Answer:
House Bill 8951, principally authored by Rep. Luisa Lloren Cuaresma (Lone District, Nueva Vizcaya), seeks to prohibit all forms of mining operations and activities within the jurisdiction of Nueva Vizcaya.
All valid and existing contracts, exploration, permits, licenses, technical agreements, and mineral production sharing agreements in accordance with Republic Act 7942 or the "Philippine Mining Act of 1995" covering any area of the province at the date of effectivity of the measure shall be recognized and remain valid until its termination or expiration.
However, the government shall not issue new exploration permits or similar other agreements within the jurisdiction of the province.
Exploration activities and mining operations under existing exploration permits, mineral agreements and other similar agreements shall be undertaken immediately by the permittee or contractor.
Small-scale mining contracts shall also be cancelled upon the effectivity of the measure. Affected contractors have one year from the time the measure takes into effect to undertake rehabilitation, regeneration, and reforestation of mineralized areas, slope stabilization of mined-out and tailing covered areas, watershed development, and water preservation.
Existing quarry permits issued by the provincial government at the time of the effectivity of the measure shall be recognized. Thereafter, quarry permits issued by the provincial governor shall be regularly reviewed and monitored by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
A quarry permit shall immediately be cancelled by the provincial governor upon the recommendation of the DENR when, in the guise of quarrying activities, the holder of the permit engages in activities that require exploration permut, mineral agreement, or mining contract.
Violators of the measure shall face penalty of imprisonment of six months to 12 years as well as a fine of not less than P10 million.
In the explanatory note of HB 6727, one of the measures consolidated into HB 8951, Cuaresma said that mining is an inherently destructive industry.
"In every place where there is mining, especially large-scale mining projects, there is massive deforestation, contamination of water resources, depletion of agricultural areas, human rights violations, and abuse of cultural minorities," she said.
Cuaresma said that Nueva Cizcaya has been a witness to the cycle that begins with promises of prosperity and development but later turns out to be harmful to rural communities.
Since the 1970s, mining has been a source of conflict and suffering in our province. We cannot allow more of the same," she said. | Czarina B. Engracia, News and Documentation Section-Press and Public Affairs Bureau / House of Representatives of the Philippines
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