KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 24 February) – Three years after commercial coal mining operations in remote Barangay Ned, Lake Sebu in South Cotabato started, the multi-partite monitoring team (MMT) remained “toothless” to put to task the coal operator of the controversial project that already left wide open brownish pits in the mountainous landscape once teeming with lush greeneries.

As this developed, South Cotabato Vice Governor Arthur Pingoy Jr. assured the public the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) will not hesitate to start proceedings needed to revoke its endorsement to the holders of the coal operating contracts (COCs), which was granted by the Department of Energy (DOE), if the conditions warrant.

Demujin Antiporda, director of the DOE’s Energy Resource Development Bureau, revealed during the hearing conducted by the SP here on Monday, 23 February, that the MMT, an independent third party designed to provide checks and balances, is still toothless even as the coal operator has been in a full- blast commercial mining production since 2023.

“The MMT still has no teeth — it remains an interim body. The EMB (Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) needs to approve it so that it will have police (powers),” Antiporda told the public hearing in Filipino.

He added the interim MMT has been conducting monitoring activities and “ready to provide their data.”

Board Member Cecille Diel scored the lack of full mandate given to the MMT.

“It’s sad to hear that walang ngipin (the MMT has no teeth),” she said.

Diel, who pointed out that coal mining is one of the most dangerous mining activities, noted that the provincial board “is taking the cudgels of having the teeth to pursue” what needs to be done, referring to the air and water pollution, and environment destruction caused by the project to the area.

The previous set of provincial board members (2019 to 2022) issued the endorsement for the coal mining project in remote Barangay Ned. Diel is not part of that cohort.

Daguma Agro Minerals, Inc. (DAMI), Sultan Energy Philippines Corp. (SEPC), and Bonanza Energy Resources, Inc. (BERI) hold the COCs for the Ned coal mines granted by the DOE.

In 2010, San Miguel Corp., one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines, bought the three companies that held mining rights for a combined 17,000 hectares in Ned and its surrounding areas.

Eleven years later, in December 2021, San Miguel CEO Ramon S. Ang sought the endorsement of the provincial government to begin strip mining in the Ned concessions. By the last quarter of 2022, the project had roared into commercial production that became evident early the following year. In separate disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024, San Miguel revealed the sale of DAMI, SEPC and BERI to an undisclosed third party.

During the public hearing, Siegfred Flaviano, South Cotabato Provincial Environment Management Office head, defended the MMT after it was labeled as “toothless,” saying it serves as “the eyes and mouth” that report issues to concerned government agencies.

PEMO is part of the MMT.

“We (still) don’t have the police power but we are reporting our findings to the regulatory bodies or agencies like the DENR ‘s Environmental Management Bureau when it comes to compliances for the ECC (Environmental Compliance Certificate),” he said.

He said the interim MMT submits the compliance monitoring and verification report conducted on the Ned coal mining operation every quarter to the EMB.

Flaviano said the MMT has found out that the particulate matter, or the mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air, “exceeded the standard level” in the village with the presence of coal mining.

Vice Governor Pingoy, SP presiding officer, limited the questions from the board members and the public in the gallery due to “limited time.” The plenary convened around 10 a.m. but first tackled the resolutions before conducting the coal hearing, which lasted a little over two hours or until past 1 p.m.

He said the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources will lead the hearing on the coal mine issue, where the general public can further raise their concerns.

“We have to balance the business interest and the effect of the project on the environment,” Pingoy said.

The coal mining venture in Ned recently hogged headlines after a portion of the road, classified as a national highway and under the Department of Public Works and Highways, collapsed due to landslides, rendering it impassable to all kinds of vehicles starting February 13 until today, February 24.

Some villagers affected by the collapsed road blamed the coal mining extraction activities for aggravating the landslide incident that destroyed the highway.

Several years ago, there have already been assessments by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau that the village is prone to landslides and tension cracks associated with land subsidence.

In a media interview after the hearing, Pingoy said the possibility of revoking the endorsement granted by the provincial board to the coal mining project “due to grave environmental destruction and other serious infractions” is not impossible.

He added the plenary would have to decide on the matter, after the committees hearing the issue have submitted their report to the floor.

The vice governor believed the provincial board members will vote according to “what is best for the common good of the environment and the people of South Cotabato.”

Asked if the coal extraction was using strip mining or open-pit mining method, Pingoy, who recently conducted an aerial inspection over the coal mines, did not give a categorical answer.

The previous provincial board endorsed the project after San Miguel’s Ang proposed the use of strip-mining method. The South Cotabato provincial government banned the open-pit mining method across the province in 2010, which remains in effect until now.

Pingoy, who was provincial governor from 2010 to 2013, stood against pressures from the national government and the mining industry to revoke the ban on open-pit mining.

As governor and backed by the then Sangguniang Panlalawigan, they defied a memorandum order from then Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo to lift the prohibition on open-pit mining in the province, citing the Local Government Code and that only the court can order the provincial government to stop the implementation of the open-pit mining ban in the province.

During the forum, Fr. Jerome Millan, Social Action Center director of the Diocese of Marbel, raised but failed to get an answer on who is now the owner of the mining venture after San Miguel sold it two years ago.

Representing Diocese of Marbel Bishop Cerilo Casicas, Millan also suggested the next public hearing be held in Barangay Ned so the provincial board members could hear the voices of the community members on the issue of coal mining.

“If you want to know the real score, the real stories, let’s go to the area,” the priest said.

Millan said the coal deposits are being extracted “in the name of money and not because it contributes to the geohazard risks in the area.”

DOE’s Antiporda said the landslides that destroyed the national road in Ned “was not caused by the coal mining operations,” adding that land stability issues had been ascertained in the village even before mining started there.

Tiny Bañas, community relations officer of Daguma Agro Minerals, Inc., presented the different social and economic contributions of their coal venture.

He said the balanced mix of economic development and environmental compliance of their project is reflective of their “responsible mining practices.” (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)