Last year, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. said in a press con that in order to boost government revenue from existing mining operations, he wants exported ores to be processed locally. [1] “What we would like to do is encourage that the value added [taxes] to the raw ores stay in the Philippines as much as possible. Whether there should b...

Obtaining the approval and trust of indigenous people (IPs)/indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) is one of the biggest challenges faced by mining companies operating in areas forming part of their ancestral domains.  In line with the objective of Diwata-Women in Resource Development’s major advocacy of working with indigenous people, with a special e...

The regulatory oversight of the mining sector is complex with multiple government administrative agencies and legislative bodies involved in the implementation and drafting of laws in relation to environmental, social, and governance matters. Through active monitoring and close coordination with the mine developer, government regulators can promote enviro...

Diwata-Women in Resource Development, Inc. (Diwata) celebrates on 17 July 2023, 11 years since its founding.  However, due to the “lost year” due to the pandemic, Diwata’s leadership considers it only its 10th anniversary. Notwithstanding this, and in view of its active presence in the mining industry, it would seem that Diwata has been around for much...

On 3 March 1995, President Fidel V. Ramos signed into law Republic Act 7942 known as the Philippine Mining Act of 1885.  It is described as " an Act instituting a new system of mineral resources exploration, development, utilization and conservation".  In the same year, the President assigned me as the Philippine Ambassador to the Commonwealth of Australi...

This issue marks a special occasion in the history of Diwata-Women in Resource Development, Inc. (Diwata), celebrating a decade of achievements from Diwata’s founding on Nelson Mandela Day.  While 2013 is actually our 11th year of existence, the pandemic did not allow us to have in-person activities in 2020-2021.  Our “10th-anniversary” celebration at the...

Introduction: The global mining industry is currently facing a severe worker shortage, creating a remarkable opportunity for Filipino professionals to excel in this field. Countries like Australia and Canada are witnessing a surge in mining investments. In the resource extraction and processing space, Filipino mining engineers, geologists, and metallurgis...

  There were reasons to be optimistic about the mining industry in the past two years. It started with the the lifting of the ban on open pit mining and moratorium on new mining projects, and the renewal of the Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (“FTAA”) of Oceana Gold in 2021. Last year, the Philippines also rejoined the Extractive Industrie...

Photo credit: Paul Putong/The United States Embassy for the photos  The Philippines is acknowledged to be the fifth most mineralized country in the world, with an estimated USD1 trillion in untapped reserves of copper, gold, nickel, zinc and silver. Recent statistics from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) indicate that there are only 49 operating ...

The year 2022 saw a myriad of challenges as the Russian war on Ukraine, inflation, market volatility, food shortages, rising energy prices, and lingering pandemic impacts continue to shape global markets. The early part of last year was a robust period for the metals and mining sector. The industry was buoyed by record high prices for some commodities, su...

Commentary by: Mr. Francisco “Jun” Delfin Mr. Francisco “Jun” Delfin is Vice President & COO of PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC) and President of Maibarara Geothermal Inc. (MGI), subsidiaries of publicly-listed and Yuchengco Group of Companies (YGC) affiliate PetroEnergy Resources Corp.  He is a geologist with a PhD in public administration from the ...

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is barely in his first year of his office and already is facing a myriad of challenges from soaring inflation and public debt to a devaluating peso against the dollar. While trying to sustain economic recovery following stagnation from the COVID-19 pandemic, Marcos is hard put to tame the increasing costs of c...

Every time there is a change in administration, the mineral industry always anticipate with bated breath the identity of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (“DENR”) secretary. The presidential appointee is scrutinized whether he or she is either sympathetic to the mining industry or a staunch environmental advocate. This can be attributed...

Allow me to take this opportunity to pay my respects to our 12th President, Fidel Valdez Ramos, who passed away on 31 July 2022.  PFVR is credited with many things, including ushering a period of stability and creating an environment conducive for investments, but the mining industry is understandably most grateful to him for the passage during his term o...

As Diwata-Women in Resource Development, Inc. (“Diwata”) marks its tenth-year anniversary on July 18 this year (incidentally, also Nelson Mandela Day), it takes pride announcing the launch of an award to recognize the best Social Development & Management Program that specifically benefits indigenous peoples, specifically women and girls. When Diwat...

President Rodrigo R. Duterte issued an order last year that lifted the ban on open-pit mining imposed in 2017. The lifting of the ban would have allowed the $5.9-billion Tampakan copper-gold mine project to proceed, the largest untapped copper-gold deposit in Southeast Asia and one of the world’s biggest. Sagittarius Mines, Inc. holds the Financial and Te...