Duterte has not lifted ban on new open-pit mines: spokesman

File photo by ABS-CBN News
File photo by ABS-CBN News

Despite a vote last month by the Mining Industry Coordinating Council to lift a ban imposed by former Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez on open-pit mines, President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque says the ban remains in place.

READ: Despite rejection as environmental secretary, Gina Lopez continues campaign vs open-pit mines

“I assure you that this is one of the instances when I personally asked the president if there’s been a change in policy. And he says that’s there’s still no new policy on this; there’s still a ban on new open-pit mining,” Roque told reporters during a press conference earlier today.

Lopez’s replacement, Roy Cimatu, and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, co-chair the council, and voted in favor of lifting the ban.

Although it’s unclear whether the president decided to keep the ban in place despite the council’s vote, or if information about the council’s vote simply had not yet reached him yet. Roque said he would seek clarification from the president on the ban soon, as Duterte has final say in this matter.

Cimatu and Dominguez declined to issue statements when asked by reporters about the continued ban.

Despite being rejected as environment secretary last May, Lopez continued to lobby against open-pit mines, which she believes are harming the environment.

“All that I can do is let people know — especially the media — my take on why the ban should not be lifted,” she told Coconuts Manila after the mining council’s vote last month.

Duterte has reiterated on several occasions that he would continue to support the ban on open-pit mines despite the revenue it could potentially generate for the government because of the environmental damage caused by this method of extraction.



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