The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said it will look into the concerns raised by local officials over the potential impact of mining on Brooke’s
Point, Palawan.
The Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Brooke’s Point, Palawan, passed a resolution on August 3 requesting the MGB to conduct an investigation on the “appropriateness” of mining in the area.
“I have not seen the resolution. But the MGB is ready to look into it,” MGB Director Leo L. Jasareno told the BusinessMirror.
Jasareno said there’s no mining operation yet in Brooke’s Point. The government, however, has existing Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSAs) with some companies that will put up
mining operations in the area.
He said, however, that the MGB central office and the MGB Region 4B office is prepared to investigate the matter.
The antimining group Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) has expressed support for Brooke’s Point SB Resolution 2015-119 authored by Councilor Vic Colili.
The resolution seeks to recall the permits issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the previous administrations of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Palawan and the SB of Brooke’s Point to the three mining firms while the issues have not been settled.
Jaybee Garganera, national
coordinator of ATM, said the resolution “clearly expresses the sentiment of the people who do not want mining in Brooke’s Point.”
In his resolution, Colili said the geological hazard map of the DENR indicates that the areas covered by the claims of the three mining companies are susceptible to landslide.
The areas covered by the MPSAs overlap with the areas covered by Mount Matalingahan Protected Landscape, as well as the ancestral domain claim of indigenous people.
The resolution said mining activities also run counter to the goal of the local government to make Brooke’s Point the “Ecological Capital” of Palawan.