Mine safety group seeks review of laws on small-scale mining

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA) president Louie Sarmiento is calling for a review to refine the laws pertaining to small-scale mining.

Sarmiento said the purpose of the review is to eliminate illegal activities.

The small-scale mining laws, Sarmiento added, should impose strict regulation and guidance, and provide more opportunities for legal operators to maximize their output and income.

Sarmiento’s appeal follows Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje’s appeal to all local government officials to stop issuing small-scale mining (SSM) permits as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) no longer issues environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for SSM. 

Sarmiento and Paje renewed their appeal in the wake of the Pantukan landslide.

The DENR chief has dispatched a team of geologists to assess the area for possible dangers to rescuers, warning them of the possibility of further landslides due to the condition of the soil as well as holes caused by small-scale mining.

Paje, along with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, visited the area in April last year and had found cracks along the mountain ridges.

“The area continues to act as a magnet to as many as 200,000 individuals during a gold rush,” he said.

The three officials had then warned the LGU that it would only be a matter of time before the mountainside would collapse.

According to Sarmiento PMSEA, immediately activated its Safety Networking Action Program (SNAP), under the Pusong Minero advocacy, to conduct rescue and retrieval operations of victims affected by the Pantukan landslide in Compostela Valley In Mindanao.

 After receiving reports on the Pantukan landslide from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), Sarmiento immediately activated the SNAP to conduct rescue and retrieval operations of victims, even if there are no PMSEA member companies operating in the area.

Sarmiento received a call early Thursday morning, from MGB Director Leo Jasareno regarding the Pantukan catastrophe.

Sarmiento immediately mobilized PMSEA member company Apex Mining Co., Inc., headed by its president Peregrino Resabal, which assembled a team that was deployed to Pantukan.

 According to Sarmiento, other Pusong Minero teams from PMSEA member companies have also been deployed to Pantukan, through the assistance of MGB Region 11 Director Edilberto Arreza and in coordination with the National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council.

The other PMSEA members who mobilized to help the Pantukan victims included Philex Mining Corp. headed by Joel Son; St. Agustine, and Nadecor.

“Our Pusong Minero teams at Pantukan are determined to rescue remaining survivors and retrieve fatalities of the landslide. They possess hearts committed to serve and save lives,” Sarmiento said.

Considered experts in calamity and disaster rescue, miners from PMSEA’s Pusong Minero teams from member companies have been able to save many lives, including that of Sonia Roco (wife of the late Sen. Raul Roco) during the 1990 killer earthquake in Baguio City and four trapped individuals from the collapsed Repador Building in Real, Quezon in 2004 after a series of typhoons and landslides hit the area.

 PMSEA miners were also involved in the rescue and recovery efforts during the Leyte landslides in December 2003 and February 2006, among others.

PMSEA is an organization of mining companies, quarries, cement plants, suppliers, service contractors, professional organizations and government agencies that promotes occupational safety, improved health standards and environmental protection in mining-related operations.