Employees of mining agency defend director

Employees of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) defended their director, Horacio Ramos, yesterday, saying the issues against him were "unfair, irresponsible and apparently a mere orchestration of certain quarters in order to advance their personal interest."

In a statement, Edwin de Vera, president of the MGB Employees Association, said it was unfair for Ramos to be blamed for the decline of the minerals industry, "much less for the bureau to be cited for unabated corruption just because of one case that has not yet even been decided upon."

De Vera expressed concern that such an issue would not help in the current thrust to revitalize the minerals industry, "especially since the issues are plausible and the motives behind them are questionable."

"For so many years, the DENR-MGB and the minerals industry have worked together seeking the support of every administration to promote minerals development in the country. We should therefore not allow selfish interest to meddle in any way now that we have finally won the support of President Arroyo," De Vera said.

De Vera was reacting to newspaper reports that quoted mining executives Isagani Aguinaldo of Tandem Mining Corp. and Manuel Pasetes of Aegis Mining Corp. as saying that the minerals industry has not contributed significantly to the economy due to alleged corruption in the MGB.

The two executives cited a pending case filed against Ramos for alleged violation of the Mining Act of 1995.

Citing an earlier presentation by Chamber of Mines of the Philippines chairman Gerard Brimo, De Vera said the decline of the minerals industry could be attributed to several issues.

But De Vera said Ramos and the previous MGB administrations have hurdled the issues through the years — the worldwide economic recession resulting in scarce capital, the problem on land access as more and more mineral sites are being declared forest reserves and protected areas, the scarce exploration fund, and the lingering anti-mining sentiment that resulted in projects being opposed by communities.

De Vera said the resolution of these issues is in fact now the focus of MGB programs under the minerals industry revitalization thrust in the remaining months of Mrs. Arroyo’s term.

He said MGB employees are confident that the actions and decisions of Ramos and the bureau have always been consistent with the provisions of the Mining Act of 1995.

For his part, Ramos said that despite these issues, the MGB cannot be stopped from pursuing its current efforts to revitalize the minerals industry.

The revitalization thrust calls for the resolution of four major obstacles that continue to hamper the industry’s growth — the persisting anti-mining sentiment, low level of investor confidence, restricted access to mineral land, and idle, abandoned and sequestered assets.

"I encourage the people behind these issues to just be one with the DENR-MGB and the whole industry in resolving these obstacles," Ramos said.

Ramos, a career executive service officer III, was appointed MGB director in 1996 and has since held the post.

An advocate of sustainable development through responsible mineral resources development, Ramos was among those who supported the enactment of the Mining Act of 1995 and was part of the crafting of its implementing rules and regulations, which have undergone a series of improvements under his watch.

Ramos is also the proponent of the National Minerals Policy aimed at further institutionalizing the principle of sustainable development in current mining operations, which is also part of the MGB’s social preparation for the revitalization of the minerals industry.

Meanwhile, Aegis Mining Corp. president Amado Quinto has informed the MGB that his company has nothing to do with Pasetes’ statements.

"Although Mr. Pasetes is one of our directors, his statements are his own and do not in any way reflect the position of (Aegis Mining Corp.) on the matter," Quinto said in his letters to newspaper editors, a copy of which he furnished the MGB.

Records show that Pasetes was part of a company that lost in a celebrated case in the Mines Adjudication Board (MAB), a quasi-judicial body resolving mining cases.

On the other hand, Aguinaldo and his Tandem Mining Corp., as per MGB records, were found to have no mining application or any mining property in the country, De Vera said.