DOE allays fears of contractors

MANILA, Philippines -  The Department of Energy (DOE) has allayed possible concerns from interested parties and holders of coal service contracts given an ongoing review of the country’s mining policies.

“If you look at coal mining, we do not have too many problems particularly on the environmental concerns,” DOE Undersecretary Jose M. Layug Jr. said.

“We continue to (conduct) dialogues with stakeholders and government agencies when we assist our contractors,” Layug added.

Early this month, Malacañang said it would come up with an executive order on a unified mining policy that will address the concerns of local and international investors by the end of this month.

Layug said the legal basic of coal mining through Presidential Decree 972 issued in 1976 is different from the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, which covers metallic mining.

The mining industry has been hampered by a slew of problems like government red tape in approving permits and opposition from church, left-wing groups and host communities.

More recently, regulatory conflicts at the national and local government levels over mining policies arose like the open pit mining ban of the South Cotabato provincial government.

Layug said the DOE will coordinate with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which issues environmental compliance certificates that are vital to a work program.

“When we award 30 (service) contracts this year, we will make sure that we will help our service contractor perform their work obligations,” Layug said.

Layug said planned and existing bidding for service contracts for coal mining will not likely be affected.

For instance, the pre-qualification for coal projects covering 30 pre-selected areas is scheduled on February 29 and the bidding will be held on March 30.

“A lot of interested parties have requested to give them time to prepare their documents for the pre-qualification purposes,” Layug said.