About 328 scholars in the mining communities of Benguetcorp Nickel Mines Inc. (BNMI) stand to lose their second semester tuition fees and allowances for SY 2016-2017. BNMI subsidizes the tuition fees and daily allowances of around 272 high school students and 57 college and technical and vocational schools from 23 barangays. BNMI is host to nine barangays in their mining area in Sta. Cruz but has adopted 14 additional barangays near their nickel mining operations.
In July, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through the Mines and Geosciences Bureau and the Environment Management Bueau, suspended the operations of BNMI indefinitely. Prior to the suspension, BNMI was certified under the ISO 14001:2015 on Environmental Management System by TUVRheinland in March. The certification was in compliance with the DENR DAO 15-07 and came well ahead of the deadline on May 2016.
The DENR suspension has severely affected not just the mining operations of the company but the communities most of all. The company has since then faced financial constraints. BNMI has formally informed the students that it will not be able to provide financial assistance for the second semester of the present school year.
The students have lamented this unfortunate turn of events as their parents will now have to face the grueling and helpless task of looking for financial assistance elsewhere, otherwise their children would have to postpone their studies for the next school semester indefinitely until the mining operations can resume.
In a letter addressed to DENR Secretary Gina Lopez, a 4th year student in Sta. Cruz, Zambales, wrote “I’m very saddened because it will endanger our scholarship. I believe that BNMI is a responsible company and does not deserve suspension. I beg you to let it help us fulfill our dreams.”