Suspended mining firms to employ workers for mine rehab — DENR

Environment Secretary Gina Lopez is allaying fears of massive unemployment if the 20 mining companies that failed to pass the environmental audit are closed.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the workers of suspended mining firms will not end up unemployed as they will be used in the rehabilitation of mine sites.

Rehabilitation was part of the conditions for lifting a suspension order the government and mining executives agreed during a meeting last week.

"A part of the directive, should there be suspension, is that they must hire those people to rehabilitate the mining sites," Lopez said.

The goal is to make sure the workers remain employed despite the suspension of mining operations.
 
Lopez met with executives of mining companies to propose a much viable sustainable livelihood program that will benefit the communities where they operate.
 
During the meeting, the Cabinet official presented her models of ecotourism sites to give the mining executives ideas on how to lift communities out of poverty.
 
Lopez said the DENR could also tap the displaced mine workers for the National Greening Program (NGP), the government's massive forest rehabilitation initiative that doubles as an anti-poverty measure due to its cash-for-work component.

On September 27, the DENR concluded an audit of 41 metallic mining concessions in the Philippines.

The audit results prompted the DENR to recommend the suspension of 20 more mining companies on top of the 10 previously suspended.

But the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines is concerned about the DENR chief's pronouncements regarding the workers of suspended mining companies.

"The alternatives being proposed by Secretary Lopez are simply insufficient compared to the compensation and benefits the miners are currently receiving,"  Ronald Recidoro, vice president for legal and policy of COMP, told GMA News Online.

"More importantly, it is only a band-aid and does not present a sustainable, long-term solution," Recidoro added. He did not elaborate. — Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News