President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered the government to strengthen the Philippines’ critical minerals industry, with a focus on local processing and the development of downstream industries that can produce high-value products such as batteries, electronic components and renewable energy technologies.
Under Executive Order No. 122 signed Aug. 18, Marcos established a national policy framework for developing the critical minerals industry, citing the need to move beyond mineral extraction and improve the country’s position in the global green technology value chain.
The order directs the Department of Trade and Industry-Board of Investments (DTI-BOI), in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), to formulate a comprehensive strategy to promote value-added mineral processing covering the entire mineral value chain.
The strategy will prioritize critical mineral refining, advanced material processing and the manufacture of finished products, while also supporting related industries such as energy generation, water supply, transport and logistics and mineral recovery and recycling.
The DTI-BOI is likewise tasked to develop an incentives offer sheet for value-added processing and downstream industries, facilitate public-private partnerships and cluster development, and give domestic processing plants priority access to locally produced mineral ores at fair, market-based prices.
The policy also seeks to ensure a sufficient supply of critical minerals for downstream industries by diversifying sources, pursuing international partnerships and establishing mechanisms to mitigate global supply disruptions.
Marcos said the development of critical minerals must be pursued alongside responsible and sustainable mining, environmental protection and the social, cultural and economic development of host communities.
The executive order defines critical minerals as those essential to clean energy transition technologies, advanced manufacturing, digital infrastructure, national defense and other strategic industries needed to promote industrialization, energy security and economic resilience.
The DENR, through the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), is directed to implement a national exploration and mineral reservation program to identify and assess new critical mineral deposits.
The agency must also issue, within 30 days from the order’s effectivity, the Philippine Critical Minerals List in consultation with the reorganized Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC).
The order further calls for strict enforcement of the “use it or lose it” policy for critical mineral mining tenements.
Mining areas found to be in material non-compliance with approved timelines, work programs or development commitments may be cancelled or subjected to other sanctions, except when delays are due to force majeure or circumstances beyond the contractor’s control.
The government will also accelerate the privatization of government-owned critical mineral mining assets and consider cancelled, expired, relinquished or surrendered mining areas for declaration as critical mineral reservations.
To address long-standing concerns over permitting, the DENR-MGB is directed to streamline mining-related applications within six months and develop a fully integrated digital platform for national and local permits, licenses and regulatory clearances within one year.
The platform will provide for simultaneous processing instead of the current sequential system and establish clear timelines and performance-based accountability for agencies involved in mining permits.
The EO also reorganized the MICC, with the DENR and Department of Finance as co-chairpersons and the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development serving as its secretariat.
The Philippines has at least nine million hectares of prospective areas with potential mineral resources, according to the order, which noted that these could position the country as a key player in the global critical minerals value chain. (PNA)
