The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines has named 13 newly accredited verification service providers who will critically review the performance ratings of its members following the measurement tools prescribed by the Towards Sustainable Mining program.
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In a statement, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), an organization of some of the country’s largest mining operations, reiterated that EO 79 is “a major roadblock to the huge potential of the Philippine mining industry to contribute to socio-economic growth.”
“We welcome the lifting of the moratorium on new mining projects – in place for nearly nine years – in this time of great national difficulty as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic,” COMP said.
On Tuesday, COMP Spokesperson Rocky Dimaculangan told Business Bulletin of his organization’s hopes the Duterte Administration to finally address this “problematic policy.” Later that day, Duterte signed EO 130, amending EO 79, which was issued in 2012 to ban the approval of new mining permits until a new legislation rationalizing revenue-sharing scheme is enacted.