Patiacan: The establishment of the first Minahang Bayan in Patiacan, Quirino, Ilocos Sur is giving small-scale miners a legal path to pursue their livelihood while bringing their operations under a more organized and regulated system.
According to Philippines News Agency, for generations, small-scale mining has provided income for families in mineral-rich communities. But without formal recognition, miners can face uncertainty, limited access to government assistance, and the risks associated with unregulated operations.
"We are thankful to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for giving us this opportunity to have access to a Minahang Bayan to earn for a living," said 61-year-old Willy Degay, president of the Patiacan Miners of Ilocos Sur, in an interview during the DENR Express Caravan at SM City Laoag.
For Patiacan's small-scale miners, the designation of a Minahang Bayan covering about 162 hectares in Barangay Patiacan means more than access to a designated mining area. It gives them an opportunity to bring a traditional livelihood into a legal and more organized framework.
Degay, who has worked in the mining industry for 22 years, said his group is committed to complying with government requirements on safety, environmental protection, and responsible mineral extraction. The DENR said the Minahang Bayan framework provides a mechanism to organize and monitor small-scale mining activities and guide miners toward compliance with government regulations.
With operations brought into a formal system, miners can also gain access to government technical assistance and oversight. "Most of them are operating illegally. For the first time, we issued a permit to legalize themselves and, if given the opportunity, they will have an opportunity to sell extracted minerals to the Central Bank instead of selling to middlemen and avoid being shortchanged," DENR Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna said.
Cuna personally awarded the permit to the Patiacan small-scale miners during a ceremonial distribution at SM City Laoag on Sept. 10, 2026. For the Indigenous Peoples of Patiacan, the first Minahang Bayan offers hope that the gold beneath their land can create opportunities for the community while providing miners with a more secure livelihood.
The success of the initiative, however, will ultimately depend not only on how much gold is extracted but on whether mining generates lasting benefits for the community while protecting the environment for future generations.
