15 August 2003

ARTEMIO DUMLAO
Staff Writer
Philippine Star

Dear Mr. Dumlao:

This refers to your article titled “Igorots: still fighting for their homeland,” printed in the Philippine Star dated 15 August 2003, page A-30, The Nation.

It is true that as of August 2003, the total land area of application under process has reached 433,377.3816 hectares. Of this, 78, 198.2416 has. have Applications for Production Sharing Agreement (APSA); 77,549 has. have Applications for Financial and Technical Agreement (AFTA); 277,630.14 has. have Exploration Permit Applications (EXPA); and 32.51 has. have Applications for Industrial Permit (IP) for Sand and Gravel.

However, contrary to common belief that the grant of large tracts of lands to mining contractors would result in massive land degradation, we would like to emphasize that the grant of permits for mineral exploration is subject to area relinquishment. Area relinquishment is the progressive reduction of contract area wherein the mining contractor returns areas that, based on its exploration activities, have low mineral potential.

Under the area relinquishment scheme , the contractor shall relinquish at least 25% of the original contract area after the second year of exploration and 10% each on the third, fourth, and fifth years. Upon the end of the six-year exploration period, the contractor shall retain only a maximum of 5,000 hectares per project area, or just 6.17% of the original contract area for metallic areas and 2,000 hectares for non-metallic.

It must likewise be stressed that only a portion of the 5,000-hectare area can possibly be affected by actual mining. Notwithstanding the known geological potential of the Philippines, the possibility of finding an economically viable mineral deposit is very low, meaning for every 1000 prospects, only one may eventually operate as a mine.

The Mining Act of 1995 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations likewise explicitly provides for areas that are closed to mining, which include old growth forests, watershed forest reserves, wilderness areas, mangrove and mossy forests, national parks, game refuges, bird sanctuaries, marine reserves/parks, and protected areas established under the NIPAS Act. Mining is also not allowed in areas that are expressly prohibited by law and/or excluded by the DENR Secretary. All of these areas will be excised from the applied area to determine the final area open for mining application.

The law also prescribes the allocation of a minimum of 1% of the annual mining and milling costs of the company for community development projects. It is also mandated of mining contractors to allocate at least 10 % of the initial capital expenditures for environment-related expenditures and at least 3% of the direct mining and milling costs fro annual environmental expenditures.

It is also noteworthy that even prior to the birth of the IPRA, the rights of our indigenous brothers and sisters were already recognized by the Mining Act. Section 16 of its IRR particulalry provides that no mineral agreement or permit may be granted in ancestral lands without the prior informed consent of the concerned indigenous cultural communities. In the event that the requisite prior informed consent is obtained, a royalty payment of not less than one percent (1%)of the gross output shall go to the concerned indigenous cultural communities, which shall form part of a Trust Fund for their socioeconomic well-being in accordance with the management plan formulated, managed, and utilized by them in the ancestral land or domain area.

We believe that the key to sustainability is not stopping development activities like mining but managing the costs and the risks development entails. Thus, the LGUs, the community, the mining contractor and the national government should develop a mutually beneficial partnership in order for the mining industry to regain its niche as a primary economic distributor, as a propeller of people empowerment, and as catalyst for rural development.

In the spirit of transparency and balanced reporting, we hope that this letter will be printed in your publication.

Very truly yours,

NEOMAN B. DELA CRUZ
Regional Director