Alert guards of Balatoc Mines Inc. last week arrested three persons for transporting 60 kilos of mine tailings without necessary permits.

The guards, led by Rommel Chomacog, named those arrested as Ferdinand Bato, 36; Reynante Bernabe, 32, and Alejandro Domeris, 24.

Benguet police said the suspects reportedly came from the second gate of the Balatoc Mines at Virac, Itogon, Benguet.

The suspects were aboard of a van, which was intercepted by the guards. The vehicle was loaded with 11 sacks of tailings weighing 60 kilograms.

Possible criminal case for violation of Republic Act 7942 or otherwise known as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 will be filed against the suspects.

As this developed, Balatoc Mines has instructed anew all its guards to inspect all vehicles that enter and leave the company premises to prevent individuals from illegally transporting mine tailings and other valuable properties of the company.

The arrest came a few weeks after personnel of the Philippine Military Academy also arrested four supposed small-scale miners on Tuesday for working inside a mining tunnel within the jurisdiction of the Academy.

PMA personnel led by Staff Sgt. Roderick del Mundo also seized from the suspect assorted mining tools such as spade, three chisels, a mallet, and seven small sacks of ore.

An investigation team tasked to probe the existence of 60 small-scale mining tunnels within the reservation has recommended the issuance of a cease and desist order against the operations of these tunnels.

The investigation team added a cluster of 32 small scale mines located at Nugget Hill are within the jurisdiction of Baguio City.