BAGUIO -- A crackdown on illegal mining operations has begun in Mountain Province, following President Rodrigo Duterte's order against such activities nationwide.
In a report received on Thursday, Mountain Province Police Director Senior Supt. Allen Ocden said one small-scale mining operation in Sitio Latang, Maligcong, Bontoc has so far been closed down on order of the Regional Trial Court in Bontoc.
Ocden said the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (MGB) and the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) took part in the shutting down of the small mine.
The operating troops saw on site some freshly sawn pine to be used as timber in the tunnel, he said, adding that mine ore that contaminates the creek was also spotted.
Aside from Maligcong, other villages and towns in the province are also being monitored daily by the police for possible illegal mining operations.
"We have closed the illegal mining operation in Maligcong and there will be more to follow,” Ocden said. "The instruction of the President to the police is to enforce (the) anti-illegal mining law in our respective areas, which we are complying with.”
The police officer said some illegal small mining operations are being monitored in the villages of Mainit and Alab in Bontoc, as well as in Fidelisan in Sagada.
“During our inspection, we found out that Maligcong was the only one that insists on continuing its illegal small-scale mining. That’s why we closed it down together with MGB and CENRO,” he related, adding the mining operator in Fidelisan village had agreed to shut down voluntarily.
Tadian Mayor Anthony Wooden, who also heads the League of Mayors in Mountain Province, urged all small mine operators to apply for a permit to legalize their operations.
He said local governments are willing to assist them in processing their documents.
Getting a permit, he said, would not only legalize their operations, but also ensure their safety, including their workers'.
Permitted small mining operations are tagged as “minahang bayan” (public mines), and they should not affect forest areas and cause damage to agricultural lands.
“There is a law and everybody is compelled to follow (it),” Wooden said.
The mayor said the crackdown would not affect the people's livelihood, since mining is not the primary source of income of the town.
"It is only when they are done tending to their farms that they go to their mines,” he noted.
Wooden said no mining permit has ever been issued in Mountain Province, both for small- or large-scale mining. (PNA)
