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Sunday, March 06, 2005
MGB asked to reject mining applications in Cordillera
By Jane Cadalig
MINING-affected communities in the region and local militant groups have asked the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to deny the applications filed by mining companies in the different provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
Rallyists from the six CAR provinces, including the Ilocos region and Cagayan Valley, rallied in front of DENR-MGB Friday, condemning the latter for approving some of the mining applications filed before its office.
They are apprehensive that these approved mining applications did not undergo "genuine consultations" with the affected communities.
The group, mostly provincial delegates who are attending the three-day Regional Mining Conference in the city, also asked the MGB to provide them the list of mining firms who have filed their respective applications.
Records from the MGB regional office showed that around 114 mining applications were filed as of January this year.
Of this, nine Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSAs) and two Exploration Permits were approved. These include three MPSAs in Abra, four in Mankayan and two in Tuba.
In a consultation inside the MGB office, Engr. Eduardo Austria, MGB mining operations officer, told provincial representatives that these approved permits have completed the requirements and that these were endorsed by concerned local government officials.
He said aside from the nine approved MPSAs and two exploration permits, all other applications filed before their office is still under process.
"We could not approve these applications because the proponents can not satisfy the requirements, one of which is the conduct of the free prior and informed consent where affected communities are being consulted first before any endorsement would take place. We have to understand that these applications were filed long before but can not be approved because of the vigilance of the people in the Cordillera," Austria said.
He said mining firms encounter difficulties in seeking resolutions of endorsements from concerned LGUs because communities, particularly the indigenous peoples, are firm on their oppositions.
"If the community allowed the operations, then probably we could have issued the permits and approved all these pending applications," Austria explained. (With reports from Jane Aubrey Gracilla, Myleen Salazar/UP Baguio interns)
(March 5, 2005 issue)
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