Executive Summary Mining has long been an issue in the country because of various negative implications it brought to the

environment, society and the government. Despite those negative implications, still, mining is believed to jumpstart the Philippine economy. Today, because of the severe environmental damage brought by some mining operations, various environmental-protection groups were alarmed and called the attention of the government to provide some revisions on the existing act that would address environmental issues of the sector. As a response to this issue, the Government came out with the new IRR known as Executive Order No. 79 (INSTITUTIONALIZING AND IMPLEMENTING REFORMS IN THE PHILIPPINE MINING SECTOR PROVIDING POLICIES AND GUIDELINES TO ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND RESPONSIBLE MINING IN THE UTILIZATION OF MINERAL RESOURCES). Executive Order no. 79 which was released last July 6, 2012, and was subject to review of Alyansa Tigil Muna (ATM) and its member environmental associations and academic bodies has been widely criticized as not strict enough. According to them, the policy is a backfire for it seems that the policy attempts to guarantee more the bigger share of government from the profits of the mining industry than the safety of the environment. (tinamad na ako) FINDINGS portion summary?