THE ENVIRONMENTALIST group Sea Knights said it found that particles from the crushed dolomite from Alcoy town fell to the sea when transported to bulk carrier vessels through a conveyor belt.
The
crushed dolomite was transported to Manila Bay for the white sand
beautification project.
Gov.
Gwendolyn Garcia asked the environment bureau to investigate, after aerial
photos and videos were presented by the Provincial Environment and Natural
Resources (PENRO) in a meeting with representatives of the Environmental
Management Bureau (EMB), Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR), the Dolomite Mining Corporation (DMC) and the Philippine Mining
Services Corporation (PMSC).
An
inspection of the seabed in the village of Pugalo also showed heavy siltation
and damage to the marine ecosystem. Initial reports submitted to
PENRO indicated that corals were destroyed within 500 meters of seawater
because of heavy siltation, causing the corals and the seabed to turn white.
The provincial government earlier issued a cease and desist order to DMC and
PMSC for the act of selling the dolomite as substitute for sand and gravel in
the domestic market, which is not covered by their permits.
Garcia
raised questions on the companies’ work program, and wants to look into the
environmental compliance certificates issued, as well as the allowable minerals
to be extracted as covered by the contract. A work program obtained by the
Province showed conflicting numbers as against the actual production.
“Let
me reiterate. We are not against the Manila Bay beach nourishment project. Wa
mi mag apil-apil ana because you (DENR) would always nourish the beach by
getting your resources elsewhere. But you are getting resources from the
Province supplied by DMC, extracted by DMC, and under the provincial ordinance,
our Tax Code, they are supposed to pay 10 percent of the fair market value of
quarry resource,” the governor said.
“I
will not have you short-changing the probinsyanos,” she told representatives of
the mining firms.
Capitol
consultant Atty. Benjamin Cabrido Jr. cited legal provisions on the authority
of the province to tax entities engaged in the extraction of all minerals,
quarry and sand and gravel resources by “holders of permits, licenses,
contracts or agreements issued by entities other than the Province of Cebu.”
Article
E, Section 24 of Provincial Ordinance No. 2008-10 states that the Province
shall impose a tax of 10 percent of the local fair market value per cubic meter
for all ordinary stones, sand, gravel, earth and other quarry resources
extracted within the territorial jurisdiction of the Province of Cebu.
Provincial
Treasurer Atty. Roy Salubre said that based on their computation, DMC and PMSC
will have to pay P726,923 to the province government for the 7,000 metric tons
of dolomite shipped to Manila.
Garcia
stressed that the Capitol’s issue against the two firms was their failure to
get a permit for their quarry operations, as their permit is for mining. Aside
from payment of taxes, the company is asked to get a governor’s permit for
their quarrying operations.
Section
182 states that any entity or person is required to get one when it intends to
“extract, take and dispose of any of the minerals and quarry resources” within
the territorial jurisdiction of the Province.
Garcia
said that they are looking for a “fair, transparent and accountable way” of
responding to the issue because as government, “we answer to the people.”
(Vanessa L. Almeda. With additional reporting from Cebu Examiner.)
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