Students and faculties of Iliranan Elementary School in Negros Occidental and of Camarines Sur National High School in Naga City have something to look forward to in the coming days — and that is to represent the country in the 2012 ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Eco-Schools Awards to be held on July 17-18, 2012 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This was announced today by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje, following a report by Malaysia in the 4th Meeting of ASEAN Working Group on Environmental Education (AWGEE) held May 29-30, 2012 in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The 2012 ASEAN Eco-Schools Awards is organized by the Government of Malaysia in partnership with Hanns-Seidel Foundation, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Japan-ASEAN Integrated Fund (JAIF) and the ASEAN Secretariat. “This early I would like to congratulate the students and faculty members of these two schools for championing environmental protection in their campuses. Teaching the kids to do simple things like tree planting and the 3Rs of solid waste management will go a long way in shaping up an environment-conscious nation,” Paje said. He also said the international recognition would serve as an additional incentive for schools in the country to level up their respective environmental education program. The 2012 ASEAN Eco-Schools Award seeks to recognize institutions of learning at the primary and secondary level in the 10 country members that demonstrates values of environmental sustainability practices and carries out environmentally-friendly school policies, teaching programs and practices for the benefit of the school and surrounding communities. The criteria for the awards are divided into four categories: (1) School Policy and Administration; (2) Teaching Modules and Learning Activities; (3) Facilities and Environmental Practices and (4) Partnership and Community Outreach. Further, the awarding ceremony is in line with the declaration of 2012 as the ASEAN Year for the Environment, with the theme “Environmental Awareness through Eco-Schools”. A public school in San Carlos City, Iliranan Elementary School won the grand prize in last year’s National Search for Sustainable and Eco-friendly Schools for being an active implementer of the Republic Act 9003, also known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. The school earned the judges’ votes for its efforts in training not only the pupils, but also their parents and the local community to reduce, reuse, recycle and segregate wastes, known in solid waste management as the 3Rs. To generate extra funds for their school activities, they sell recyclable items they collect from the students themselves to the junkshops while the biodegradable wastes are utilized as organic fertilizers to plants and vegetable gardens within their campus. The school likewise strictly imposes environmental policies such as the no-to-open burning and open dumping policy, no smoking, no nailing and illegal cutting of trees and to conserve water, just to name a few. The Camarines Sur National High School (CSNHS), a public secondary school in Naga City, won the championship for its “Youth for Environment in Schools Organization (YES-O)”. The student organization serves to facilitate environmental projects by mobilizing the school in tree planting like the CSNHS Forest Park Project), symposia on environment and health concerns, street and coastal clean-up, and environmental campaigns through signage, bulletin announcements, green film showing, essays and poster-making contests, solid waste recovery through Project SAVE (Service Awareness in Valuing Environment), and participation in international Earth-saving events like Green Wave, Earth Hour, etc. In a related development, the DENR through its Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) has announced the commencement process of the 2013 National Search for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Schools. The nationwide search is organized by the DENR-EMB, in cooperation with the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education, Smart Communications, Inc., Nestle Philippines, Inc. and Unilever Philippines, Inc. EMB Director Juan Miguel Cuna said the national search is a direct response to Republic Act No. 9512, also known as the National Environmental Awareness and Education Act of 2008. For further details of the 2013 National Search for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Schools, please contact the National Program Secretariat at the EMB’s Environmental Education and Information Division at teleafx number 9284674; E-mail: ecofriendlyschools@gmail.com; Websites: http://emb.gov.ph and http://www.sustainableschools.ph

Posted on June 10, 2012

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is seeking the help of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) under the Office of the President to stop the massive smuggling of gold in the country.

This came in the wake of the report of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) that the total Philippine metallic mineral production value during the first quarter of 2012 declined by a staggering 38%, from PhP31.40 billion to PhP19.61 billion year-on-year, or a shortfall of PhP11.79 billion.

DENR Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje said the sluggish performance of the metallic minerals during the quarter was largely due to the 92% plunge in the gold purchases of the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) from small-scale miners and traders.

According to him, the gold purchases of BSP from small-scale miners and traders went down to a dismal 618 kilograms with total value of PhP1.35 billion during the first quarter as against 7,493 kilograms of gold purchased in the same period last year valued at PhP14.11 billion.

Paje added that the downfall of gold purchases started during the second semester of 2011 when the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) strictly imposed the collection of the 2% excise tax and 10% creditable withholding tax (CWT) from the sale of gold by small-scale miners and traders pursuant to Revenue Regulations No. 7-2008 dated March 25, 2008, entitled “Taxation on the Sale to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas of Gold and Other Metallic Mineral Products Extracted or Produced by Small-Scale Miners, and Further Amending Section 2.57.2 (T) of Revenue Regulations No. 2-98, as Amended.”

Said regulation was superseded by Revenue Regulations No. 6-2012 dated April 2, 2012, which reduced the CWT from 10% to 5% effective April 2012. The BSP, through its five buying stations in Baguio City, Davao City, Zamboanga City, Naga City and Quezon City, deducts the corresponding taxes from small-scale miners/traders and remit the same to the BIR.

“Given the continuing high price of gold and the increasing number of small-scale mining areas, the decrease in gold purchases by the BSP clearly means that gold outputs are going to the black market and smuggling activities,” Paje stressed.

As a consequence, total gold output plummeted by 65% and 57% in volume and value, respectively, from 11,427 kilograms valued at PhP21.63 billion to 4,056 kilograms valued at PhP9.33 billion year-on-year.

Aside from gold, both silver and chromite also suffered deficits in mine output. Copper, zinc, nickel and iron, on the other hand, enjoyed growths during the same period.

The country’s production stream includes 19 nickel mines; six gold mines with silver as co-product; three copper mines with gold and silver as co-products; a polymetallic mine with gold, silver, copper and zinc as products; two chromite mines; a nickel plant; and several small-scale gold mining operations.

In terms of prices, gold and silver continued to enjoy better prices in Q1-2012 as against Q1-2011. Prices of the yellow and white metals were up by 21.95% and 2.68%, respectively. The yellow metal traded above the $1,600 per troy ounce level, the highest of which was $1,743 per troy ounce recorded in February 2012. It is projected that gold will most probably continue to be strong in 2012 as global economy has not yet fully recovered from the worldwide financial crisis. Thus, the role of gold, including silver, as safe haven for investment in times of economic difficulties will still very much come into play.

MGB Director Leo L . Jasareno disclosed that gold production in the second quarter of 2012 is expected to increase, with the entry of the country’s 33rd metallic mine, the Siana Gold Project of Greenstone Resources in Surigao del Norte.

Jasareno also reported that the entry of the following new producers will also most likely boost the mine output of nickel, chromite and iron in 2012: (1) Casiguran Nickel Project of Century Peak Corporation in Dinagat Islands; (2) Sta. Cruz Candelaria Nickel Project of Eramen Minerals, Inc. in Zambales; (3) HY Nickel-Chromite Project of Sinosteel Phils. HY Mining Corporation in Dinagat Islands; (4) Elluvial Chromite Mining and Concentration Project of Mt. Sinai Mining Exploration and Development Corporation in Eastern Samar; and (5) Leyte Iron Sand Project of Strong Built Mining Development Corporation in Leyte.

Metallic Mineral Production

Q1-2012 vs. Q12011

Mineral Commodity

Unit

JAN-MAR, 2012

JAN-MAR, 2011

% Change

Quantity

Value (In PhP)

Quantity

Value (In PhP)

Qty

Value

Precious Metals

9,779,058,995

22,104,636,811

(56)

Gold

Kgs.

4,056

9,327,880,284

11,427

21,629,984,509

(65)

(57)

Silver

Kgs.

11,020

451,178,711

11,618

474,652,303

(5)

Base Metals

9,829,357,378

9,294,455,692

Copper Concentrate

DMT

69,153

4,589,305,376

61,179

4,474,802,894

Copper Metal Equivalent

16,927

15,284

Mixed Nickel Sulphides

DMT

11,293

2,848,439,000

9,606

2,859,767,000

(0)

Nickel Content of Nickel Sulphides

6,463

5,611

Nickel Direct Shipping Ore

DMT

1,584,676

2,010,337,382

1,238,975

1,682,151,520

Nickel Content of Ore

20,397

16,757

Metallurgical Chromite Ore

DMT

5,213

35,509,006

9,022

50,197,114

(42)

(29)

Zinc

DMT

10,076

230,091,541

6,763

188,017,164

Iron Ore

DMT

44,835

115,675,074

15,498

39,520,000

189

193

TOTAL

19,608,416,373

31,399,092,503

(38)