PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan -- A City Council member here has called for an investigation of questionable quarrying and extraction of mountain resources and construction aggregates for road widening projects.
Councilor Nesario Awat, chairman of the City Council’s legal matters committee, called the inquiry Tuesday against Ivy Michelle Construction (IMC), which has been hauling gravel and sand in Barangay Napsan, a village where Tagbanua indigenous peoples (IPs) dwell.
The construction aggregates are allegedly being supplied by IMC to road widening and riprapping projects in Barangays Irawan and Iwahig.
Awat said the Tagbanua IPs in Napsan have complained against the quarrying activities, which they said have already caused irreparable damages to the environment in the area.
"Ito ay lumalabas na quarrying at dapat na ipahinto kaagad para malagay sa tama. (This appears to be quarrying that should be stopped and corrected immediately). We should investigate this," he said.
Tagbanua IP leaders in the Napsan area are crying foul, claiming they were not consulted when quarrying was allowed in their area.
Napsan residents John Mark Salunday, Sinto Torse, Rodulfo Pulages, and Armand Ganancial told the City Council the degree of environmental destruction in their place has become alarming due to the uprooting of important trees and what seems to be an uncontrolled extraction of aggregates.
"Maraming puno ang natumba, nasira at patuloy na kumukuha ng aggregates mula sa taas ng bundok ang mga equipment. Ito ay hindi dumaan sa barangay, at kaming mga katutubo ay dapat meron kaming malaya at naunawaang pag-sang ayon tungkol dito (A lot of trees have been felled, and the heavy equipment continues to get aggregates on top of the mountain. This did not pass through the barangay, and there was no conduct of free and prior informed consent)," Salunday said.
Salunday also lamented the fact that the IPs in the area, who only collect pails of gravel and sand, are being arrested but large construction companies like IMC are allowed to quarry by the truckloads.
"Sino ngayon ang mananagot sa mga pinuputol na kahoy? Kaming mga katutubo kung balde-balde lang kinukuha namin (na graba) ay hindi pwede, huhulihin kami tapos ito ngayon ay ilang trak na at maramihan na. Bakit ganito? (Who will be accountable for the trees that were cut? IP residents here who only collect buckets of gravel and sand are being arrested, but look at this they’re hauling them by trucks. Why has it become like this?)," he asked.
Councilor Peter Maristela, who supports Awat’s call for an investigation in Napsan, said an ocular inspection regarding the report should be immediately made by the City Council’s indigenous peoples, legal matters, and environment protection committees.
They should be joined by representatives from the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (City ENRO) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The IPs are not convinced the quarrying in their place is for their “best interest” because it has become more frequent and more trees are being cut, leaving destruction behind.
They said they do not believe that some of the gravel and sand being hauled is going to be used to riprap an eroding gradient in their area.
"Kung e-riprap nila bakit hinuhukay at sinisira sa taas ng bundok? Kung ito ay para sa pag-improve ay hindi natin ito tinututulan pero ang nangyayari ay hindi na po ito para sa rehabilitation kundi ay pagsira na ito. Sinisira pa lalo (If the intention is to riprap, then why are they destroying the top of the mountain. If this is for improvement, we will not disagree, but what’s happening is no longer for rehabilitation; it’s destruction. They’re causing more destruction)," said Pugales, another IP leader.
IMC representative Maricel Hermoso, on the other hand, defended their quarrying projects in Napsan at the City Council.
Appearing during the session, she said IMC has been granted quarrying rights after applying at the City ENRO and paying PHP301,000 for around 10,000 cubic meters of gravel and sand aggregates.
She said the aggregates are for ongoing road widening and slope protection projects in Napsan, while some are transported to Irawan and Iwahig.
The area in Napsan where they are quarrying is an identified landslide prone zone that also needs slope protection.
Both the City Mining Regulatory Board and City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office certified that the construction of safety walls will stabilize the slopes and will avert any loss of lives in Napsan.
Councilor Modesto Rodriguez II is supportive of the move to suspend the activities until the issue is resolved.
He said quarry resources and aggregates are sold at PHP6,000 per truck, yet only PHP30 pesos is paid to the city per cubic meter. He said that irregularities like this should be stopped.
"Ito ay naging hanapbuhay na at dapat mapatigil. Pati bundok ay masyado nang sinisira dahil dito. Effective today dapat ay ipatigil na ang lahat ng iyan. Hangga't maari ay magkaroon muna ng pag-uusap (This is becoming a livelihood that should be stopped. Even the mountain is destroyed. Effective immediately, the quarrying should be stopped. There should be dialogue first)," he said. (PNA)
