Duterte wants ban on open-pit mining to stay

PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. Duterte said on Tuesday he agreed with banning open-pit mining in the Southeast Asian nation given the environmental harm it causes.

He said he had asked Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu “to look into the eventual closure of open-pit mining.”

“I agree with (former Environment Secretary) Gina Lopez that (it) has to stop sometime. But I’ll give the mining companies enough elbow room … for eventual change on the modality of getting what’s inside the bowels of the earth.”

Ms. Lopez banned open-pit mining in the country during her less than one year in office. She was replaced by Mr. Cimatu in May after she failed to get the confirmation of lawmakers. — Reuters