The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines vowed Friday to help the government in its programs to protect and enhance the environment.
Environment Undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio presented the priority programs of the agency in the next six years under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration during a meeting of the House committee on natural resources.
The programs include enhanced national greening program forest protection; responsible mining; enhanced clean air act; the campaign for clean water; enhanced solid waste management; and protection of biodiversity to promote social enterprise.
“We see valuable opportunities for our members to continue helping government in its environment programs and beyond with this direction of the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources),” said CoMP executive vice president Nelia Halcon.
Halcon said CoMP members planted 20 million trees from 2011 to 2014, covering an average forest density of 500 trees per hectare with an aggregated 40,156 hectares.
“We remain as one of the country’s largest private sector contributor to the NGP with our ongoing forestation efforts,” Halcon said.
Halcon said CoMP members in their respective mining jurisdiction also practiced coastal management to ensure the integrity of bodies of water near their operations and protect marine life.
“These while we strive to give our community members clean and potable water through the establishment of water systems,” Halcon said.
She said enterprises in mining communities, through the Social Development and Management Program, would be given a boost with the potential partnership of CoMP, Department of Trade and Industry and Go Negosyo.
“We wish to promote inclusive business to uplift more lives in our communities,” Halcon said.
“COMP members will continue to partner with the different line agencies in our commitment to promote the welfare of the country and help government achieve genuine change,” she added.