LEGAZPI CITY, April 3 (PIA) -- The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Bicol is pushing for the establishment of a Minahang Bayan and the creation and reconstitution of the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB) in six provinces of Bicol to address the plight of hundreds of small-scale miners operating in the region.
Engr. Theodore Rommel E. Pesta?o, regional director of the MGB Bicol, has since been coordinating with the chief executives of the six Bicol provinces for the creation and reorganization of PMRB, including the establishment of Minahang Bayan for each province, to end illegal operation on small scale mining.
Pestaño said similar regulatory boards in Masbate and Sorsogon were already operational while Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur are expected to follow suit.
The director explained that the move was implemented in concurrence with Republic Act (RA) 7076 otherwise known as An Act Creating A People’s Small Scale Mining Program and for Other Purposes, which became effective last July 18,1991.
The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) is also embodied in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order (DAO) No. 34, series of 1992;
Executive Order (EO) No. 79 has also entitled institutionalizing and implementing reforms in the Philippine mining sector, providing policies and guidelines to ensure environmental protection and responsible mining in the utilization of mineral resources.
Pestaño furthered that RA 7076 and its IRR lay down the policy of the state to promote, develop, protect and rationalize viable small-scale mining (SSM) activities in order to generate more employment opportunities and provide an equitable sharing of the nation’s wealth and natural resources while at the same time handing to the PMRB the task to implement the activities according to the directives of the DENR.
This law, he said, aims to achieve an orderly, systematic and rational development of the small scale mining.
EO 79, on the other hand, gave importance to the small scale mining particularly the establishment of a Minahang Bayan.
“Giving these small scale miners a mining area or a Minahang Bayan to work on legally will uplift their socio-economic status in the society and they will no longer be branded illegal in their own country,” he explained.
Without a Minahang Bayan, these small scale miners usually operate without any valid and subsisting permits either from the MGB or the PMRB and they are mostly operating in areas being claimed or registered in the name of legitimate large-scale mining companies; and other prior rights, including other end user.
“They practically lack the consent from these prior right holders so they remain illegal having no proper documents,” Pestaño said.
Small-scale mining, as defined under RA 7076 and its IRR, refers to mining activities which rely heavily on manual labor using simple implements and methods and do not use explosives or heavy mining equipments and requires only a small capital investment.
On the other hand, small-scale miners, according to RA 7076, are Filipino citizens who individually or in company of other Filipino citizens, voluntarily form a cooperative duly licensed by the DENR to engage, under the terms and conditions of a contract/license in the extraction or removal of minerals or ore bearing materials from the ground.
Pestaño stressed that it is now clear that only Filipino small-scale miners, organized as a cooperative, can operate in a Minahang Bayan.
“A limitation however, was set forth by RA 7076 that they can only mine gold, silver, chromite, kaolin, silica, marble, gravel and sand and clay in an identified mineralized area,” he said.
On the other hand, EO 79 provides for allowing only gold, silver and chromite under the SSM regime.
Albay, Camarines Norte and Masbate are rich in gold and silver and Camarines Sur for chromites.
For non-metallic, Albay is endowed with abundant deposits of boulder, earth fill, sand and gravel, aggregates, selected stone, shale clay and white sand; Camarines Norte with diatomaceous earth, sand and gravel, white clay, kaolin clay and silica sand; ball clay, decorative stone, earth fill and sand gravel for Camarines Sur; sand and gravel for Catanduanes; boulders, earth fill and sand and gravel for Masbate; and Sorsogon for sand and gravel.
PMRB is designated as the implementing body by the DENR to implement the identification of a Minahang Bayan. It has the authority to declare and set aside Minahang Bayan in sites on-shore suitable for small-scale mining operations subject to review by the DENR Secretary through the regional executive director.
The board is composed of the MGB regional director as chair; The provincial governor, or his/her authorized representatives, as vice-chair; and members composed of duly appointed representatives from the small-scale miners; Large-scale miners and non-government organization with environmental concerns.
Recently, efforts to organize the PMRB for Camarines Sur has been marred by a shooting incident involving the death of small-scale miners of Barangay Gata which resulted in four (4) casualties as reported, the assailant belongs to another group.
“This incident is currently under investigation by concerned authorities. Their death should not be in vain as concerned government agencies and LGU officials are committed to legalizing small-scale mining operations towards rural economic development and livelihood generation,” Pestaño concluded. (MAL/LDvaldez-MGB5/PIA5/ALbay)
- See more at: http://news.pia.gov.ph/index.php?article=771396920326#sthash.ubiARrNP.dpuf
Engr. Theodore Rommel E. Pesta?o, regional director of the MGB Bicol, has since been coordinating with the chief executives of the six Bicol provinces for the creation and reorganization of PMRB, including the establishment of Minahang Bayan for each province, to end illegal operation on small scale mining.
Pestaño said similar regulatory boards in Masbate and Sorsogon were already operational while Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur are expected to follow suit.
The director explained that the move was implemented in concurrence with Republic Act (RA) 7076 otherwise known as An Act Creating A People’s Small Scale Mining Program and for Other Purposes, which became effective last July 18,1991.
The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) is also embodied in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order (DAO) No. 34, series of 1992;
Executive Order (EO) No. 79 has also entitled institutionalizing and implementing reforms in the Philippine mining sector, providing policies and guidelines to ensure environmental protection and responsible mining in the utilization of mineral resources.
Pestaño furthered that RA 7076 and its IRR lay down the policy of the state to promote, develop, protect and rationalize viable small-scale mining (SSM) activities in order to generate more employment opportunities and provide an equitable sharing of the nation’s wealth and natural resources while at the same time handing to the PMRB the task to implement the activities according to the directives of the DENR.
This law, he said, aims to achieve an orderly, systematic and rational development of the small scale mining.
EO 79, on the other hand, gave importance to the small scale mining particularly the establishment of a Minahang Bayan.
“Giving these small scale miners a mining area or a Minahang Bayan to work on legally will uplift their socio-economic status in the society and they will no longer be branded illegal in their own country,” he explained.
Without a Minahang Bayan, these small scale miners usually operate without any valid and subsisting permits either from the MGB or the PMRB and they are mostly operating in areas being claimed or registered in the name of legitimate large-scale mining companies; and other prior rights, including other end user.
“They practically lack the consent from these prior right holders so they remain illegal having no proper documents,” Pestaño said.
Small-scale mining, as defined under RA 7076 and its IRR, refers to mining activities which rely heavily on manual labor using simple implements and methods and do not use explosives or heavy mining equipments and requires only a small capital investment.
On the other hand, small-scale miners, according to RA 7076, are Filipino citizens who individually or in company of other Filipino citizens, voluntarily form a cooperative duly licensed by the DENR to engage, under the terms and conditions of a contract/license in the extraction or removal of minerals or ore bearing materials from the ground.
Pestaño stressed that it is now clear that only Filipino small-scale miners, organized as a cooperative, can operate in a Minahang Bayan.
“A limitation however, was set forth by RA 7076 that they can only mine gold, silver, chromite, kaolin, silica, marble, gravel and sand and clay in an identified mineralized area,” he said.
On the other hand, EO 79 provides for allowing only gold, silver and chromite under the SSM regime.
Albay, Camarines Norte and Masbate are rich in gold and silver and Camarines Sur for chromites.
For non-metallic, Albay is endowed with abundant deposits of boulder, earth fill, sand and gravel, aggregates, selected stone, shale clay and white sand; Camarines Norte with diatomaceous earth, sand and gravel, white clay, kaolin clay and silica sand; ball clay, decorative stone, earth fill and sand gravel for Camarines Sur; sand and gravel for Catanduanes; boulders, earth fill and sand and gravel for Masbate; and Sorsogon for sand and gravel.
PMRB is designated as the implementing body by the DENR to implement the identification of a Minahang Bayan. It has the authority to declare and set aside Minahang Bayan in sites on-shore suitable for small-scale mining operations subject to review by the DENR Secretary through the regional executive director.
The board is composed of the MGB regional director as chair; The provincial governor, or his/her authorized representatives, as vice-chair; and members composed of duly appointed representatives from the small-scale miners; Large-scale miners and non-government organization with environmental concerns.
Recently, efforts to organize the PMRB for Camarines Sur has been marred by a shooting incident involving the death of small-scale miners of Barangay Gata which resulted in four (4) casualties as reported, the assailant belongs to another group.
“This incident is currently under investigation by concerned authorities. Their death should not be in vain as concerned government agencies and LGU officials are committed to legalizing small-scale mining operations towards rural economic development and livelihood generation,” Pestaño concluded. (MAL/LDvaldez-MGB5/PIA5/ALbay)
- See more at: http://news.pia.gov.ph/index.php?article=771396920326#sthash.ubiARrNP.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment