MVP wants separate body for environment concerns

[GLT]

MVP wants separate body
for environment concerns
BY MADELAINE FAYE D. CABRERA

http://www.malaya.com.ph/03122012/busi6.html

PHILEX chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan over the weekend called for the
creation of an independent environment commission that will be
responsible for the supervision and enforcement of environmental
concerns to remove "policy dilemma" among the government’s mining
agencies.

Pangilinan explained that, at present, both the Environmental
Management Bureau (EMB) and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) are
agencies under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR).

MGB is in charge of the promotion, development and supervision of
mining while EMB’s mandate is to enforce environmental laws.

"These apparently conflicting goals can, at times, place the DENR in a
policy dilemma. Our suggestion therefore is to spin off the EMB into a
separate and independent body, similar to the Environmental Protection
Agency in the US," Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan urged his private-sector counterparts in the mining
industry to improve the capacity and competence of the regulators,
particularly regarding equipment and the quantity and quality of
regulatory staff.

He cited as example Surigao Del Norte, which has only nine mining
engineers and one geologist to oversee mining activities in the area
that include three major mining projects, several exploration
projects, 18 approved small-scale mining permits and more than a
thousand illegal small-scale miners.

"The private sector should help government raise its supervisory
capabilities through funding of scholarships and training here and
abroad, procurement of equipment and hiring of requisite personnel,"
Pangilinan said.

He said mining companies can help shoulder part of the funding, akin
to the supervisory and regulatory fee paid by telecom companies to the
National Telecommunications Commission.

"Our industry must learn to accept that proper regulatory attention
will provide the comfort to all stakeholders – and critics – that
responsible mining is possible in our country as it has been, and
still is, in other countries like Australia, South Africa, Canada,
Sweden and even Indonesia," Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan also urged the private sector to be open to a profit-
sharing scheme that will assure the government of a more appropriate
share from mining activities.

"I’m not suggesting something new. Profit-sharing is standard in the
oil and gas industry and in most parts of the world, as indeed it
exists in our FTAA (Finance and Technical Assistance Arrangement)
regime," Pangilinan said.

According to Pangilinan, Philex paid P2.3 billion in national and
local taxes, representing 37 percent of the company’s pre-tax income
for 2011, despite operating under a Mineral Production Sharing
Agreement (MPSA).

The official said the local government units and the national
government should share "more equitably" benefits from the mining
industry.

"Further, the national government must ensure the timely remittance of
taxes due LGUs. After all, mining is location-specific, and I
sympathize with LGUs’ desire to realize the fruits of the resources
situated in their communities," Pangilinan said.

Philex, incorporated in 1955, is listed on the Philippine Stock
Exchange. It is one of the country’s largest mining firms. The company
operates the Padcal mine in Benguet. Its subsidiary, Silangan Mindanao
Mining Co. Inc., owns the Silangan Project covering the Boyongan and
Baguyo deposits.