MORE NEWS, BENGUET

Halsema veggie dumping assailed

ATOK, Benguet – The municipal government here condemned the indiscriminate dumping of vegetable wastes along the Halsema Highway, saying these were eyesores and were a threat to tourism and health of residents.

Local officials asked farmers growing vegetables alongside the highway not to dump trimmings and other agricultural wastes on the highway.

The municipal government ordered farmers coming from the La Trinidad trading post to bring back their wastes to their farms and use these as fertilizers to cut down on waste generated at the trading facility and lessen pollution it caused to the resident living alongside the road.

Officials expressed disappointment because the municipality of Atok is now becoming the dumping site of vegetable wastes.

The municipal government is studying the imposition of stiff penalties on those who would apprehended for dumping waste in the town.

It was learned that bulk of the wastes found along the highway consisted of vegetable trimmings that create obnoxious odor caused by the decomposition of the garbage.

Residents living alongside the road have been greatly inconvenienced, officials said.

SP voids permit allowing Philex mining operations
BY DEXTER A SEE

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Opposition to the expanded operation of Philex Mining Corp., one of the two remaining large-scale mining companies in this vegetable-producing province is snowballing.

This developed after the provincial board granted a request for the immediate cancellation of a special permit issued to Philex.

The board agreed with the claim of affected resident that the expansion activities of Philex did not undergo the required process required by the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act.

The provincial legislative body supported the clamor of the municipal government of Itogon for the central office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to recall the special permit it had granted Philex and order the company to go through the legal processes before a permit is issued to it for its expanded operation.

Aside from the fact that the 98-hectare area is the subject of a boundary dispute between the towns of Tuba and Itogon, indigenous communities affected by the expansion of the mining operation were not properly consulted, the board stated in the resolution.

The board said continuous mining operations in the area without consultation with the affected resident as required by law violated the rights of the affected people and the communities.

Earlier, indigenous people of Barangay Ampucao opposed the company’s expansion plan, noting disastrous effects of its operation to the environment.

Thousands of residents of Camp 3, Tuba, Benguet also expressed their opposition to the mining operation of Philex because of its alleged failure to compensate claims as well as the damage to properties affected by its operation.

It was learned that one of the conditions stipulated in the one year special permit granted by the MGB central office to Philex is “free prior and informed consent” of the affected indigenous communities.

The National Commission Indigenous Peoples in the Cordillera is trying to settle the conflict between the affected communities and the company, but the first round of negotiations failed due to misunderstanding over the venue of the dialogue.

Residents said that they no longer trust Philex because of its failure to fulfill its commitment to compensate them.

However, lawyer Amador Batay-an, NCIP Cordillera director, said both parties must abide by the date and venue to be scheduled by the agency on the dialogue to avoid confusion.

Batay-an earlier notified the company to cease and desist from continuing its expanded operation because of its failure to secure the consent of affected communities.