Chamber of Mines hits DENR, claims no due process in audit

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) on Friday slammed the latest orders issued by Environment Secretary Gina Lopez against supposedly erring mining companies.

A day after Environment Secretary Gina Lopez announced the latest closure and suspension orders, the mining lobby group claimed due process was not followed in the DENR-led nationwide audit of mining companies and the way the corresponding penalties were meted out.

"Primarily, due process requires that parties be notified of the charges against them and they be given a chance to respond," Ronald Recidoro, vice president for legal and policy at COMP, said on the sidelines of a press briefing in Makati City.

"What happened here? Secretary Lopez initiates a bias audit and does not give the companies chance to respond," Recidoro added.

Since mining companies have a contract with the government, disputes must be settled through arbitration, the COMP lawyer noted. "Mining contracts provide that if we have a dispute we either go to arbitration or take to the court or to the Pollution Adjudication Board.

"You cannot cancel contracts unilaterally, there has to be a due process," he emphasized.

During the same briefing, COMP Chairman Artemio Disini claimed the initial audit results the DENR announced in September 2016 were not favorable to the Environment secretary's wishes.

"The actual review was not followed," Disini noted, alleging that Lopez set aside the actual recommendations of the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB), which conducted the audit.

"In fact, we asked the MGB the questions that were brought up but there was no reply from the DENR," Disini noted.

The bureau is an agency attached to the DENR.

'Not just the environment'

During a press conference on Thursday, Lopez declined to provide the media with copies of the MGB's recommendations saying she must first see if they are "resonant with her principles."

"Lopez said she based her decisions on her own observations, and that jives with what we've heard from the companies. Because when we asked our members what are the findings against you? They said, 'minor naman' and many of them did not see the actual audit report," Recidoro said.

"They're just saying kulang kayo sa tree planting ... But those findings are not sufficient to warrant suspension or closure, because you can remedy that without sacrificing the livelihood of thousands of people," he added.

During the briefing on Friday, Vicente Lao, chairman of the Mindanao  Business Council, called on the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) to convene and review the policies and arbitrary actions of Lopez. The MICC is co-chaired by the Department of Finance.

"The MICC, which is supposed to be implementing guidelines for the industry, should be active. I don't think it's fair for the DENR secretary to be doing policy directions for the MICC because there are so many things that needs to be addressed, it's not just the environment," Lao said.

Disini noted the closure orders were supposedly given two days before Lopez made the announcement on Thursday. He claimed, however, that the relevant mining companies have not received any official notice from the DENR

In an emailed statement, COMP Executive Vice President Nelia Halcon lambasted how the audit results were first made public during a press conference.

“If the audit found violations, the law provides for a procedure. She should have filed the appropriate cases or invoked the arbitration clause of the mining agreements. Our members have not received any formal decision but have already been subjected to trial by publicity," Halcon said. — VDS, GMA News