RE:My opinion only! There are only two ways of mining excluding in-situ extraction which is generally not applicable in the PI for various reasons, those being surface and underground methods. Many of these deposits/resources are lower grade making underground mining infeasible.
Open pit or surface mining can be performed minimizing short and long term impacts to the human and natural environment if properly planned and executed. The issue is cost associated with these operating and closure criteria.
Whether the open pit ban is real or not the Philippine government and regulators need to be knowledgeable with their decisions and evaluate each project on its own merits.