The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will implement the administrative order mandating all existing mining contractors to secure International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 Certification, and will serve necessary sanctions to non-compliant companies.

Speaking on ANC's Headstart on Tuesday, Environment Secretary Gina Lopez said she will duly implement the DENR Administrative Order 2015-07, which requires "all operating mines to be ISO 14001 and sets standards on environmental management systems."

She lamented that according to reports, only 13 companies out of the 40 have complied. For this, she said she is ready to implement the sanctions stipulated in the law.

"The penalty, which was given a year ago, is the suspension of ECC (environmental compliance certificate) and non-issuance of ore transport permits. I’m just gonna follow the law," she said.

An ECC certifies that a project or an undertaking, based on the representations of the proponent, will not cause an adverse environmental impact.

It is critical in the approval of the declaration of mining project feasibility (DMPF), the final requirement for operating a project.

Lopez emphasized that the year the department has allowed these companies to get an ISO certification has lapsed in April, so the department will audit the mining companies.

"The year is over so we will do an audit and this shall end in three weeks, and the president’s thing in his speech is we do not let the poor and the impoverished suffer. He gave a very clear statement to the common good, and I fully intend to follow that to the letter," she said.

To the companies who have failed to comply with the set standards within the year that has lapsed, Lopez said "their time is over," but she is willing to review the cases.

"We will go around the mines, and then see just how far they’ve gone. We’ll take it in a case-to-case basis. But I am covered by the law," she said.

However, following the "dictum on the common good," Lopez vows to "make sure that the poor or the laborers that are there working will not and must not suffer," she said.

She added the 65 operating non-metallic mines shall also be required to comply with the standards within one year.

"They also have to get their act together. You can’t continue using all the resources and letting our people suffer," she said.

OPEN TO DIALOGUE

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines is open to a dialogue with Lopez despite “initial concerns,” its vice president for legal and policy Ronaldo Recidoro said.

"We welcome dialogue. We would love to be able to speak to her and tell her about our initiatives not just on the environmental front but also on the social development front of our operation," he said.

Recidoro said he was confident the planned audit would not affect mining operations.

He said 21 of 40 large-scale mines are COMP members, of which 13 have secured I.S.O. 14001 certificates while eight others have pending applications.

Semirara Mining and Power Corp. Chairman Isidro Consunji said he was "unclear" on the basis of Lopez's claim that its coal operations destroyed 80 percent of mangroves on Semirara Island.

"But we would like to assure Sec. Gina Lopez that our environment management plan complies with the directives of the DENR," Consunji said in a statement.

The company planted 873,000 mangroves and reforested 625 hectares since 2000, he said.