LA TRINIDAD, Benguet--The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) wants the National Commission on the Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to ease the requirements for the application of a minahang bayan (MB) in the province amid clamor from various small scale miners.
Fay Apil, regional director of the MGB-Cordillera, on Tuesday expressed hope to meet with NCIP soon to discuss the matter, considering that the DENR central office has issued a permit for the Minahang bayan application in Bakun, Benguet.
“We just hope that our meeting will be arranged soon, especially now that we have received a clearance from DENR central office for an MB area in Bakun, Benguet,” Apil said.
She pointed out that applicants for minahang bayan needed to have Certificate of Environmental Management and Community Relations Record, Potential Environmental Impact Management Plan and Community Development Management Program from the DENR.
However, she said, the application in Bakun would still be subject to NCIP requirements such as Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) from the indigenous peoples.
Pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act 7076, the Peoples Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991, or the Minahang Bayan Law, small-scale mining operations shall be undertaken only within the declared People’s Small-scale Mining Areas or Minahang Bayan.
Apil said there are 65 MB applications in the region, mostly applied for by associations with members totaling 16,458 small-scale miners.
The province of Benguet has the biggest number of MB applications with 32, comprising approximately 10,000 small-scale miners.
To date, not a single MB application has been approved.
She said “securing an endorsement from the NCIP to be declared as MB remains the biggest problem facing pocket miners in the region.”
She pointed out that her agency has been assisting local pocket miners in terms of technical support in getting permits that will legalize their operation.
These certificates are among the salient requirements in acquiring Small Scale Mining Contract (SSMC) under the MB, aside from the FPIC.
Hundreds of small-scale miners (SSM) in the province, who are dependent on the activity for their livelihood, are still looking forward to a positive action from the government, specifically from the NCIP.
Apil said she will ask NCIP-Cordillera to ease the requirements for small-scale miners, who are themselves indigenous people (IPs) in their area. (Primo Agatep/PNA)
