NEW Bataan now has another Minahang Bayan, as Governor Raul G. Mabanglo, together with the Chairperson of the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB) and Regional Director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB)-Davao Beverly Mae M. Brebante, and other members of the council, signed on Friday, January 16, 2026, the declaration of an 81-hectare area in Sitio Tagpura, Barangay Camanlangan in New Bataan, Davao de Oro as people’s mining area.
The declaration, which was signed at the provincial capitol in Nabunturan, allows small-scale mining cooperatives to legally apply to operate in the area.
The Minahang Bayan was petitioned by the Tagpura Small-Scale Mining Cooperative (Tasmico), with guidance from the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro), making it the first Minahang Bayan in Davao de Oro to obtain the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary's Clearance.
In his speech during the signing, Gov. Mabanglo emphasized the importance of Minahang Bayan to a gold-abundant province, but ironically, its local government units have no gold.
"Very timely karon kay nagkamahal ang gold (It is very timely because gold now has become more expensive)," Mabanglo said.
He cited Monkayo as an example, which is the only local government unit in the Philippines to have been given a machine for jewelry-making, and all the jewelry players in the munipality have been trained.
"Pero unsaon ta man nga wala man silay gold? Naa ang Diwalwal sa Monkayo, pero ang problema sa LGU wala silay gold. Trained ilang mga tao, pero wala silay gold. Ang result nga gipakita ang ilahang mga jewelry na nahimo, silver (But what can they do, they don’t have gold? Monkayo has Diwalwal, but the problem with the LGU is that they don’t have gold. Their people are trained, but they don’t have gold. The result they showed, the jewelry they made, was silver)," the governor said.
Thus, the governor hopes that this will not happen to the cooperatives, which will be the direct beneficiaries of the initiative.
"Congratulations to Tasmico, nga kamo ang unang nareleasan og Secretary's clearance, ug congratulations to Tasmico and I hope nga kanang responsible mining ug tarung nga pagmina inyong buhaton. And rest assured kini gyud ang akong permanenteng ginasulti sa mga minahang bayan kung unsa man ang inyong panginahanglan, kanang kaya lang sa probinsya mu-assist gyud mi (Congratulations to Tasmico, as you are the first to be granted a Secretary’s clearance. Congratulations again to Tasmico and I hope that you will practice responsible and proper mining. Rest assured, this is something I consistently tell the people in the mining communities, whatever your needs are, as long as the province can assist, we will truly provide support)," the governor ended.
With this new development, small-scale mining can now be legally and responsibly regulated, providing livelihood opportunities for the people while ensuring environmental protection. CEA