MANILA — The Multi-Stakeholders’ Group (MSG) of the Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PH-EITI) has requested small scale miners to voluntarily submit income and operation reports to the national government for the latter to have a full picture of the country’s mining industry.
Finance Undersecretary Bayani Agabin, the focal person and Chair of the PH-EITI, said there are other ways to get the needed information but noted it would be better if the concerned companies turn the data over voluntarily.
“In that sense the report will give a better picture of the contribution of (the) mining (industry) towards the economy. And it can be used as reference also for others who want to check whether they are getting enough benefits,” he told journalists Wednesday at the sidelines of the 2018 PH-EITI national conference, scheduled from April 16-19, 2018 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
According to the website of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), small scale miners are those that have maximum annual production of 50,000 dry metric tons (DMT) of ore for metallic minerals and 50,000 DMT of the material itself for non-metallic minerals.
Their maximum capital investment is PHP10 million and cover raw, additional and existing capital like processing plants, mine and hauling equipment, tools, infrastructure, capitalized exploration and development cost, support facilities and working capital. Their operations should also be “largely artisanal with heavy reliance on manual labor and without the use of explosives and/or blasting accessories.”
Agabin said there are hundreds of small miners around the country and data on their operations and other information are currently known only to the provincial mining regulatory boards and not the national government.
“We are hoping that we will enact the proper ordinance (or) resolution to compel (the small scale miners) to report,” he said, citing that PH-EITI is working with the local mining boards on this bid.
The Finance department official admitted that some small scale mining companies might not be compliance with the rules and regulations but declined to elaborate given the lack of information, thus, he stressed the need to monitor the sector.
He said it would really be a challenge for authorities to monitor the sector but stressed that “at least we try.”
“If it’s really difficult then we would probably have to adjust. But now the idea is also to include the small scale,” he said.
“We hope they cooperate…For those that are private companies it benefits them because there are always some issues as to whether they are reporting properly and so by agreeing to report, especially those who are in now, it gives them credibility, brownie points that they are willing to open their books and report it to this committee, this initiative. It benefits all parties,” he added. (PNA)
