MOEP order unlawful – gov

ZAMBALES Gov. Amor Deloso has asked the Court of Appeals to stop the Department of Environment and natural resources from implementing Administrative Order No. 2008-20 or the issuance of Mineral Ore Export Permit.

In his petition with the appellate court, Deloso said the issuance of MOEP is unlawful because it is an administrative order which is not sanctioned by the Mining Act of 1995.

“By requiring an MOEP, the DENR only duplicates the job of the Bureau of Internal Revenue which is the only agency authorized to issue export permits and tax clearances which will be submitted to the Bureau of Customs when applying for Export Declaration, Boarding Permit and Permit to Shipside,” the governor said.

The petitioner added that the OA surpasses Republic Act 7942 otherwise known as the Philippine Mining Law.

Deloso said the MOEP is also inconsistent with President Macapagal-Arroyo’s Executive Order No. 270 or the National Policy Agenda on Revitalizing Mining in the Philippines, which mandated the agency to prepare guidelines and procedures on the stream-lining of mining companies.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza clarified that AO-2008-20 was meant to eradicate undervalued misdeclaration and red tape in the exportation of mineral ore and the improvement of the collection of taxes by the government.

But the governor stressed the issuance of the order may cause “direct injury to the province of Zambales, loss of income in the mining sector due to the additional and unreasonable burden of applying for an MOEP in the DENR office in Manila.”

--PEOPLE’S JOURNAL