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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 6450

Introduced by
BAYAN MUNA Representatives CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE,
EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT, and FERDINAND R. GAITE,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Representative ARLENE D. BROSAS,
ACT TEACHERS Party-List Representative FRANCE L. CASTRO,
and KABATAAN Party-List Representative SARAH JANE I. ELAGO

AN ACT
IMPOSING A MORATORIUM ON THE OPEN PIT METHOD OF MINING FOR
COPPER, GOLD, SILVER, AND COMPLEX ORES IN THE PHILIPPINES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

“The Philippines is one of the most mineral rich countries in Asia. It is the fifth most mineral-rich
country in the world in terms of gold, copper, nickel, and chromite. The Mines and Geosciences
Bureau estimates that the country has an untapped mineral wealth worth $840 billion. Due to its
vast mineral resources, the country has been the target of many foreign and local mining
operations which come with significant environmental, social and cultural costs. All over the
archipelago, destructive mining practices have caused irreversible damage to forests and local
‘communities. One of the most notorious and destructive method is open-pit mining.

Open-pit mining is the process of extracting rock or minerals from the earth through their
removal from an open pit. Its environmental effects are far-reaching as it requires the clearing of
hectares of agricultural and forest lands, deep excavation, often the use of toxic heavy metals for
processing, and the consumption of millions of liters of water. These operations result to the
siltation of rivers and leaking of toxic chemicals into waterways. As a result, it not only harms the
environment but the host community as well, causing the displacement of residents, lack of
access to water and loss of livelihood for residents and indigenous people who rely on farming,
fishing and forestry.

In the Philippines, several open-pit mines are often left abandoned and unrehabilitated after
operations which has resulted to lasting damage to its surrounding communities. The Rapu-Rapu
polymetallic mine in Albay is testament to the destruction caused by open-pit mines. Left
unrehabilitated, the mine was found to have toxic acid drainage seeping into a creek downstream.
“They found that water’s pH levels dropped far below accepted standards, making it unsuitable

for irrigation.

In South Cotabato, Mindanao, the Tampakan copper-gold mining project is on its way to
become the largest open-pit mine in the Philippines. The proposed project will require the
clearing of 6,935 hectares of agricultural land and rainforests. It stands to contaminate three
major watersheds covering five provinces and threatens to dry up irrigation systems in the
lowlands. An estimated 6,000 residents will be dislocated, most of which are indigenous people


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from the B'laan tribe. Residents have protested its continued operation and the extension of its
Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement.

In Nueva Vizcaya, residents opposed the continued operations of Oceana Gold Philippines, Inc.,
an Australian-Canadian mining company operating an open-pit mine in Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva
Vizcaya. In 2011 the Commission on Human Rights found that the establishment of the mine
caused the displacement, eviction, and rights violations of residents and indigenous people in
Didipio. In 2014, it an environmental investigation mission found that Oceana Gold's Didipio
mine caused water pollution that was 2 to 8 times above safety levels for irrigation and riverine
organisms. Residents continue to air their opposition to the continued operations of the mine.

“The mining sector contributes only 0.8 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and
0.6% to employment. 97% of mineral production in the country goes to foreign industries.
Mining also has the highest poverty incidence of any sector in the country at 48.7 percent,
despite foreign mining companies raking in billions in revenues. ‘The gains from the mining
sector are obviously outweighed by the long-term and far-reaching environmental and social
costs.

In 2017, a ban on prospective open-pit mines was issued by the DENR under then Secretary
Gina Lopez, citing open pit mines as a financial liability with destructive impacts on the
environment and a loss of economic potential for its host communities.

Hamessing the country’s mineral resources sustainable mining practices, guided by proper
regulation and development, is be crucial to national industrialization and towards a strong, self-
reliant, and progressive economy.

In view of the foregoing, the passage of this Bill is earnestly sought.

Approved,

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REP. CARLOS ISAG: T. ‘TE

Bayan Muna Partylist

REP. EUFEMIA C. Cras 140° J REP. FERDINAND R. GAITE

Bayan Muna Partylist ——— Bayan Muna Partylist
oa
D. BROSAS REP. Ej. CASTRO
GABRIELA Women’s Party ACT YeachersfPartylist
REP. |. ELAGO

Partylist


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

6
HOUSE BILL No. ea50

Introduced by
BAYAN MUNA Representatives EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT,
CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE and FERDINAND R. GAITE,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Representative ARLENE D. BROSAS,
ACT TEACHERS Party-List Representative FRANCE L. CASTRO,
and KABATAAN Party-List Representative SARAH JANE I. ELAGO

AN ACT IMPOSING A MORATORIUM ON THE OPEN PIT METHOD OF
MINING FOR COPPER, GOLD, SILVER, AND COMPLEX ORES IN THE
PHILIPPINES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the “Open Pit Mining Moratorium Act of
2020”

Section 2, Declaration of Policy. ‘The Philippine Constitution provides for the protection and
advancement of the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the
thythm and harmony of nature.

It is further enshrined in the Constitution that the State owns all the mineral, coal, natural gas and
petroleum resources within its national territory, its terrestrial, fluvial and marine domains,
including its territorial seas, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas,
within its archipelagic baselines. ‘The appropriate utilization, sound management of the country’s
finite mineral resources and the enjoyment of the benefits of such is exclusive to the Filipino
people. These resources shall therefore in no way be alienated.

‘As such, the State as a policy shall impose strict regulation on existing mining methods and
technologies that have caused massive ecological disruption, posed alarming risks to communities,
and have facilitated the depletion of our mineral resources to the loss of our national economy.

Section 3. Coverage. ‘The moratorium mandated by this Act shall cover all existing approved and
pending mining projects of copper, gold, silver, and complex ores that have not commenced
commercial operation.

Section 4. Moratorium on Open Pit Mining. ‘There shall be a 25-year moratorium or suspension
on the approval and commencement of mining projects as covered in Section 3. Mining
contractors who have not commenced commercial operation but have approved Declarations of
Mining Project Feasibility for open pit mining are given a period of six (6) months to review theit


planned mining methods accordingly.

Section 5. Mandatory Review of Moratorium After Twelve Years. Congress shall establish a
mechanism to undertake a mandatory review of this Act after twelve (12) years, with the primary
objective of assessing the feasibility of open pit mining methods on the basis of the principles of
achieving agricultural modernization, national industrialization, ecological integrity, and the
rational, sustainable, and equitable development of the national economy.

Section 6. National Industrialization Program and Minerals Management Plan as
Precondition. As a precondition to the consideration of the feasibility of open pit mining, the
State shall craft a National Industrialization Program (NIP) and Minerals Management Plan
(MMP) that adheres to the following:

‘a. the medium- and long-term needs of the Philippines;

b. the advancement of the industry’s technology with emphasis on existing indigenous
knowledge, research and development;

c. the right to self-determination of the indigenous and Moro peoples;

d. the generally accepted principles as embodied in the International Covenants on Civil and
Political Rights, on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other international accords on human rights, labor
rights, the rights of women and children, and the protection and preservation of the
environment, of which the State is a party;

¢. The right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the chythm and
harmony of nature;

£ Maintain peace and order, protect life, liberty and property and promote the general
welfare;

. Advance the medium- and long-term needs of the Philippines;

. Encourage the advancement of the industry’s technology with emphasis on existing
indigenous knowledge, research and development,

i. Promote social justice in all phases of national development;

j. Protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness

among them;

k. Pursue an independent foreign policy. In its relations with other states the paramount
consideration shall be national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interest, and the
right to self-determination;

1. Develop a self-reliant and independent national economy effectively controlled by
Filipinos;

m. Ensure the autonomy of local governments;

. Give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right of
all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities, and
remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the
common good; and

0. Encourage non-governmental, community-based, or sectoral organizations that promote
the welfare of the nation.

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‘The NIP will be framed on the principles of agricultural modernization, development of industrial
and manufacturing industries, and rational, sustainable, and equitable development of the national
economy. The State shall, therefore, promote the development of mineral processing to maximize
the benefits or value-added from mining. Towards this end, it shall encourage the establishment
and development of manufacturing plants that will utilize locally processed mineral products as
‘well as mining firms that will process mineral ores first for domestic purposes and before exporting


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them to other countries. It shall address the needs of the domestic economy and upholds the rights
of industry workers, indigenous peoples and local communities.

Pursuant to the foregoing, the State shall implement a MMP that provides the framework for the
utilization and management of the country’s mineral resources, which will address the needs of the
domestic economy and uphold the rights of industry workers, indigenous peoples and local
communities.

‘The said MMP to be implemented by the State shall be economically-viable, ecologically-sound,
and in aid to the nation’s efforts to attaining food self-sufficiency, rural development and national
industrialization. It shall be crafted in accord with the NIP that will provide a comprehensive
economic framework for genuine national development, including agricultural modernization,
public infrastructure in energy, transportation, communication, and downstream mineral
industries.

Section 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The Department of Environment and
‘Natural Resources (DENR) and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) is hereby tasked to
draft the implementing rules and regulations of this Act within sixty (60) days following its
complete publication.

Section 7. Separability Clause. The provisions of this Act are hereby declared to be separable
and, in the event of any such provisions are declared unconstitutional, the other provisions which
are not affected thereby shall remain in force and effect.

Section 8. Repealing Clause. All provisions in laws, decrees, issuances and other regulations
inconsistent with this Act shall be deemed amended or repealed if the inconsistency is
irreconcilable.

Section 9. Effectivity Clause. ‘This Act shall take effect within fifteen (15) days following its
publication in two national newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

Approved,