Marcos EO seeks development of PH critical minerals industry

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has signed an executive order that seeks to capitalize on the country's critical minerals.

According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Marcos recently signed Executive Order No. 122 which pushes for a Unified National Policy Framework for Developing the Critical Minerals Industry.

"There is a need to establish a coherent and integrated national policy framework to strengthen the country's Critical Minerals Industry, promote value-added processing and downstream industries, enhance investments and competitiveness, ensure responsible and sustainable mining practices, and harmonize government policies and programs relative thereto," the EO read.

READ: EXPLAINER: What are critical minerals?

The order noted that the country has at least 9 million hectares of prospective areas that can hold various mineral resources to place the Philippines in the global value chain for critical minerals.

Under the EO, the DENR shall implement a national exploration and mineral reservation program to identify and evaluate new critical mineral deposits, especially those needed for clean energy, digital transformation, and infrastructure development.

The order also provides that areas covered by canceled, expired, relinquished, surrendered, or otherwise freed-up critical mining tenements may be considered and recommended for declaration as critical mineral reservations.

"The declaration of these areas as mineral reservations shall be established through a Presidential proclamation or issuance, upon the recommendation of the DENR Secretary," the document read.

Moreover, the EO calls for the streamlining and digitalizing of the mining permitting process via an online one-stop shop.

The Department of Trade and Industry - Board of Investments shall also offer incentives under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act for downstream refining, battery production, and side-stream industries, while providing for domestic processing plants priority access to mineral ores at fair market prices.

The order also reorganizes the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) to drive strategic growth in the critical minerals sector.

"Worldwide, nations are competing to secure resilient supply chains for essential raw materials like nickel, copper, and processing inputs for renewable energy infrastructure, electric vehicle batteries, and defense applications," said DENR-Mines and Geosciences Bureau director Larry Heradez in a statement.

"...EO 122 shifts the national strategy toward maximizing the domestic value of these resources, moving beyond raw ore exportation to building integrated processing and manufacturing ecosystems," he added. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/KG, GMA News