DAVAO CITY -- President Benigno Aquino III is not amenable to banning mining operations since doing so will just create small-scale operations in mineral-rich areas, which will be more difficult to regulate.
Rather, he prefers heavily regulating the mining sector to ensure that environmental costs are minimized.
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"I am no longer a spring chicken. Maganda pakinggan ang resolutions pero dapat makatotohanan (the resolutions were good but they should be realistic)," Aqunio said, referring to the resolutions presented by League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) national president Strike Revilla of Bacoor, Cavite, which includes a call to ban mining operations.
The President also promised to support the 20-point resolutions on Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) submitted by the League of Municipalities of the Philippines after the third leg of the Local Government Units (LGU) summit held in Davao City.
"The National Government will do its part in fighting the effects of climate change but each person is important in preparing for the big challenges in the coming years," Aquino told hundreds of participants at the Grand Regal Hotel on the last day of the two-day summit.
The summit aims to increase local awareness and commitment to the CCA by bringing together local government officials, scientists and other development partners.
Aquino said the mining moratorium proposal is commendable but not practical. He said in case the National Government imposes a moratorium on the entry of multi-national mining corporations in the country, small-scale miners will be the ones that would exploit the natural resources.
"Mas mahirap i-regulate and small-scale miners. Mas malaki ang problema (Small-scale miners are difficult to manage. The problem is bigger)," he said, citing the case of Romblon where high level of mercury has been recorded because of small-scale mining.
He is, however, more amenable to a "heavily regulated mining" as a way to ensure that the environment is protected.
On the other hand, Aquino said he already issued an executive order restricting commercial logging.
Since July 2010 until March 15, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has confiscated a total of 6,934,000 board feet of illegally cut logs all over the country, he said.
In Davao Region, a total of 73 wood processing plants have been closed and has left more or less 20,000 workers unemployed.
Aquino also lauded the DENR for its vigorous campaign against illegal logging, but said the government now needs to provide jobs for the 20,000 people who are now jobless because of their log ban policy.
On national land use policy, Aquino vowed to adopt total land use policy before he steps down five years and two months from now.
"Aasahan ko kayong lahat (I expect you) to help draft national land use policy," he told LMP members.
"The benefits of all these CCA measures is long away to be felt even after I retire from office," he said in negating impressions that his support is just to gain "pogi" points.
The National Economic Development Authority initiated the LGU summit in partnership with the Climate Change Commission, DENR, Albay Provincial Government, and LMP, supported by Millennium Development Goal Achievement Fund 1656 Joint Programme.
Similar with the two previous legs of the LGU summit in Albay and Iloilo, the Davao assembly presented tools on how LGUs can assess their communities' vulnerability and successful practices of CCA at the local level. (Gigie Arcilla-Agtay/Ben O. Tesiorna/Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex
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