Iloilo City – The Iloilo Quarry Permittees Association, Inc. (IQPAI) and Negros Occidental Miners Permittees Association, Inc. (NOMPAI), with the Provincial Environmental Management Offices of Iloilo and Negros Occidental and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Office No. 6 (MGB-6) convened last February 25, 2015 at the Iloilo Grand Hotel to discuss the implementation of the Social Development and Management Program (SDMP).
The SDMP is a program requiring mining contractors and permit holders to assist in the development of the host and neighboring communities.
As required in the Ming Act of 1995 and its rules and regulations, a minimum of 1.5% of the operating costs is allotted annually by the permit holders to implement projects to promote the general welfare of the host community or the barangays where the mining area is located as well as adjacent to the host community.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Office No. 6 (MGB-6) Director Leo Van V. Juguan, CESO V said that the SDMP is also implemented for permits issued by the local government for sand and gravel, quarry and small-scale mining.
The permit holder has the option to implement the SDMP on an individual basis or through a unified approach with a group of permit holders.
In the recent meeting, MGB-6 and the permit holders’ associations of Iloilo and Negros Occidental discussed proposals on how to better improve the implementation and monitoring of the SDMP for LGU-issued permits.
Engr. Rene B. de la Cruz, Chief of the Mining Environment and Safety Division of MGB-6 said that “to improve efficiency in the application process, the group looked into the possibility of transferring the acceptance, initial processing and preliminary evaluation of SDMP of LGU-issued permits to the local government. The SDMP application will be forwarded to the MGB Regional Office for further evaluation and approval after the initial processing and evaluation at the local government.”
The group further discussed to include the monitoring of SDMPs in the periodic monitoring being conducted by the Multi-Partite Monitoring Team (MMT) for LGU-issued permits, de la Cruz added.
RD Juguan believes that the projects implemented under the SDMP of LGU-issued permits in the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental has also contributed to the welfare of people in the host and adjacent communities.
SDMP projects that have been implemented are generally related to the improvement of health and sanitation, education, livelihood, infrastructure and employment assistance in the community.