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MGB mulls lifting of ban on open-pit mining

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ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1450300" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></figure><p>The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) is considering lifting the ban on open-pit mining.</p><p>Atty. Wilfredo Moncano said MGB has submitted a proposal to lift the existing ban on open-pit mining.</p><p>&quot;We have made a proposal to lift the ban on open-pit mining,&quot; he told lawmakers during the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)&#x27;s budget hearing Tuesday.</p><p>Another official from MGB also previously questioned the merit of the ban on open-pit mining.</p><p>Larry Heradez, chief of the MGB&#x27;s legal division, said the ban has no legal basis.</p><p>&quot;In the Philippines ... surface mining or &#x27;open-pit&#x27; is technically and financially feasible,&quot; Heradez said.</p><p>Heradez is part of a team that is reviewing the policy orders of Gina Lopez, the former environment secretary whose appointment was not approved by lawmakers.</p><p>In July, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said he would not lift a ban on open-pit mining imposed in April in an anti-pollution crackdown.</p><p>Cimatu, a former general, was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte in May after Lopez <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/03/17/ca-rejects-lopez-as-environment-secretary">failed to secure </a>congressional confirmation after a drive to implement radical environment protection measures that raised mining industry hackles.</p><p>&quot;There is a department order on the ban on open-pit mining issued by Secretary Lopez,&quot; Cimatu has said. &quot;It still stays.&quot;</p>

<p>The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) is considering lifting the ban on open-pit mining.</p>

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) is considering lifting the ban on open-pit mining.