A PRIMER ON THE

Instead of heeding the call of the people to support this landmark achievement in the history of the DENR, President Duterte allowed the rejection of the Lopez’s confirmation and replaced her with a military man Roy Cimatu with a long record of human rights abuses and corruption. [...] What is the People's Mining Bill (PMB)? House Bill 2715 (An Act Re-Orienting the Philippine Mining Industry Towards National Industrialization and Ensuring the Highest Industry Development Standards, and for other Purposes known as the People’s Mining Act of 2016) seeks to re-orient the current policy on the ownership, management and governance of metallic and non-metallic minerals, quarry resourc. [...] On the other hand, HB 2715 requires the payment of requisite taxes, fees, and shares of government and affected communities from mining revenues and the domestic investment of mining capitalization and finance. [...] Learning from the lessons of the past, the bill recognizes as violations of human rights extrajudicial killings, torture, involuntary disappearance, forcible displacement of populations, setting up of checkpoints and imposition of toll fees which impede the freedom of movement in mineral areas, deprivation of food and water sources, vote-buying and bribery for the purpose of securing consent or en. [...] Conversely, it supports people’s capacity to pursue litigation for violations of the law by 1.) allowing citizens to file appropriate civil, criminal and administrative suits against violators of the law and public officials failing to implement it and 2.) recognizing the validity of suits filed after the termination of contracts where the environmental, health and similar effects of mining can be.