"This can be done by amending that law and incorporating the provision which states that possession of large scale mining equipment among those registered as small scale miners is prima facie evidence to the violation of the law," Senator Pia Cayetano said.
Cayetano, who is chair of the Senate committee on environment, said this is because a big number of large-scale miners pretend to be small-scale miners to circumvent the provisions set by the General Mining Act.
"There are stringent measures required under the General Mining Act. They do not want to put in the necessary safeguards or comply with these requirements but are exploiting huge volumes of minerals using technical equipment meant for large scale mining," Cayetano said.
This, according to Cayetano, is what the committee wants to put a stop to.
She added that the situation is prevalent in many mining areas, not only in Mindanao, thus the efforts to fast track the amendment.
