Human Rights Online Philippines

Mining regulators eye bidding out 3M hectares of freed up areas
By Riza T. Olchondra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
January 3, 2012

 MANILA, Philippines—Mining regulators are considering options for managing freed up mining areas including bidding them out.

Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) director Engr. Leo L. Jasareno said via e-mail that more than 3 million hectares of applied mining areas have been freed up since the government implemented its “use it or lose it” policy.

“The policy has the primary aim of rendering final action on 2,196 pending mining applications nationwide. By end of June 2011, the MGB denied a total of 1,606 applications.

Beyond mineral resources development and management, the MGB has been pursuing its other mandate – geohazard mapping for landslide and flooding, Jasareno said.

In the light with the recent Cagayan de Oro flooding event, the MGB has been advocating the widespread use of landslide and flooding maps for much of the last decade as a tool for disaster risk reduction and management, as well as land use planning.

MGB has been conducting cleansing by either approving pending applications or disapproving those with “infirmities, lack of activity, or lack of requirements.”

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