Gov’t to declare more Minahang Bayan

BAGUIO CITY  , Philippines  —  The government is bent on declaring more Minahang Bayan in the country despite shutdown calls from a mining group amid its ineffective implementation and the worsening state of the industry.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said there would be no stop in the declaration of Minahang Bayan and that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is on track to declare at least two more in the Cordillera region before the year ends.

“We have to declare and probably as we go along, we can make some changes. It is in the law and the law is there, but we are open to possible amendments,” Cimatu said.

The Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA) earlier urged the government to shut down existing Minahang Bayan and not approve additional ones, emphasizing that while the intention of a Minahang Bayan is good, the solution is worsened because small-scale miners cannot actually comply with and operate under the government’s regulations.

“Not entirely to close them, but I think there is a need to amend the law since it is not really implemented properly,” Cimatu said.

“PMSEA is actually suggesting the big brother-small brother approach concept and we are studying that especially on their capability to process,” he said.

PMSEA is proposing the big brother approach wherein established big mining companies in specific areas will work in coordination with the government and small-scale miners.

The group believes that the best solution with small-scale miners is to take a unified approach under which some can be integrated into large-scale mines, as Minahang Bayan will likely worsen environmental degradation.

“There are cases that small-scale miners are having a hard time processing. Sometimes, they process it then just sell it outside. But if we implement the big

brother approach, they will just be paid by the large mining companies,” Cimatu said.

A Minahang Bayan centralizes processing of minerals within a zone where the government will be able to monitor gold production by small-scale miners better.

It helps the government curb illegal mining and mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of indiscriminate mining operations in the country.

Currently, only about 20 Minahang Bayan, both nationally and locally declared, operate in the country but more than 100 applications are pending with the DENR and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. Majority of these are in Cordillera, Bicol, Compostela Valley and Zamboanga.

Being largely fragmented, small scale produces outnumber the large scale industry but the government do not benefit from them, in terms of taxation, as they are not being regulated.

The DENR is crafting a six-year roadmap for the small-scale mining industry to improve mechanisms, allow them to be viable, improve the system and enhance the existing guidelines.