President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on Saturday that laws on responsible mining must be enforced to protect the environment.
At a media briefing in Baguio City, Marcos was asked about his policy direction towards protecting the environment in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
“In terms of protecting the environment, it’s very clear what the position of this government has always been… It has been an important part of all our policies, that we are environmentally conscious, that we are moving the economy towards green technologies, [and that] we are moving our production of power towards renewables,” Marcos said.
“When it comes to mining, [it] is very clearly an important part of our plans for the economy; however, it’s clear that we do not want some of the incidents that we saw in the past few years to happen again,” he added.
Marcos said the government “will always make sure that the mining companies that come in, once they are finished mining, leave the site in the same condition as it was when they found it.”
“So it is really a question of enforcing the law in terms of responsible mining, and that is what we will continue to do,” the President said.
Marcos last year tasked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to strengthen its regulatory powers over small- and large-scale mining. — VBL, GMA Integrated News
