Governors not up in arms over EO on mining - Robredo

BUTUAN CITY, Philippines - Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo on Tuesday said there is no truth to reports that governors were up in arms against the forthcoming issuance of a new mining policy.

At a press conference here on disaster preparedness for local government units (LGUs) in the Caraga region, Robredo said he thinks Albay Gov. Joey Salceda was just misquoted in the statement he issued last week that some 40 governors would go to court to question the much-awaited mining policy once it comes out, fearing that the measure would “destroy the countryside” that municipal legislation was protecting.

“I talked to him. He was just saying you know that there are local government units which passed ordinances on mining and I must tell you that some of these ordinances were pro-mining.”

Robredo said Salceda and the 40 other governors did not say they are against mining at all, nor that they will file cases in court if the new mining policy will be signed.

Robredo also echoed President Aquino’s statement that national laws prevail over laws or ordinances created by LGUs.

“All Salceda was saying is that you know, following our legal processes, any ordinance passed by LGUs must be judged by the court in order for its passage to be valid,” Robredo said.

The DILG chief added that it’s best to have a healthy dialogue between national and local governments for a common purpose. “Let us develop mining as an industry that will benefit us. But let us not exchange protection of the environment for mining. The policy of the national government is clear: it is always for responsible mining.”

President Aquino on Monday stood by the new mining executive order (EO) awaiting his signature and welcomed a challenge in the Supreme Court on whether national laws could set aside local ordinances. – With Paolo Romero, Artemio Dumlao