PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday gave the mining firms six months to plant new trees on the land they have denuded or he will revoke their permits.
He issued the order before leaving for China and warned he will ban open-pit mining next year if the mining firms ignore his call.
“I am going to give you six months from now. Six months. I want trees as tall as me by six months,” Duterte said.
“I am not joking. Do not wait for the day of your sorrow. Six months. I do not want to see any bald piece of land there. If I don’t see trees as tall as me, better pack up your things. You can go.”
In February this year, Duterte threatened to bomb open-pit mines if their operators would continue to defy a government ban on open-pit mining.
“If some open-pit mining will still be operating, I will instruct the Air Force to bomb it,” he said.
Duterte repeatedly expressed his opposition to open-pit mining, saying he would no longer allow the environmental situation to worsen due to this destructive form of mining.