MININGBuendia, Doreen Marie A.

Mining• Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or

other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or (coal) seam.

• The term also includes the removal of soil.• Mining is required to obtain any material that

cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or created artificially in a laboratory or factory.

• Mining in a wider sense comprises extraction of any non-renewable source (e.g., petroleum, natural gas, or even water).

• Modern mining processes involve prospecting for ore

bodies, analysis of the profit

potential of a proposed mine,

extraction of the desired materials and finally

reclamation of the land to prepare it for other uses once the mine is closed.

IS MINING LEGAL IN THE PHILIPPINES?

YES!

Philippine Mining Act of 1995

Republic Act 7942• This particular act was mainly instituted to “govern

the exploration, development, utilization and processing of all mineral resources within the territory and exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.”

• This act also safeguards and protects the environment.

• Chapter XI, Section 63, of Republic Act 7942, states that

“All contractors and permitees shall strictly comply with all the mines safety rules and regulations as may be promulgated by the Secretary concerning the safe and sanitary upkeep of the mining operations and achieve waste-free and efficient mine development…”

• Chapter XI, Section 70, (Environmental Impact Assessment) of Republic Act 7942, states that

“…an environmental clearance certificate shall be required based on an environmental impact assessment and procedures under the Philippine Environmental Impact Assessment System including Sections 26 and 27 of the Local Government Code of 1991 which require national government agencies to maintain ecological balance, and prior consultation with the local government units, non-governmental and people’s organizations and other concerned sectors of the community: Provided, That a completed ecological profile of the proposed mining area shall also constitute part of the environmental impact assessment.”

Positive effects of mining?

• Mining can benefit society because: it brings jobs to a community These jobs bring money to the community

Negative effects of mining to the people?

• Mining is destructive to the environment as trees and vegetation are cleared and burned for mining.

• The mining pits dug during land dredging mining remain as stagnant water pools serving as breeding ground for mosquitoes and other water-born insects.

• Chemicals used during mining process causes pollution to the environment, animals, and people

• The toxic waste from mine tailings flow into either an abandoned mining pit or adjacent forest in the case of land dredging and pollute the river in the case of river dredging.

• People living near mining areas or mining villages are very much disturbed and affected by the impact of mining.

• The mining operators and their families may also face problems. The miners also have life risks when they are working in the mine.

How does Mining Affect the Environment?

Effects on Land

• Deforestation• Loss of Biodiversity• Pollution

Effects on Water

• Pollution• Loss of Aquatic Life

• Land grabbing, • community displacement, • human rights violations ,• environmental degradation.. IN 1,042,531

HECTARES COVERED BY 785 MINING TENEMENTS.

MORE NEGATIVE EFFECTS!

SPECIFIC CASE IN POINT: Excessive Mining in Palawan

THE FACTS OF THE CASE:- The Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC)

was established in the early 1970s propped up by a strong international demand for nickel and operating in an area endowed with rich ore deposits.

-they established a Hydrometallurgical Processing Plant in Southern Palawan

SPECIFIC CASE IN POINT: Excessive Mining in Palawan

• The company has to conform to policies that govern not just its mining operations but also other policies which concern the rights of and the local population in general, and environmental laws that seek to protect biodiversity.

WHY Excessive Mining in Palawan IS FROWNED UPON:

1. Seventy three percent of the mining applications are found inside non-allowable areas (core zones or restricted use zones of the SEP law);

2. Most of the mining applications and operations are found inside ancestral domains and the Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) process has been either absent or questionable;

WHY Excessive Mining in Palawan IS FROWNED UPON:

3 . There has been no successful rehabilitation program in eleven abandoned mining activities;

4. Negative environmental and socio-cultural impacts have remained unresolved; and,

5. Endorsements given by local government units (LGUs) in the early stages of mining projects have not conformed to the social acceptability requirement of applicable laws.

STATISTICS:

From 1995 to present, RTNMC paid excise taxes amounting to PhP76.2 million.

-> Of this amount, only PhP14.8 million has been remitted to the province of Palawan corresponding to the collection for the years 1992-1994

STATISTICS:

The generation of 586 jobs is one of the three main identified benefits of the HPP. However, data shows that there are only 281 current employees of the HPP.

Local communities complain that most of the employees are migrants.

More negative effects!• The population increase resulted in the proliferation of

nightclubs, which eventually gave rise to prostitution.• In terms of environmental impacts, the following were identified:• Deforestation and loss of wildlife habitat;• Decrease in quantity and quality of water supply;• Adverse impact on the irrigation system and decrease in

agricultural production;• Erosion and flash floods;• Threats to coastal resources brought by erosion and effluents;• Water and air pollution; and,• Health impacts such as skin lesions.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• An assessment of the law alongside current mining policies should be conducted.

-> Since the Strategic Environmental (SEP) law prohibits the destruction of natural forests as these areas have been declared as core zones or areas of maximum protection, the government must determine to what extent commercial mining operations

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Transparent and participatory monitoring and evaluation of social development projects of mining companies should be put in place.

• Strengthen the performance of the multipartite monitoring team (MMT). The MMT should be made as the main mechanism to ensure compliance to environmental laws as well as utmost beneficial impact of the project.

Social Teachings of the Church

• 466. Care for the environment represents a challenge for all of humanity. It is a matter of a common and universal duty, that of respecting a common good, [979] destined for all, by preventing anyone from using “with impunity the different categories of beings, whether living or inanimate — animals, plants, the natural elements — simply as one wishes, according to one's own economic needs”.[980]

• 467. Responsibility for the environment, the common heritage of mankind, extends not only to present needs but also to those of the future. “We have inherited from past generations, and we have benefited from the work of our contemporaries: for this reason we have obligations towards all, and we cannot refuse to interest ourselves in those who will come after us, to enlarge the human family”.[984]

• 470. Programs of economic development must carefully consider “the need to respect the integrity and the cycles of nature” [989] because natural resources are limited and some are not renewable. The present rhythm of exploitation is seriously compromising the availability of some natural resources for both the present and the future.[990]

CBCP

“Foreign-led mining firms are major contributors to ecological imbalance or deterioration,

human dislocation as well as the burgeoning mining-caused accidents and deaths.”

Encyclicals

• 37. “Equally worrying is the ecological question which accompanies the problem of consumerism and which is closely connected to it. In his desire to have and to enjoy rather than to be and to grow, man consumes the

resources of the earth and his own life in an excessive and disordered way…” -

Centesimus Annus “The One Hundredth Year” (1991)

• 196. “Genesis relates how God gave two commandments to our first parents: to

transmit human life—”Increase and mutliply” (44)—and to bring nature into their service—”Fill the earth, and subdue it.” (45) These two commandments are complementary.”

– Mater et Magistra “Mother and Teacher” (1961)

• 106. “The Church recognizes that care for the environment is part of care for the common

good – the environment is one of the “common goods” which are the shared responsibility of

the human race. We have to reject some of the easy assumptions of an earlier stage of

industrialisation, such as that the human race, because God had given it dominion over the

world, had an unlimited freedom to despoil the natural environment for its own purposes….”

– Centesimus Annus “The One Hundredth Year” (1996)

References:• http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/themes/care-creation/resources/

quotations-encyclicals-ecology-environmental-sustainability/• http://www.articlesbase.com/science-articles/how-does-mining-affect-the-

people-717754.html• http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-does-mining-affect-the-

environment.html• http://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/as/ph/p0005.htm• http://www.psagroup.com/knowledgesales/index.php?

option=report&id=RCAA-8K5AYW• http://www.chanrobles.com/RA7942.htm• http://no2mininginpalawan.com/2011/03/21/the-costs-and-benefits-of-three-

decades-of-mining-in-rio-tuba-bataraza-palawan/

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