Miners need to secure SSM contract

EVEN with the declaration of the first Minahang Bayan in Benguet, small scale miners still need to secure mining contract.

The Provincial Mining and Regulatory Board (PMRB) is set to formally declare a minahang bayan area following the approval by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of the application of Loacan Itogon Pocket Miners Association (LIPMA) in Itogon, Benguet.

Mines Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Cordillera Regional Director and PMRB chair Fay Apil disclosed “once declared minahang bayan, they will now get a small-scale mining contract, for a maximum of 20 hectares per contract either individual or association.”

“The PMRB can now declare because LIPMA has complied in all requirements including NCIP Certificate of Non-Overlap and the clearance coming from the office of DENR,” Apil added.

Daniel Pay-an, board of director and spokesperson of LIPMA disclosed they are still waiting for the formal declaration of PMRB for Minahang Bayan. There are 600 active members of the association.

Under the ordinance establishing the framework for the operation of small-scale mining in the province of Benguet, small scale mining contract refers to the co-production, joint venture or mineral production sharing agreement between the local government unit and the small-scale mining contractor for the small-scale utilization of a plot of mineral land provided an act creating a peoples small-scale mining program.

Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan disclosed there are 12 more applications of small scale mining in the town that are being looked into.

Minahang Bayan applications in Tuba, Mankayan, and Bakun are still pending as of this writing.

Apil added for Mankayan, there are still opposition on their application which still needs to be settled by the regulatory board.

In Bakun, the peoples mining area was acknowledged since 2004 and it is only granted in 2018 which is still subject to validation to the NCIP for the application of a Free Prior and Informed Consent.

There are only six areas declared as Minahang Bayan in the country located in Quezon, Eastern Samar, two in Davao Oriental, Agusan Del Sur, and Dinagat Island.