non-metallic mineral resources can be used by downstream Philippine industries as raw materials for finished products, which are ideal for export. The country has about nine million hectares of mineral-rich land.
The conference was attended by investors from mining companies based in Africa and other countries. Local mining players also attended the conference.
Reacting to Reyes’ statement that the govern-ment reserves the right to declare as abandoned mining projects that have failed to take off the ground and to farm them out to others, Martin Benjamin Romualdez, president of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (CMP), said the Chamber of Mines supported Reyes’ "use-it-or-lose-it-policy," and thanked the Secretary for his "recommitment and stream-lining of the government bureaucracy that is essential in moving mining applications and mining projects because this has been the latest stumbling block in the mining industry’s recent history."
As to social equity, Reyes said that local mining contractors are required to spend at lest 10 per cent of their initial capital investments on environment-related infrastructure projects, and three to five per cent of direct mining and milling costs for annual environmental protection. Mining companies, he said, are also now required to conduct test runs under the supervision of the DENR to prove that their operations do not harm the environment.
At the same time, he stressed that the rights of indigenous communities will also be protected by seeking the consent of tribal minorities for mining projects located in their ancestral lands, and by providing them royalty payments each year amounting to at least one per cent of gross revenues form the mine sites.
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Each time I visit my hometown, Gingoog City, I make it a point to have a chat with the mayor. Two weeks ago, I was in the office of Ruth L. Guingona.. Ruth is married Tito Guingona of Butuan City, who became a senator, and then Vice-President.
Now she calls the shots at this city with a voting population of 58,000. A big headache for Ruth is not having enough funds to support projects to give people jobs and improve the city’s infrastructure projects.
A group from China indicated the desire to build a pharmaceutical plant which would hire thousands of workers, but she turned down the offer when she learned that a planned incinerator would cause a lot of health problems for the city residents. "I don’t want people to think of me for many, many years, as the cause of the population’s ill health," she said.
The mini-hydro electric plant that had been on the drawing boards of past administrations still need completion, and she hopes that a study being made by a Swiss group would be finished soon.
People have been lining up for government jobs, Ruthie said .To accommodate requests, she came up with a one-year program of hiring people for one month. Some college graduates settle for cleaning canals and sweeping the public market floors and grounds just to have a few pesos for meals.
The city, though, has become even cleaner. The mayor won and lost friends when she got fruit and vegetable vendors off the streets, saying there was a lot of selling space inside the market. A plan to privatize the market could add revenues for the city.
The city wharf cannot be dredged for lack of money, to allow inter-island vessels to dock, so Ruthie converted it into a pahayahay (a place for relaxation), where families hold picnics and get-togethers, with a band playing and stores selling goodies.
She has started making a dream-jamboree city in Lunotan, near Mt. Balatukan, where boy scouts and other groups can hold camping/conferences.
When she assumed office, there was little, if at all, money in the city coffers. The city budget is only P300-million – definitely not enough to meet the needs of the city. There was only one ambulance, so she had to buy two pick-up trucks, had they air-conditioned, to serve as ambulances. The fire department had no fire trucks, so she bought five units with borrowed money. There were only two dump trucks to service 79 barangays. She still has 400 kilometers of roads to be cemented; right now one lane is being constructed to allow habal-habals to pass through.
In the works are plans to rehabilitate the old market and set up stores for products with the Tatak Gingoog label. People are encouraged to plant lawi (a species of bamboo) for broomsticks which can be marketed outside of the city. To help farmers there is a goat, carabao, piglet and chicken dispersal program.
"I ask the people to have a little patience," she said. "Development will come, but it will come slowly because of lack of funds."
She comes to the office before 7 in the morning, and she enjoys having a "social hour" with the kagawads every Thursday afternoon. They tell jokes and about the next day’s session. The meetings, she said, has resulted in "harmony among members of the city council."
"The job of mayor is no fun," Ruthie said. But she would like to run again in the next election in order to continue the programs started in her time. She has asked husband Tito, who has been complaining that she has no time left for him, to allow her to run a second time.
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The Wild Bird club of the Philippines (WBCP) is sponsoring the 2nd Philippine Bird Festival with the theme, "Endemik: Dito Lang sa Pinas" aimed at focusing attention on conserving endemic bird species of the Philippines, bird-watching and responsible appreciation of nature.
The festival will be held September 22 and 23 at the Crossroad 77 Convenarium, Mother Ignacia Ave., cor. Scout Reyes St., Q.C., It will feature exhibits of WBCP) and 14 participating conservation groups and social development foundations, screenings of award winning entries of the 2006 Moonrise Film Festival, free public lectures on bird-watching and nature conservation, merchandise, and an arts activity center for the young.
There are more than 570 species of birds in the Philippines, no fewer than 180 species are found only in the archipelago. The endemic birds include the Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker and the White-Eared Brown Dove which are present in a number of parks and wooded areas in Metro Manila.
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My email: dominimt2000@yahoo.com
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