Gov’t pushing to privatize mining assets to revive industry

The administration is now pursuing steps to privatize mining interests held by the government and revive their operations, in a move seen to restart the economy in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an emailed statement on Sunday, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the government is working to privatize at least five mining assets of the government in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

"We are forming an interagency team to study ways on how we can clear the path for these assets to be privatized and revive their operations," said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

The team will be composed of the DOF, its attached agency the Privatization and Management Office (PMO), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).

According to the DOF, the PMO has identified several mining assets: the copper-gold project of the Maricalum Mining Corp. (Maricalum Mining) in Negros Occidental, the nickel mines of the Nonoc Mining and Industrial Corp. (Nonoc Mining) in Surigao del Norte, and the gold- and copper-rich North Davao Mining Property (North Davao Mining) in Davao del Norte.

It also said identified the copper mines of the Basay Mining Corporation (Basay Mining) in Negros Oriental and the nickel mine once operated by the Marinduque Mining and Industrial Corp. (MMIC Bagacay Mine) in Western Samar as inoperational assets that should be disposed.

The PMO said lawsuits filed by the private sector proponents in the operations of such assets have hampered efforts by the government to privatize them.

"Maricalum Mining, Nonoc Mining, and North Davao Mining were once successful mining companies that have failed to settle their debts with government financial institutions, leading to their foreclosure and transfer of their assets and shares of stocks to the national government," the DOF said.

"The government then auctioned off the shares of these mining firms, but the firms with the highest bid failed to fulfill their obligations, which resulted in decades of litigation that have left these mining assets idle," it added.

Moving forward, Dominguez said, the administration will push for the revival of the mining industry to spur economic growth.

"Definitely, we are pushing for the revival of the mining industry," Dominguez was quoted as saying. — BM, GMA News