DENR chief calls for women participation in mining industry
ENVIRONMENT Secretary Antonia Loyzaga has emphasized the need for women to be recognized not just because they are women but for the merit they bring to the purpose of their organizations especially in the mining sector where their numbers constitute the minority in the sector’s workplace.
According to Loyzaga, there is a need to ensure that women’s participation in the mining industry is both meaningful and substantive in all levels of decision-making.
In a recent luncheon meeting with mining industry leaders hosted by the Philippine Mining Club to celebrate International Women’s Day 2023, the DENR chief cited there is much work to be done in prioritizing actions to end gender inequality as part of the effort to promote responsible mining.
“We cannot just rest on our laurels and say we need to be recognized. We must be women of substance, women of purpose, and women of achievement,” she pointed out.
During the occasion, Loyzaga discussed pressing issues affecting women to include indigenous women in the mining sector and the impacts of the industry on communities.
She cited a 2020 study commissioned by the Philippine-Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) which listed key issues women face in the mining industry.
These include gender-inequalities in the workplace, challenges the face as a result of environmental problems due to mining operations and lack of livelihood outside employment by mining firms.
The study also mentioned the absence of guidelines on the inclusion of gender-responsive projects in the Social Development and Management Programs (SDMP).
Facts that women constitute the minority in the sector’s workplace and only a few of them occupy technical and leadership positions prompted Loyzaga to call for “an enabling and empowering environment for women.”
An SDMP, as required by the Philippine Mining Act, lays down the comprehensive five-year plan of a mining firm on how it would conduct its actual mining and milling operations toward the sustained improvement in the living standards of the host and neighboring communities.
“We hope that this will include the upscaling, strengthening STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education to motivate women to pursue careers that are very important and related to the industry,” she said.
The Environment head also noted that women are most affected by degradations linked to mining operations, such as pollution of rivers and drying up of water sources, and that “these have added pressures on women as household managers and also as providers.”
