MGB-CAR welcomes reactivation of anti-small scale mining task force

June 25, 2019 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY- The Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau –Cordillera (MGB-CAR) welcomed the move of the Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Council (RLECC) to reactivate the anti-small scale mining task force.
“MGB-CAR welcomes the move but the office of the Benguet Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB) in all provinces will be assisting the small scale miners in legalizing their operations by complying with the requirements needed in the declaration of the small scale mining area as Minahang Bayan (MB),” MGB-CAR regional director Fay Apil said.
“We are not against small scale mining but these activities should be legalized for the safety of small scale miners,” Apil added.
The MGB official further said, “Small scale miners should be environmentally and socially responsible.”
During the recent RLECC meeting chaired by Police/Brig. Israel Ephraim Dickson, the body has approved the move to pass a resolution reactivating the anti-small scale mining task force.
Dickson said that the reactivation of the task force will be a preventive measure to protect lives and properties especially with the onset of the rainy season.
Last year, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu issued a cease and desist order against all small scale mining operations in Cordillera following the massive landslide that killed dozens of small scale miners in Benguet’s mining town of Itogon.
Meanwhile, Benguet Federation of Small Scale Miners, Inc. (BFSSM) president Lomino Kaniteng also expressed support to RLECC’s move.
“We support the reactivation of the task force, provided that it should be coordinated with the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB),” Kaniteng said.
Kaniteng urged small scale miners to comply with the requirements in the processing of Small Scale Mining Contract (SSMC) in declared minahang bayan areas.
 
Primo Agatep/ABN