Gubang tribe allows MGB validation of Kalinga town mine

By Peter A. Balocnit

BALBALAN, Kalinga --Members of the Salegseg-Gubang Council of Elders Leaders who formed the KalingaApayao Metals Development Association based here approved conduct of validation of the area they applied for ‘Minahang Bayan’ (People’s Small Scale Mining Area).

SGCEL Chairman and KAMDAS president Melvin Maglia said the move asking Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Cordillera Administrative Region to conduct mineral validation on the area covered by ancestral domain claims of the Salegseg-Gubang tribe, was unanimously approved during  general assembly  recently conducted at SitioLiglig, Barangay Gawaan, this municipality.

The Gubang tribe composed of  barangays Salegseg, Gawaan and Balantoy   lay claim on the gold-rich ancestral domain where the proposed Minahang Bayan  site is located.

He said it is required by law for MGB to validate ore samples from the applied area to determine the feasibility and viability of operating a small-scale mining industry.  

Nelda Bulawit, Professor at the Kalinga-Apayao State College from Salegseg, told members validation is like exploration stage in mining process where studies are conducted to find out if the area meets qualification as Minahang Bayan.

The majority decision to pursue with the necessary request for ore sampling was carried after Lorenzo Gumawang, vice president of SGCEL, said it was their long desire to exploit their mineral resources for economic progress through legal process including consensus building through indigenous way.

Ancenstral  lands to be declared as Minahang Bayan should have prior  consent from the  concerned cultural communities and  members shall be  given priority in the awarding of small-scale mining contracts.