Benguet open to giving up more land

Benguet Corp. is open to donating more land to the government to help families devastated by typhoon Ompong.

Benguet, the country’s oldest mining company, recently gave up a part of its claim in the Antamok mines in Itogon, Benguet to the government for eventual use as a “Minahang Bayan” where small scale miners can operate.

Benguet can donate more land if the government will ask it to.

It is a gesture of goodwill to the community, Anna Montes, Benguet AVP for corporate communications, said in a phone interview.

Without going into specifics, Montes said the company planned to donate pieces of property to be used as relocation sites for families whose homes were flattened by Typhoon “Ompong,” which recently barreled through Luzon.

Benguet is also waiting for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to approve its rehabilitation plan in the region, to make sure that projects of the private sector and the government are “aligned.”

Benguet has been accused of allegedly endangering the communities in the area by allowing small-scale miners to operate within its property in Antamok, where scores of bodies were retrieved after heavy rains brought by Typhoon Ompong caused deadly landslides.

The company has denied these allegations, however, adding that it has done everything it could to clear the mining site of illegal miners through the issuance of warnings, filing of criminal cases and even blasting and blocking of portals.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu has already launched an investigation to determine who should be held accountable for the tragedy, and has ordered the stoppage of all small-scale mining operations in the area.