QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 7876)
All mineral resources in public and private lands within the territory and exclusive economic zone of the Philippines are owned by the State; the State must promote rational exploration, development, utilization, and conservation through government and private sector efforts while safeguarding the environment and protecting affected communities’ rights.
(a) Promote rational exploration, development, utilization, and conservation under full control and supervision of the State; (b) Enhance mineral resources’ contribution to economic recovery and national development with environmental and community protection and local science/technical development; (c) Promote equitable access to economically efficient development and fair sharing of benefits and costs; and (d) Enable government and investor to recover their share/return with due regard to environment, social equity, and fair return of investment.
ECC is the document issued certifying that the project will not bring about unacceptable environmental impact and that the proponent has complied with the requirements of the EIS system. EIA is a process of identifying and predicting impacts of proposed projects on physical, cultural, biological environment and human health and well-being, recommending mitigating measures, and interpreting/communicating information about such impacts for use.
EIA is the process; EIS is the document resulting from the process that identifies, predicts, interprets, and communicates environmental quality changes and examines alternatives and their impacts.
Contract Area is the land or body of water delineated under a mineral agreement or FTAA, subject to the contractor’s relinquishment obligations, and properly defined by longitude and latitude—important because rights and obligations attach to that defined area.
It receives, records, and manages mining documents; pre-processes applications for documentary compliance, computes fees, records documents, provides information on application status, inputs data into systems, maintains records, issues certifications/copies, and projects/verifies areas for conflict checking.
A mining register is a hardbound logbook arranged chronologically for documents received. For applications, it records application number, date/time of filing, applicant name, location, area applied (blocks/hectares), official receipt number, and amount paid.
Mineral reservation applications for mineral agreements/FTAA/exploration/small-scale mining are registered at the Bureau. Outside mineral reservations, mineral agreements/FTAA/exploration and industrial sand & gravel permits over 5 hectares are registered at the Regional Offices. Quarry permits, industrial sand & gravel permits of 5 hectares or less, guano permits, gemstone gathering permits, and small-scale mining permits outside reservations are registered at the Provincial Governor/City Mayor’s office where the area is located.
(a) Public or private lands not covered by valid and existing mining rights and applications; (b) Lands covered by expired/abandoned/cancelled mining/quarrying rights; (c) Mineral reservations; and (d) Timber or forestlands as defined in existing laws.
Examples include: (1) military and other government reservations (unless prior written clearance); (2) near/under buildings, cemeteries, archaeological/historic sites, bridges, highways, waterways, railroads, reservoirs, dams, or other infrastructure (unless consent and technical evaluation/validation); (3) areas covered by valid/existing mining rights; (4) areas covered by existing mining applications; (5) areas prohibited by law; (6) old growth/virgin forests, proclaimed watershed reserves, wilderness areas, mangroves, national parks, and NIPAS areas; among others listed in Section 17.
Mining applications may be allowed in ancestral lands/domains related to existing civil reservations/ancestral domain claims or similar arrangements, but they shall not be granted without prior consent of the concerned indigenous cultural community. If opened, parties must agree on royalty for the indigenous cultural community; such royalty forms a trust fund for their socio-economic well-being.
The Director must conduct public hearings with affected sectors, communities, NGOs/POs, and LGUs; the public must be notified by newspaper publication and posting in affected municipalities/barangays at least 30 days before hearings. The Director’s written recommendation must state grounds and must be published after submission to the Secretary. No recommendation may be acted upon by the Secretary unless complied with strictly. Upon presidential action, there must also be additional publication weekly for two consecutive weeks in newspapers of general circulation and popular local circulation and announcement in local popular radio programs; oppositions filed within 30 days from the last publication must be resolved by the Office of the President.
All submerged lands within the archipelagic sea, contiguous zone, and EEZ are considered mineral reservations. In proclamations establishing mineral reservations, valid and existing mining/quarrying rights must be respected.
Royalty paid to the Bureau must not be less than 5% of the market value of gross output of minerals/mineral products extracted/produced from the mineral reservation (exclusive of all other taxes). A 10% share of royalties, administrative fees, clearance fees, exploration fees, and other related fees accrues to the Bureau as a trust fund deposited in a government depository bank for special projects and other administrative expenses related to exploration, development, and environmental management in other government reservations.
It must be filed by a qualified person with the proper office, with required fees, and includes 5 sets of: clearance if within government reservation; location map/sketch plan using NAMRIA map and coordinates; work program and financial plan for two years by a licensed geologist or mining engineer; environmental work program assessing potential environmental effects and mitigation measures; proof of technical capability (personnel and biodata); proof of financial capability (assets/liabilities and IT return for individuals; financial statements and annual reports for corporations); and articles of incorporation/partnership and by-laws (SEC certified), plus other supporting papers as the Bureau may require.
Upon filing, the applicant must post a summary for at least 30 days in bulletin boards of affected provinces/municipalities, copy furnish barangays in a language understood locally, and publish once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the area. Oppositions/adverse claims must be filed within 45 days from the last date of posting/publication.
An exploration permit may not exceed two (2) years from issuance, renewable for two (2) years each, but total duration cannot exceed six (6) years. It requires annual relinquishment: at least 20% of the remaining permit area during the first two years; and at least 10% of the remaining permit area thereafter.
If exploration results reveal economically and technically feasible mineral deposits, the permittee may file a declaration of mining project feasibility with a three-year work program within the term of the exploration permit. Approval grants an exclusive right to a mineral agreement or FTAA over the permit area; however, failure to exercise the exclusive right within one (1) year results in automatic cancellation of the declaration.