SEVERAL areas in the region may be declared as people's mining areas or "minahang bayan".
Fay Apil, Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Cordillera Administrative Region officer-in-charge, said existing small scale mining areas in the region may be declared as minahang bayan as long as these areas are qualified and miners comply with the requirements, rules and regulations set by law.
"It is possible to declare existing small scale mining areas as 'minahang bayan' as long as they comply with the existing conditions," she said.
Currently, there are 49 pending applications for the declaration of minahang bayan.
These are composed of 20 applications in Benguet, 10 in Apayao, six in Baguio City, four in Mountain Province, and three each in Kalinga, Abra and Ifugao.
Apil said the declaration takes a longtime as they have to thoroughly process each application.
She said they have to identify whether the lands being applied for is a residential, agricultural, or tourism areas and whether they are suitable for mining or not.
They also have to get consent from individual landowners, existing mining companies in the area and host communities.
With the revised implementing rules and regulations of Executive Order No. 79 or the EO institutionalizing and implementing reforms in the mining industry towards responsible mining, hopes are up for the possibility of having applications for the declaration of some areas in the region as "minahang bayan" processed sooner and faster.
"We hope that with that IRR, mapabilis yung pagprocess ng 'minahang bayan'," she noted.
Late last year, the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board of Benguet, chaired by Apil, identified and sought for the declaration of active small scale mines as minahang bayan which are expected to benefit around 70 mining associations or federations of small scale miners in Benguet.
These areas were identified as occupied and mined by small scale miners since August 1987.
The identified areas and their declaration were submitted to the secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for review and final decision. (Giovani Joy Fontanilla)