MGB-CAR welcomes RLECC move to reactivate anti small scale mining task force

BAGUIO CITY- The Mines and Geosciences-Cordillera (MGB-CAR) welcomed the move of Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Council (RLECC) to reactivate the anti small scale mining task force.
“The MGB-CAR welcomes the move but the Office and the Benguet Provincial Minining Regulatory Board (PMRB) in all provinces will be assisting. The small scale miners I legalizing their operations by complying with the requirements needed in the declaration of the small scale mining area as Minahang Bayan (MB),” said Fay Apil, regional director of MGB-CAR.
“We are not against small scale mining but these activities should be legalized for the safety of small scale miners.” Apil stressed.
The MGB official further said “small scale miners should be environmentally and socially responsible.”
In 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 emphasized that the reactivation of the task force will be a preventive measure to protect lives and properties especially with the onset of rainy season.
Last year, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu issued a ceased and desist order (CDO) against all small scale mining operations in the Cordillera following the massive landslide that killed dozens of small scale miners in Benguet’s mining town of Itogon.
Meanwhile, Engineer Lomino Kaniteng,president of Benguet Federation of Small Scale Miners, Inc. (BFSSM) also expressed support on the 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.
Thus, Kaniteng urged small scale miners to comply with the requirements in processing Small Scale Mining Contract (SSMC) in declared minahang bayan areas.
 
Primo Agatep/ABN

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