The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, is one of the first government agencies established in 1905 and was reorganized in 1987 to regulate the country's mining industry and provide geosciences information.
MGB kicked off its #MineResponsibility campaign in 2019 to provide a more balanced and scientific view of the mining industry. It was started as a vehicle to inform the citizenry of the benefits and further economic potential of our country's mineral resources and promote viable, sustainable, environmentally-responsible, and socially-oriented mining programs and policies.
What is #MineResponsibility?
A play of words on the words "my responsibility", the #MineResponsibility term expresses the main message, "to MINE RESPONSIBLYโ. This is the principle of stakeholdership that is not limited to few, but instead a collective spirit and shared accountability among the state agencies, mining firms, host communities, and the general public.
Responsible mining is the temporary use of the land area to get valuable minerals that can help the nation and industries to achieve progress while rehabilitating mined areas, taking care of the environment, and protecting the welfare and interest of the host and adjacent communities.
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Other Videos: What is Mining; Stages of Mining, Minerals in our Daily Lives and Benefits of Mining in the Philippines, Indigenous People Testimonial
Event Launch
DENR-MGB Launches PH-wide Responsible Mining Information Campaign to Double Efforts in Ensuring Pro-environment, Pro-people Mining
METRO MANILA, PHILIPPINES, 8 NOVEMBER 2019. - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through its Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) launched on Friday a nationwide information campaign as part of its intensified drive to ensure responsible mining in the country.
Dubbed as the #MineResponsibility campaign, the project is the brainchild of DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu and DENR Undersecretary for Climate Change and Mining Concerns Atty. Analiza Rubuelta-Teh and seeks to recreate a clearer and more factual image of the mining industry in the Philippines.
"We now have better and stronger policies in place to protect the environment and local communities and to mine with a long-term positive effect. We should not be wasting the massive mineral wealth of the Philippines when it can be used to benefit the people," Cimatu said in a statement.
"Moving forward, our goal is to harness the mineral wealth for progress and development and the key to that is responsible mining," he added.
Meanwhile, MGB Director Atty. Wilfredo G. Moncano emphasized that the information campaign aims to promote an inclusive approach in ensuring the mining industry's commitment to the protection of people and the environment.
"It is important that the public is informed and involved in the enforcement of mining policies and environmental protection, and that's what this campaign is really about," said Moncano. "Especially now that mining requirements are more strict now than twenty years ago."
"We take the issues of mining seriously," added Undersecretary Rubuelta-Teh. "The campaign also goes beyond just information and education. We've been working on improving the mining industry since the start of the Duterte administration."
The efforts to strengthen environmental protection and community protection began with the founding of the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC), the purpose of which was to be a third party auditing the large-scale mining operations of certain companies.
To address the deficiencies and issues discovered in the MICC audit, the DENR instituted Department Administrative Order No. 2018-19 (DAO 2018-19). In DAO 2018-19, various restrictions to ensure responsible mining were tightened.
Among these was the reduction of the maximum disturbed area for large-scale mining operations, or the area that an operation can disturb and must begin rehabilitating before expanding operations to another area.
Alongside the MICC audit and DAO 2018-19, the MGB also began an initiative expediting the license applications of small-scale mining groups to legitimize them and encourage them to join the Minahang Bayan in their local communities and areas. A Minahang Bayan, under the People's Small-Scale Mining Act, is a cooperative of small-scale mines operating as one unit.
Excise and income taxes were also waived for small-scale mining operations to incentivize them to formalize their operations.
"We tried taxing before," explained Moncano, referring to the taxation of the sale of gold to the Central Bank in 2011. "But that resulted in a 99% drop in domestic gold purchases."
He emphasized that the enforcement of environmental protection policies related to small-scale mining required a more collaborative approach.
All these initiatives have now led to the #MineResponsibility education and information campaign, which seeks to inform the general public about mining and its benefits to Philippine society, to address misconceptions about the mining industry, and to make citizens allies in ensuring responsible mining.
The campaign consists of informative videos. Printed materials, and materials in social media on #MineResponsibility which will be disseminated nationwide this year and next year.
By: Mineral Economics, Information and Publication Division
DENR Undersecretary for Climate Change and Mining Concerns Atty. Analiza Rubuelta-Teh delivering the Keynote Speech
MGB Acting Director Wilfredo G. Moncano delivering the opening remarks
DENR-MGB officials and key individuals wearing banlik bracelets to symbolize their commitment to practice responsible mining during the #MineResponsibility Campaign Launch.
From left to right: Jose Bayani D. Baylon, VP Corporate Communications of Nickel Asia Corporation; Atty. Dante R. Bravo, President of Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc.; Atty. Danilo U. Uykieng, MGB Acting Assistant Director; Dr. Albert V. Amorsolo Jr., President of the Society of Metallurgical Engineers of the Philippines; Engr. Nonita S. Caguioa, DENR Assistant Secretary for Mining Concerns and Finance; Atty. Wilfredo G. Moncano, MGB Acting Director; Luis R. Sarmiento, SEVP of APEX Mining Company, Inc.; Jose C. Cabanayan Jr., Deputy Administrator of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority; and Ana Jamille A. Restubog, Master Teacher II of San Francisco High School, QC.
Panelists Engr. Felizardo A. Gacad, Jr., MGB Region XII Regional Director; Atty. Dante R. Bravo, President of Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc.; Rocky G. Dimaculangan, Vice President of Chamber of Mines of the Philippines; Atty. Wilfredo G. Moncano, MGB Acting Director; Engr. Nonita S. Caguioa, DENR Assistant Secretary for Mining Concerns and Finance; Engr. Rodolfo L. Velasco, Jr., Chief, Mine Safety, Environment, and Social Development Division; Engr. Glenn Marcelo C. Noble, MGB Region XIII Regional Director; Engr. Teodorico A. Sandoval, Chief, Mining Technology Division during the campaign launch open forum.
Mining Industry COVID-19 Efforts
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau is authorizing the re-alignment of unutilized funds of Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) in accordance with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Memorandum dated March 27, 2020.
To briefly explain, SDMP includes programs for Development of Host and Neighboring Communities; Information, Education and Communication; and Development of Mining Technology and Geosciences, with the unutilized SDMP funds pertaining to the 2019 total unspent budget which was carried over to 2020 Annual SDMP (ASDMP) budget.
For transparency as well as an efficient and timely response to the needs of the communities, all MGB Regional Offices (ROs) are given authority and responsibility to approve re-alignments of SDMP fund to programs/projects/activities (PPAs) deemed necessary to combat COVID-19. Several MGB-ROs, as well as multiple mining companies have exhibited selflessness and generosity by donating domestic and health supplies as well as raising funds to give to the affected communities and frontliners in support to Republic Act No. 11469, otherwise known as the โBayanihan to Heal as One Actโ.
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