PH mining research gets boost from UK grants

ON April 14, President Duterte lifted the ban on new mining permits or mining production sharing agreements imposed by his predecessor in 2012, paving the way for an increase in mining investment in the country but understandably causing a great deal of consternation among environmental advocates.

Duterte's move comes at a sensitive time for the Philippines because except for a rapidly shrinking minority of misanthropic critics still futilely trying to poison the public discourse with long-discredited claims of "climate hysteria," environmental sustainability has already been established as a strong priority here, both socially and economically. The policy change is a reversal of the position on mining the administration has maintained since taking office, and even though Duterte justified the decision on rational economic grounds, it does stand in rather stark contrast to his government's otherwise environmentally conscious record.