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Date Filed: 06 July 2018

Pursuant to Section 9 of Republic Act (RA) No. 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, Section 7 of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2010-21 re: Providing for a Consolidated Department of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order for the implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 7942, otherwise known as the “Philippine Mining Act of 1995”, and RA No. 10964 or the General Appropriations Act of 2018, particularly the provisions for Performance Informed Reporting,   the   following   are   hereby   promulgated   for  the  guidance  and compliance of all concerned:

Section 1. Basic Policy

The exploration, development and utilization of the country’s mineral resources shall be undertaken responsibly and shall always comply with the laws, rules and regulations. It shall be guided by best practices in mining operation, safety and health, environmental management and social development which are regularly monitored and measured toward ensuring the enhancement of national growth in a  way  that  effectively  safeguards  the  environment  and  protect  the  rights  of affected communities.

Section 2. Objectives

This Memorandum Circular is issued for the following purposes:

1.    Provide an efficient  and effective Standard Monitoring System, by using checklists,  that  shall  ascertain  the  compliance  of  Contractors/Permittees/Permit  Holders  with  the  terms  and  conditions  and  laws,  rules  and regulations; and

2.    Provide a performance rating system by using scorecards to determine the compliance level of Contractors/Permittees/Permit Holders.

Section 3. Scope and Coverage

This Memorandum Circular shall cover the Monitoring of Exploration Permits, Mineral Agreements and Financial or Technical Assistance Agreements on the compliance with the terms and conditions and provisions of all pertinent laws, rules and regulations, and the corresponding scoring/rating system.

Section 4. Standardized Monitoring System

To ensure compliance with the terms and conditions, and pertinent laws, rules and regulations, a Standardized Monitoring System for Contractors/Permittees/ Permit Holders shall be implemented. The Standardized Monitoring System hereby provides Monitoring Checklists and the Guide for the Conduct of the Monitoring  Mining  Permits/Contracts  and  Accomplishing  the  Monitoring Checklists.

Section 5. Standardized Monitoring Checklist

To ensure the effective and uniform monitoring of the Tenements, and Safety and Health, Environmental Management, and Social Development (T-SHES) mandatory compliance requirements, implementation of Work Programs, terms and conditions of the Mining Permits/Contracts, and pertinent laws, rules and regulations, the Guide for the Conduct of Monitoring of Mining Permits/Contracts and Accomplishing the Monitoring Checklist (Tenement and SHES Compliances) [Annex 1], and the following Standardized Monitoring Checklists are hereby provided and shall be utilized by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Regional Offices (RO) personnel for the conduct of monitoring:

a.   Tenement (Exploration) Monitoring Checklists [Annex 1A];

b.   Tenement (Development/Operating) Monitoring Checklists [Annex 1B];

c.   Safety  and  Health  (Exploration  and  Development/Operating)  Monitoring Checklists [Annex 1C];

d.   Environmental Management (Exploration) Monitoring Checklists [Annex 1D- 1];

e.   Environmental Management (Development/Operating) Monitoring Checklists [Annex 1D-2];

f.    Social Development (Exploration) Monitoring Checklists [Annex 1E-1]; g.   Social Development (Development/Operating) Monitoring Checklists [Annex 1E-2].

Section 6. Compliance Scorecard of Mining Permits/Contracts

The Compliance Scorecard measures the level of compliance of Mining Permits/Contracts with the mandatory Tenements and Safety and Health, Environmental Management, and Social Development (T-SHES) requirements of RA No. 7942 and its implementing rules and regulations (IRR), implementation of Work Programs, other pertinent laws, rules and regulations, and the terms and conditions   of   the   Mining   Permits/Contracts.   The   following   Compliance Scorecards are hereby provided for this purpose:

a.   Tenement (Exploration) Compliance Scorecard [Annex 2A*];

b.   Tenement (Development/Operating) Compliance Scorecard [Annex 2B*];

c.   Safety  and  Health  (Exploration  and  Development/Operating)  Compliance Scorecard [Annex 2C*];

d.   Environmental Management (Exploration) Compliance Scorecard [Annex 2D- 1*];

e.   Environmental      Management      (Development/Operating)      Compliance Scorecard [Annex 2D-2*];

f.    Social Development (Exploration) Compliance Scorecard [Annex 2E-1*];

g.   Social    Development    (Development/Operating)    Compliance   Scorecard [Annex 2E-2];

h.   T-SHES Compliance Scorecard [Annex 2F].

The Guide in Accomplishing the Scorecard for Tenements (Exploration, Development/Operating) and SHES Compliances [Annex 2] provides the instruction and reminders on how to fill-up the various Compliance Scorecards.

Section 7. Compliant/Non-Compliant Mining Permits/Contracts

Mining Permits/Contracts shall be determined as compliant or non-compliant based on the results of the monitoring and the score/rating in the Compliance Scorecards.

Mining Permits/Contracts shall be deemed compliant if:

- It has complied with all the mandatory requirements; and
-  Has  an  overall  performance  rating  of  80%  provided  there  is  no score/rating lower than 75% in any of the Compliance Scorecards.

Mining Permits/Contracts that does not meet the above standards shall be deemed non-compliant and shall be grounds for imposition of penalties or suspension/cancellation.

Section 8. Separability

If any clause, sentence, section or provision of this Memorandum Circular is held or declared to be unconstitutional or invalid by a competent court, the remaining parts of this Memorandum Circular shall not be affected thereby.

Section 9. Repealing and Amending Clause

All  orders,  circulars  and  directives  or  parts  thereof  inconsistent  with  the provisions of this Memorandum Circular are hereby repealed and/or modified accordingly.

Section 10. Effectivity

This Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately.

(SGD) ATTY. WILFREDO G. MONCANO
Director