Cagayan de Oro City's 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez at the Batasang Pambansa. (File photo)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Second District Representative Rufus Rodriguez is hoping for a Senate counterpart of his two bills seeking a ban on mining and logging in this city.
In a statement Tuesday, Rodriguez said House Bills (HB) 966 and 967, which have been refiled for the past 15 years, have been approved at the House of Representatives under the Committee on Natural Resources after the endorsement of its chairperson, Cavite Representative Elpidio Barzaga.
Rodriguez noted that since he filed the two bills in the 14th Congress, between 2007 and 2010, "senators had inexplicably failed to act on the environment-friendly bills."
“We hope that this time, senators will see the omnipresent danger from logging and mining our people in Cagayan de Oro face every day of their lives. We pray that our good senators will finally act on our bills,” Rodriguez said.
Under HB 966, illegal loggers would be meted with imprisonment from six years to 12 years and fined PHP100,000 to PHP500,000.
The same penalties will be imposed under HB 967 on illegal mining operations.
“We will not tire of filing and refiling these bills because these will save precious lives, property, and the environment. A single-life or piece of property saved will be more than worth the effort,” Rodriguez said.
He said city residents and Mindanaoans "need not remind senators, some of whom are from the island," of the loss of lives, properties, and infrastructures caused by massive flooding generated by Typhoon Sendong in December 2011.
The typhoon resulted in the deaths of 1,400 individuals, 900 of whom were residents here. (PNA)
