MORE NEWS, BENGUET

Balintaogan organization sets ‘’dinner for a cause’

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- The Balintaogan (Kankanaey term for rainbow) Organization will be holding a “dinner for a cause” to start a program for health and education needs of schoolchildren in this town.

The event would be held on Oct. 20 at 6-8 p.m. with the theme: “Sharing gifts, changing lives” here at Jack’s Restaurant, Km. 4.

The organization is a non-stock, non-profit neophyte organization, borne out as a support group among women friends who trace their friendship since college (15 years ago).

As support group, they share women issues that confront them in the workplace, home and the community in their roles as parents, wives, community members and employees.

From the sharing, they realized that they were blessed having each other to depend upon.
Members said they later became conscious of other social issues like those on children thus they were motivated to give something back and do something for the cause.

With limited funds, they decided to organize the dinner and asked their friends to join.
They said by doing, they would achieve their mission to support nutrition and educational needs of children through feeding and sponsorship.

One of their ongoing activities for this year is feeding of Grade 1 school children at the Balili Elementary School in this town which they conduct every month until the end of the school year.
Recently, they also conducted a medical dental mission at the school aside from providing medical-dental care.

They also gave out Vitamin A supplements to the pupils. Much as they would like to give more attention to underweight children of the school in terms of supplements among others, the organization does not have enough resources to do so.

The dinner could be the start of bigger programs, Balintaogan members said.


Mine firm spends P1.9B for care of environment
BY DEXTER A. SEE

TUBA, Benguet September 21– The Philex Mining Corporation here has already spent a total of P1.9 billion pursuant to its policy on proactive environmental management for the past 49 years of its operation.

Lawyer Ed Aratas, chief of the Philex’s legal division, said that Philex is striving for excellence in mineral resource development and is committed to the continuous improvement of its operations, to minimize adverse environmental impacts, to comply with relevant environmental legislations and to promote environmental awareness and commitment among its workers at all levels.

From 1967 to 2005, the company has spent a total of P1.56 billion for its numerous environmental projects while over P225 million was earmarked for the same purpose last year.

It was learned that the mining firm has established at least 1,705 hectares of watershed and reforestation area that was planted with 6 million trees with an 80 percent survival rate. From 2000 to 2005, at least P24 million was spent for the regreening project.

Aratas pointed out that their forest protection and watershed management initiatives had greatly helped vegetate the once denuded and logged over areas.

Philex constructed its first tailings pond in 1967, nine years before the approval of the Pollution Control law in 1976.

Aratas added that community-based reforestation started in the 1960s as a means of livelihood for the affected communities even before The man and Biosphere Program.

Furthermore, the company established its materials recovery facility in 1998 even before the approval of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

Philex was the first to secure an ISO14001 from the Certification International based in England which certified on the company’s compliance to international environmental management standards even before the Department of Environment and natural Resources (DENR) issued Administrative order 14, series of 2003 or the Self Regulation Towards Improved Environmental Performance.

The company has a total of 14,000 hectares covered by mining claims but it operates only 530 hectares while another 50 hectares is earmarked for community facilities such as schools, markets and public places among others.

Aratas disclosed that the company has also re-vegetated 20 hectares out of the 25 hectares of its tailings pond number one thereby making it an added tourist attraction in the mine site because of the presence of a mini-golf course and a livelihood area for the communities.

Aratas asserted that the company is dedicated to fulfill its social environmental obligations to the communities within the mine site and the neighboring areas provided that it will be done above board, thus, a symbiotic relationship between the company and the people must always prevail for the pursuit of a better place to live and maintaining a well preserved environment for the benefit of the future generation.