Mindanao Action Points Advocacy Coordinating Group
Mining Research Databanking Template
Title of Research Study:
Lead Research Institute :
Principal Investigators:
Source of Funding Support:
Period Covered for the Study:
Over-all Objective/s of the Study:
Research Methodologies Employed:
Technical Report: Regional Consultation on Mining in Bicol
Institute for Environmental Conservation and Research, Ateneo de Naga University
Mining-affected communities in the 6 provinces of the Bicol Region where 1-2 representatives from
each province will share their experiences on mining. Participants include the academe, church, NGOs,
LGUs, government agencies (DENR, DA, DOT), interested individuals in the six (6) provinces of the Bicol
Region
Foundation for the Philippine Environment/ Ateneo de Naga University
1.5 days
The goal of the Consultation is to surface the real situation of our ecosystems where mining is
conducted. Specifically, the Consultation aims to:
 Provide a venue where resource speakers and local communities could share experiences of
local situations on impacts of mining in the Bicol Region in particular
 Identify the existing mining operations (both legal and illegal) in the 6 provinces of the Bicol
Region
 Surface environmental problems brought about by these mining activities (past and present)
 Make decisions among the participants on what to do and how to deal with these problems
 Further present possible alternatives to mining as source of livelihood that sustains the
environment
 Draft policy reforms which will address to the President of the Philippines
 After the consultation, conduct a signature campaign if necessary
Survey
In-depth Interview
Focus Group Discussion
Others________________
 Sharing of experiences of communities on mining in their localities
 Inputs from knowledgeable persons on practices of mining in Bicol, mining impacts to the
environment, economics and mining in the Philippines, alternatives (ecotourism) to mining
 Open forum for clarification and additional inputs
 Proposals for policy reforms from the participants for consideration in Congress
Bicol Region
Unit and Local of the Study:
Findings and Recommendations
Significant Findings
The Regional Consultation on Mining in Bicol was conducted in order
to surface the real situations of our ecosystems in the Region where
mining is conducted. All the 6 provinces of the Bicol Region were
presented. Those who gave talks were coming from the mining
Recommendations or Implications
There are mining activities going on in the Bicol Region which have
been mentioned only in some gatherings but their impacts on the
ecosystem and livelihood have not been fully documented. Many of
these mines are operating without permits , thus, monitoring by
Mindanao Action Points Advocacy Coordinating Group
Mining Research Databanking Template
communities, those who are working near the mining sites, the church
groups, and resource speakers from Manila (Darryn Castillo of ABSCBN who presented the talk of Gina Lopez who could not come due to
erratic weather condition and the late Maita Gomez) and local persons
(Engr. Perdigon of Aquinas University, and Dr. Emelina G. Regis of
INECAR, Ateneo de Naga University. About 151 persons
attended/involved in the consultation. The President of the Ateneo de
Naga University, Fr. Primitivo E. Viray, Jr., S.J. gave the Opening
Remarks and Dr. Alfredo Fabay gave the Closing Remarks. Aside from
the talks, a workshop was facilitated in order to provide opportunities
for the participants and others involved to voice out the policies they
think should be included in the alternative mining bill being discussed
in Congress. Based on the sharing of volunteers from the miningaffected areas, the discussion presented by the resource speakers, and
the suggested policy reforms for mining activities, the following
realizations were brought to light:
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The plight of the mining-affected communities is still on-going
and remained unresolved. Issues on harassment and
intimidation of local people and the cover-up of effects on
human health and ecosystem destruction are just ignored or
perhaps the appropriate agencies have no power to provide
solutions.
Illegal mining activities are going on, yet the concerned offices
have not enforced the applicable laws pertaining to violations.
Pollution of croplands, river and sea is still going on and not
regulated and/or mitigated, mining should not be allowed in
island ecosystems.
There is a need for economic valuation of the land and
offshore substrate before a permit is issued. In this manner,
the local communities will be able to assess the cost and
benefits of both mining and local resources providing
livelihood sound decision-making.
government agencies such as the DENR has not been done. The only
scientifically documented areas on Mining in the Bicol Region are the
Lafayette polymetalic mine, now KORES and Associates in the island of
Rapu-Rapu, Albay, and the partially documented magnetite mining in
Matnog, Sorsogon.
Mining destroys the ecosystem because its method necessitates the
removal of forests and other vegetation. Their siltation ponds
oftentimes overflow during the rainy season, causing toxic wastes
water to flow and tailings to slide down towards the croplands and the
marine habitats finally burying the fishing grounds especially the
nursery grounds known as the coral reefs. The damage to vegetation
not only reduce biodiversity and endanger ecosystems stability, but
also ultimately contribute to the worsening of climate change due to
reduced carbon sink aside from increasing temperature even in the
locality. Forest and marine ecosystems, more importantly the
phytoplankton, are considered carbon sinks and produces oxygen
through the process of photosynthesis. Mining releases toxic heavy
metals into the water bodies and dumps silt in these ecosystems
causing loss of productivity and death to living organisms therein.
Because these metals persists in these places even after mining
operations have ceased, the recovery of the forest and coral reefs
takes hundreds to thousands of years, and sometimes, is not possible
in areas with iron sulfide rocks because of its capability to generate
acid by the natural process of acid mine drainage (AMD).
Hence, there is a need to safeguard the environment where people get
their food and materials for livelihood that are sustainable.
Safeguarding the environment will ensure regulation of temperature,
reliable source of fresh water, biodiversity where each living organisms
are connected through the food web which maintains the survival of
component organisms, and other intrinsic benefits.
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There is a need for rehabilitation fund that considers the
number of years it would take for rehabilitating a mined out
area including the affected rivers, croplands and marine
ecosystems so that these ecosystems can become productive
again or changed into alternative usage which is safe from
heavy metal pollution and siltation.
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Some mining companies do not pay the correct taxes by
undervaluing the ores they extracted, others do not pay at all
and this has been going on without applying the law.
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The 2% excise tax is very small compared to what the mining
companies earn which is in billions. The amount does not
cover real rehabilitation funds. The great majority of the
benefits still go to the mining companies; only a trickle is
received by the local communities.
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The Philippines does not benefit from investments in millions
and billions of dollars, unless the money is used to buy the
materials from the Philippines.
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Some mining companies circumvent the law by applying for
small scale project, yet operate as large scale.
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The role of the regulatory offices was simply to conduct
investigation; there is also the so-called legal grace period
before they obliged the operator.
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Insufficient data reported on the actual number of persons
killed
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Need for urgency in actions regarding mining disasters swuch
as leak, siltation of rivers and marine ecosystems, destruction
of croplands and mining-related violence.
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There is a need to educate the students in all levels about
mining operation by incorporating the topics in science
subjects that include exploration, development (removal of
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Mining Research Databanking Template
trees, building of roads and buildings for administration and
operations), extraction (diggings and dynamite blasting, use of
chemicals that release and capture the metals), and lastly what
happens to people during and after mining in terms of benefits
and livelihood opportunities. In this manner, the decision to
mine or not to mine is done through genuine informed
consent.
From the suggested policy reforms given by the participants, resource
speakers and sharers during the consultation, the undersigned
consolidated the suggestions and were grouped into 5 major concerns:
 Regulation and compliance with the law
 Tax policy
 Monitoring policy
 Sustainable development
 Mining Act of 1995
Majority of the attendees signed the signature campaign forms
signifying their agreement to the policy reforms. Then, the paper was
sent to several congressmen who are members of the Ecology
Committee and Natural Resources Committee, and finally to President
Benigno Simeon C. Aquino, III.
Submitted by:
Date Submitted:
Contact Details of the Research Institute:
INECAR, Ateneo de Naga University
May 11, 2015
Inecar.adnu@gmail.com / (054) 473-8447 loc. 2217