Duterte mulls total ban on mining

By GENALYN KABILING

PRESIDENT Duterte is consider­ing the imposition of a total ban on mining in the country after the 2019 national elections.

The President said he wanted to close down mining operations that destroy the environment, and hoped to get the support of newly elected lawmakers.

Duterte earlier said to end min­ing, Congress has to abrogate Republic Act 7942 that governs mineral resource exploration and development in the country.

“May batas na nagabigay ng ano na may minahan dito sa Pilipinas. Hindi ako mag ano niyan, Kongreso. Pero pagkatapos ‘tong eleksyon na ito, bago ang mukha naman. I will try na i-ban – i-total ban ko na ta­laga ang mining,” Duterte said dur­ing an assembly of rebel returnees in Samar last Tuesday.

The President said the govern­ment was earning R70 billion in revenues from the mining industry but such amount was not enough to reverse the environmental deg­radation and rehabilitate the af­fected community.

He lamented that open-pit min­ing operations have left huge holes in Mindanao and weakened the soil that lead to landslides.

Duterte previously declared his intention to shut down destruc­tive mining operations following the deadly landslides that hit the mining communities in Benguet and Cebu.

“Kayo, galit kayo sa minahan; ako galit rin. Gusto niyong sirahan ang mina? Ako gusto ko ring sirahan. Alam mo bakit? Kung ilan lang ang naibigay nila sa gobyerno? Seventy billion lang. ‘Yan lang. Buong Pilipi­nas ‘yan lang ang bigay, 70 billion,” Duterte said.

“Tapos ang nasira na lupa pag-repair ko lang sa landslide sa lahat pati patay, abot siguro ng 70 billion times five, sira pa ang kalikasan,” he said.