ITOGON, Benguet – The municipal council approved on third and final reading a resolution that favorably endorsed the application for a special mine permit of the Itogon Suyoc Resources, Inc. subject to prescribed conditions.
However, Councilor Lison Latawan, chairman of the council’s committee on environment, clarified that the endorsement that was made is for the company’s application for a special mine permit and not for its Application for Production Sharing Agreement (APSA) 103.
He said that the conditions that will be imposed are still being finalized and will form part of the resolution that will be released as soon as the same shall have been signed by the majority of the members who voted in favor of its passage.
During the votation that was done by the local legislative body, nine members voted in favor of the resolution endorsing ISRI’s application for a special mining permit, one member voted against while one member abstained.
Latawan claimed that one of the conditions that will be imposed is that any violation that will be committed by the company on the identified conditions will cause the immediate revocation of the said endorsement.
According to him, the conditions that will be imposed will allow the conduct of stricter monitoring of the activities that are covered by the said application to ensure the company’s compliance and avoid violation that might cause its revocation in the future.
He pointed out that the council took some time to pass the resolution because the members had to balance the issues being raised by those against the issuance of the said permit, the counter arguments of the company and those who are in favor of the grant of the permit and the greater interest of the people of the municipality among others.
The alderman explained that the resolution endorsing the application for special mining permit is just one of the numerous requirements that must be complied by the mining company and that it will now be up to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to act on the said application.
The draft of the approved resolution will still be reviewed by the members to ensure that the appropriate conditions shall have been inputted before the same will be signed and subsequently released to the concerned parties.
ISRI is one of the operating large-scale mining companies in the mineral-rich town that seeks to expand their operations with its APSA 103 having passed the stringent free and prior informed consent (FPIC) following the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the company and the Itogon Indigenous Peoples Organization (IIPO), the accredited umbrella organization of indigenous peoples in the municipality pursuant to the rules and regulations of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
Councilor Latawan emphasized that the role of the municipal council is to issue the requested endorsement once the local legislative body will find merit in granting the same and that the regulating agencies are the ones that look into whether or not it is in order to issue the permit to allow the company to continue with its operations within its tenement. By Dexter A. See
