‘…we all can rest assured that while disasters may still happen because nature is an unpredictable factor, an operator will never again be able to escape liability because they are now held to account even for operations they have already closed.’
WE are a people who are wont to downplay our collective ability to do great things. No question that we have outstanding individual achievers — sportsmen being the most common of such recently — but as a group, as a people? We Filipinos are like this and we Filipinos are like that and, yes, I have to admit that there’s a basis sometimes for this “nega” thinking.
But sometimes we can surprise even ourselves.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had to explain mining to fund managers, who basically are informed about mining in general but not about mining in the Philippines in particular.
And since the world of global fund managers are inspired by ESG matters (Environment, Social and Corporate Governance) I’ve also had to read up on the latter, particularly its roots and how it intertwines with mining.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the experience.
“ESG,” it can be argued, can trace its roots to 2005, when then UN Secretary General Kofi Anan challenged international financial institutions to incorporate environmental, social and corporate governance issues in their policies, programs and practices. It was a sign of a growing interest in and concern for not only the growing divide between north and south but also environment matters that were becoming cross border in impact.
So much so that by 2012 the UN General Assembly passed a resolution entitled “The Future We Want” which, not surprisingly, has a special section (section 227) on mining. It acknowledges the contribution that mining makes towards social and economic development, helping nations meet their international commitments to social and development programs. But section 227 also challenged mining activities to maximize these economic benefits while addressing the environmental impact that mining brings.
When I explain this, I pause, and then inform my audience that the Philippine Mining Act (aka RA 7942) that was passed in 1995 — or 10 years before ESG was first “coined” and a full 15 years before the UNGA spoke of the future we want — already covered these concerns. In fact, I am told that when the Act was passed it was considered the most stringent mining act the world had ever seen — and one that has now become the basis for mining acts passed in other jurisdictions.
Imagine that. We had a law that was way ahead of its time.
It’s still the law in force and effect and is the reason why responsible mining exists in the Philippines. Of course, it took a Marcopper mining disaster in the island of Marinduque to give birth to the Mining Act — but now we all can rest assured that while disasters may still happen because nature is an unpredictable factor, an operator will never again be able to escape liability because they are now held to account even for operations they have already closed
Take a bow, RA 7942.
