ENVIRONMENT and Natural Resources Secretary Roy A. Cimatu on Monday cancelled the permits of all small-scale mining operations in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) following a landslide in typhoon-stricken Itogon, Benguet, over the weekend that killed dozens.
“In view of this current situation in the Cordillera, to prevent further danger to the lives of our small-scale miners, I officially order cease and desist of all… small-scale mining operations in the whole of Cordillera Administrative Region,” Mr. Cimatu said in a briefing with Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. and other officials.
Mr. Roque reported that as of 6:00 a.m. of Monday, 54 people were confirmed dead in CAR, broken down as follows: 9 in Baguio City; 1 in Kalinga; 6 in Mountain Province; and in the following Benguet towns, 1 in Tuba, 3 in La Trinidad and 34 in Itogon. Meanwhile, 49 individuals have been reported missing: 5 in Baguio City; 1 in Kabayan, Benguet; 42 in Itogon; and 1 in Tuba.
Mr. Cimatu said he was there “to look into the incident that happened in a small-scale mining community in Itogon wherein there were several casualties.”
“And I was told that we will not stop until we will recover (the bodies), whether they are still alive in the mining area,” he added.
He also said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) “will be sending men from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to effect the stoppage of all the mining activities, especially in Itogon.”
Itogon Mayor Victorio T. Palangdan described the affected area as “an abandoned mining area, but the Benguet Corp. still maintains ownership over the surface of the land.”
He added that there were small-scale miners operating in the area even before the typhoon came. “I wrote a letter to our MGB (Mines and Geosciences Bureau) people in the Cordillera to stop this mining operation. I issued a stoppage order, but the small-scale miners claimed that they were allowed to mine (an old tunnel originally dug by) Benguet Corp. I also wrote MGB to put a stop to it,” Mr. Palangdan said.
MGB-CAR Regional Director Fay W. Apil added: “For the information of everybody, there are 10 associations which were given temporary small scale mining contracts. Because when EO (executive order) 79 was issued, it says there that: those who are in possession of small scale mining permits will be given temporary small scale mining contracts until their areas are declared as Minahang Bayan. Of the more or less 10,000 small scale miners in Itogon, may 500 only are members of the 10 associations.”
In response, Mr. Cimatu said: “Okay, by virtue of what happened, I’m revoking those permits, effective today.”
President Benigno S.C. Aquino III imposed a moratorium on the grant of new mining permits by issuing EO 79 in 2012. The Minahang Bayan is a program provided for in the People’s Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7076), which identifies sites “suitable for small-scale mining, subject to review by the Secretary [of the DENR], immediately giving priority to areas already occupied and actively mined by small-scale miners.”
Also during the briefing, Mr. Palangdan said: “I am appealing to the Secretary that my letter to him, the National (Task Force) Mining Challenge, that we should have first a technical conference to determine the areas that are dangerous and that should be stopped; and not to stop all the mining operations of small- scale [companies].”
Mr. Cimatu replied, “I understand the predicament of these people… Their livelihood. But… we cannot ignore (the deaths). Mining has been taking place for a long time but only now have we seen this many casualties.” — Arjay L. Balinbin

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