Philippines: Republic Cement confident despite environmental crackdown

Republic Cement has vowed to continue with its expansion plans and has said that it is "ready" to face an environmental audit from the Filipino government, ABS-CBN News reports.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has recently handed out suspensions to 10 mining companies over safety violations and has challenged the country’s largest coal mining firm, Semirara, to make the case for allowing its operations to continue.

Republic’s president, Rentao Sunico, said he was confident that his firm’s expansion plans would not be directly affected, but added that there was a risk that stoppages at other miners might have a knock-on effect.

Sunico stated: "We use coal, limestone is something we produce on our own. But there are other materials we source, and if they are affected we have to be prepared to import."