Industry council to continue reviewing mining operations post-Gina Lopez

The rejection of Gina Lopez by the Commission on Appointments has no impact on the review of mining operations being pursued by the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC), according to the Department of Finance.

The appointment of Lopez as Environment secretary was rejected by the bicameral body on Wednesday.

“The Commission on Appointments is acting within its constitutional mandate, and so we respect the judgment,” Finance Undersecretary Bayani Agabin, who represents Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III in the MICC, said on Thursday.
 
Dominguez and Lopez co-chair the MICC. The council was created in 2012 under Executive Order No. 79 as an interagency body to institute reforms in the Philippine mining sector and craft policies and guidelines to ensure environmental protection and responsible mining in the extractive industry.
 
“Definitely, it will continue because it’s the mandate of the MICC to do just that regardless of who’s in the DENR,” Agabin said.
 
“In fact a meeting of the subcommittee to vet the members of the technical review team will push through. However, the meeting of the MICC itself, which was originally scheduled today (Thursday), was reset,” he added.
 
On February 20, the MICC agreed to hire independent experts to reassess mining operations – not just of the 28 mines shuttered or suspended by Lopez – in keeping with the directive of President Duterte for a comprehensive industry review.

The review will cover all 311 mining contracts in the country.
 
“The council subsequently held two meetings that resulted in the unanimous adoption of MICC Resolution No. 6 providing for a multi-stakeholder review of all mining operations, and an agreement to seek a P50-million allocation from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to fund this activity over a three-month period,” Finance Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Paola Alvarez earlier said. — Ted Cordero/GMA News