BAGUIO CITY, June 6 (PNA) — The new set of Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) to implement Republic Act 7076, or the People’s Small Scale Mining Act of 1991 would be beneficial for the Cordillera Region.
This was the opinion of Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Cordillera (MGB-CAR) Director Fay Apil as it would rationalize the small scale mining industry in the region and at the same time ensure that the environment would be protected.
Apil said the new IRR puts emphasis on the creation of centralized processing centers in each “Minahang Bayan” which will be created in the region.
This, she added, would ensure that the environment would be protected since dangerous tailings and chemicals could be contained in a single area and not disposed of wantonly in the community.
Aside from this, the new IRR would also allow the clustering of “Minahang Bayan” in a locality to allow easier monitoring by the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB) and the MGB, Apil added.
Monitoring small scale miners would also become easier because they will be required to register themselves with the PMRB before they can be allowed to operate in the identified “Minahang Bayan” of the provinces they are located in.
“Because they will be clustered, small scale miners will be forced to comply with existing laws and regulations on small scale mining designed to protect and preserve the environment where they operate,” Apil stressed.
Although the MGB-CAR still has to identify the “Minahang Bayan” clusters in the Cordillera, Apil said, her office has already started defining the areas in the region where small scale mining could be operated.
As soon as the clusters are identified, small scale miners, pocket miners, and “camote” miners, can apply for a contract to operate, apply for a free and prior informed consent (FPIC) process with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and process other government requirements.
“An FPIC is needed so that the communities where the “Minahang Bayan” cluster will be located may also reap the benefits of their operations,” she said, adding the process would be less tedious compared to FPICs for large scale mining operations.
“They also have to give back to the communities through community development projects similar to the Social Development Management Projects of large mining companies,” she added.
Aside from this, taxes of local and national governments will be assured because the small scale miners have legitimized themselves.
“This is important because the mineral resources of the country is owned by the government and taxes should be imposed on them,” Apil stressed. (PNA)