LGUs urged to employ local mining engineers

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippines Society of Mining Engineers calls on the local government units to hire mining engineers from their respective localities, not only to help provide job opportunities for licensed engineers in the country, but also to be informed of the positive side of the "controversial" sector.

This call was made yesterday by the officials of the PSEM during the opening of the three-day National Mining Convention at the Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu.

"The industry is bleeding now because of declining Filipino mining engineers," said PSEM incoming president Felizardo A. Gikad.

Gikad said aside from the lack of opportunities for mining engineers in the Philippines, the unfavorable business climate in mining in the country resulted in the downtrend of interest from new generation to take up this profession.

At present there are only three thousand licensed mining engineers in the country, most of them are employed abroad due to attractive take-home offers.

Mining engineering is one of the highest paid professions nowadays. Current entry level salary would average from P40 thousand to P50 thousand a month. In other countries, licensed mining engineers are paid an average of US$ 3,000 to US$5,000 every month.

 While PSEM is urging LGUs to hire mining engineers to boost the demand, PSEM through its partnership with mining companies all over the country, initiated a scholarship  program that will send deserving students to take up mining engineering.

PSEM outgoing president Cesar Lao-as said interest in mining engineering started to wane in 1989 when the country closed its doors to mining investments.              

However, when the Philippines re-opened itself to mining investment in 2005, the demand slowly moved up. Now, there are 11 universities and colleges in the country offering mining engineering course.

European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines  executive vice president Henry Schumacher said that prospects for mining metals and mineral ores are growing throughout the ASEAN, a region that is already established as a leading world producer in several key areas.

The Philippines, with estimated mineral resources valued at some US$850 billion, holds vast potential, he said. This includes possibly the world’s third-largest gold-ore deposits, the fourth-highest copper reserves, fifth-largest nickel and the sixth-biggest chromite-ore deposits.

This is in addition to large-scale resources of iron ore, bauxite and rare earth minerals, such as titanium, vanadium and molybdenum, as well as cobalt.

In the first quarter of 2013, the mining and quarrying subsector in the Philippines contracted by 17 percent. The country remains globally competitive in terms of its geology, but fails to take advantage of this due to inconsistency in policies and implementation, Schumacher stressed.

He said, the business community supports retaining the existing Philippine Mining Act, complemented by the implementation of an internationally competitive fiscal regime to provide a stable regulatory environment that will increase investor confidence.

The Philippines also needs conformity of local ordinances to national policies, as well as respect for vested interests under existing agreements, if it wants to make use of its potential, Schumacher added.

Over 200 delegates are participating on the ongoing MINECON, themed "Mining Engineers beyond 2016." (FREEMAN)