52 prescribed by the Regional Assembly, temporarily take over or direct operation of any privately-owned public utility or business affected with public interest. The public utility or business concerned may contest the take over of its operations by the Regional Government by filing a proper case or petition with the Court of Appeals. (b) Proclamation of state of calamity. The Regional Governor may proclaim a state of calamity over the region or parts thereof whenever typhoons, flash floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, or other natural calamities cause widespread damage or destruction to life or property in the region. The state of calamity proclaimed by the Regional Governor shall only be for the purpose of maximizing the efforts to rescue imperiled persons and property and the expeditious rehabilitation of the damaged area. The state of calamity proclaimed shall in no way suspend any provision of the Constitution or this Organic Act, as well as, the pertinent laws promulgated by the central government or national government or the Regional Government. SEC. 13. Legislating Benefits, Compensation for Victims of Mining and Mining Operations; Rehabilitation of Affected Areas. – The Regional Assembly shall enact laws for the benefit and welfare of the inhabitants injured, harmed or adversely affected by the harnessing of natural and mineral resources in the autonomous region. Such laws may include payment of just compensation to and relocation of the people and rehabilitation of the areas adversely affected by the harnessing of natural and mineral resources mentioned above. The Regional Assembly may by law require the persons, natural or juridical, responsible for causing the harm or injury mentioned above to bear the costs of compensation, relocation and rehabilitation mentioned above wholly or partially. SEC. 14. Reforestation; Support for Lumads or Tribal Peoples. – The Regional Government shall actively and immediately pursue reforestation measures to ensure that at least fifty percent (50%) of the land surface of the autonomous region shall be covered with trees, giving priority to watershed areas,