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Aerial photo shows the Taganito Mining site in  Claver, Surigao del Norte on February 23, 2021. Toto Lozano, Presidential Photo

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Mining Surigao

Raphael Bosano

ABS-CBN News

<div> </div>MANILA — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it will digitize and shorten the permitting process for mining to allow the country to take advantage of the rising demand for nickel.In an event which aims to revitalize the Philippine mining industry, the DENR said the country should enhance its capacity in processing nickel, which is a key component in the production of batteries and stainless steel.DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said the country “must leverage its status as one of the world’s most mineral-rich nations to drive economic growth.”She said the country generated P160 billion in the production of copper, gold and nickel for 2023 alone.From 2020-2024, the DENR said it released 34 exploration permits (EP) and mineral production sharing agreements (MPSA).“We hope to further streamline the process moving forward starting with the full digitalization of EP and MPSA processes this year. Significantly, we are committing to explore the possibility of parallel processing of permits and approvals by different government agencies,” said Loyzaga.Loyzaga noted that permit processing in the DENR is said to take six years or longer. Their target is to shorten this to two to three years.Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick Go says the vision of a shortened period will be a result of simultaneous processing as opposed to the bureaucratic and sequential process of doing business.“We have an ideal target of 1-2 years. But she would rather under-promise and over-deliver. We’re moving in the right direction. A lot of the permits can be processed simultaneously rather than sequentially. With the realization that a lot of them are unnecessary to be sequential, then I think that would really be a light bulb moment that can really radically improve the speed of processing permits,” Go said.National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said that the mining sector has yet to fully harness its potential, contributing only 0.5 percent to the country’s gross domestic product. Employment in the sector was also low. “The Philippine Development Plan has identified the mining sector as another pillar for our development. But we have to ensure that we have learned lessons of the past. Mining activities must not be destructive, it should be adherent to standards and must be of benefit to communities,” he said.Balisacan also noted how the value of minerals extracted from the country’s soil could be further increased by processing raw materials before being sold something that other countries are already doing.<div> </div><div>PRESERVING CULTURAL HERITAGE AND PROTECTING COMMUNITIES </div>Despite the move to shorten the processing of permits to extract the country’s mineral resources, the DENR said that it will not forego deeper evaluations on the “impacts of resource explorations and development on livelihoods and communities, ecosystem services, cultural identifies and historically significant natural systems and built heritage.”Loyzaga said that for the first time, the proximity of such important areas to potential exploration sites has become part of the application for Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECC).“We are working with the NCCA (National Commission for Culture and the Arts) and the NHCP (National Historical Commission of the Philippines) to actually classify those kinds of sites in order for us to put the required mitigation that would be needed in order to preserve and protect these areas. It’s a work in progress but we now have that as part of the ECC process and that’s the first time we’ve actually had it in the application,” she said.The governments said several countries have expressed their interest in working with the Philippines for mining opportunities, particularly in the nickel sector.The country only currently has two nickel processing plants.The government is targeting to put up three more. It is also advocating for the rationalization of the fiscal regime within the mining sector. Such move, according to the Department of Finance, could yield a revenue of P47 billion from 2024 until the end of the Marcos administration.

DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga noted that permit processing in the DENR is said to take six years or longer. Their target is to shorten this to two to three years.

DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga noted that permit processing in the DENR is said to take six years or longer. Their target is to shorten this to two to three years.

DENR to digitize, shorten permit process for mining

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DENR to digitize, shorten permit process for mining

Raphael Bosano,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 10, 2024 05:56 PM PHT

Read More:

mining

DENR

Toni Yulo-Loyzaga

NEDA

Arsenio Balisacan

ECC

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