MANILA - The Chamber of Mines said on Monday that is not in favor of President Duterte's call to ban the export of raw minerals, which the Chief Executive made during his second State of the Nation Address (SONA).

President Duterte said during his SONA that mineral exports should be banned and the ores processed into finished products in the country instead.

But Ronald Recidoro, vice president of the Chamber of Mines, said that no one wanted to go into mineral processing because of the high costs of putting up plants in the Philippines.

He said incentives should be put in place first to encourage businessmen to put up mineral processing plants.

Recidoro also said miners support the President's call for environmentally sustainable mining, and blamed "illegal miners" for destroying the environment.