Hundreds of stakeholders in Pantukan, Compostela Valley attended the public consultation conducted by the Nationwide Development Corporation (NADECOR) in relation to the King King mining project in the area.

The public consultation was held July 3, 2014 and aimed to inform the project's stakeholders of the appropriate mitigating measures to manage environmental impacts when the Project starts development and achieves commercial operations by 2017.

The consultation is part of the on-going Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process of the King-King Copper-Gold Project (KCGP) which is a partnership between Nationwide Development Corporation (Nadecor) and St. Augustine Gold & Copper Ltd. (SAGCL) wherein the two companies are working together to develop the world class King-king Project while partnering with the community to meet the needs of Pantukan.

More importantly, the consultation sought to determine and put into consideration the participants' concerns about the project. This consultation is one of many consultations held over the past several years with all critical and key local and provincial stakeholders.

The 4-hour consultation was attended by 390 people that include local leaders from 6 impact barangays - Brgy Araibo, Tagdangua, Magnaga, Kingking, Napnapan and Bongbong, indigenous people representatives from the Mansaka Tribe, LGU & PGU officials, and officers from the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural resources. There were multiple small-scale miners and groups in attendance, represented, and participating.

After the presentation of the technical aspect of the project and the process and results of the environmental impact assessment, the participants were given 45 minutes to ask questions during the open forum. Written questions were also accepted and registered.

Most of the questions were focused on environmental impacts and on employment opportunities for the affected communities.

KCGP management team headed by SASI Operations Manager Pete Cancino and NADECOR Chief Operating Officer Atty. Leo Nitorreda assured the public that the project is committed to abide by the rules and regulations set by environmental laws that governs mining, more specifically RA 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and PD 1586 or The Environmental Impact Statement System Law, among others.

"With regard to employment opportunities, the project has already signed a memorandum of agreement with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), to provide skills training to those who wish to work for the project once it starts. And we're to prioritize locals for the said training because it's our objective to provide jobs for the people who reside in the affected communities," said Jonathan Banez, Community Development manager of the KCGP.

"This project will follow all the laws of the land for us to better serve the community while providing opportunities for development, not only here in Pantukan but for the province of Compostela Valley and the entire Philippines," Operations Manager Pete Cancino added. The EIA is one of the steps t to receive an Environmental Compliance Certificate for the project and the EMB will release the decision on the application within 40 working days.