The House Committee on Natural Resources on Friday approved a bill seeking to re-orient mining operations for national industrialization to support local communities.
<a href="https://hrep-website.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/legisdocs/basic_19/HB00259.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House Bill No. 259</a>, or the People's Mining Act, was authored by Kabataan Party-list Representative Raoul Manuel, Act Teachers Party-list Representative France Castro, and Gabriela Women's Pary-list Representative Arlene Brosas.
In the explanatory note, it disproves the believed contribution of mining operations in the Philippines.
"The real benefits of mining in terms of its contributions to the country's GDP (Gross Domestic Product), employment, government revenues, investments, national industrialization, and poverty alleviation is, in fact, not significant," it reads.
Citing independent think-tank IBON Foundation's study, 97% of mineral production goes to foreign industries proving that the operations were 'export-oriented'.
Under HB No. 259, the government will lead the mining industry development by adhering to the following:
<ul>
<li>The medium and long-term needs of the Philippines</li>
<li>The advancement of the industry's technology with an emphasis on existing indigenous knowledge, research, and development</li>
<li>The right to self-determination of the indigenous and Moro people</li>
<li>The generally accepted principles as embodied in the International Covenants on Civil 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 right of women and children, and the protection and preservation of the environment, of which the State is a party</li>
<li>A balance and healthy ecology</li>
</ul>
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House OKs bill re-orienting mining industry in PH