Mineral mining in Matnog opposed

http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p100827.htm&no=A2 

By Danny O. Calleja

Matnog, Sorsogon (27 August) -- Local public officials have joined residents and the Catholic Church here in calls for the stoppage of the operations of a mining project extracting iron ore in a watershed area of this small fourth class town.

The calls are directed to incumbent Sorsogon Gov. Raul Lee whose office issued the small-scale mining permit (SSMP) to the project and the regional office for Bicol of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that provided an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) to it.

EMB regional director Gilbert Gonzales issued the ECC to Antonio Ocampo, Jr. of Ligao City on Aug. 19, 2009 while the SSMP was obtained on September 23 of the same year from then Gov. Sally Lee, the incumbent governor's wife.

The ECC allows Ocampo to extract 50,000 metric tons of iron ore per year for two years from a 19.5-hectare area in Barangay Balocawe here. The SSMP which is binding for the period of one year but renewable for another year affirms the provisions of the ECC.

Ocampo was also able to secure a permit for his mining activities in the same village from the office of then mayor Guillermo So last February 2. A certification issued by the Office of the Municipal Treasurer last July 5 however said Ocampo has not applied for any business permit for mining operations in the municipality.

"From the very beginning, Mr. Ocampo has already been in bad faith in making us believe that he was only a contractor for the construction of a barangay road in the area. He had already gone far with his operations when we found out that what he was doing was actually mining," town councilor Cristopher Hadap, the chairman of the committee on agriculture, natural resources and environmental protection of the municipal legislative council on Tuesday said.

The mining operations was formally brought to the attention of the council last July by residents of Barangay Balocawe and neighboring villages who observed ruthless destruction of the environment, Hadap said.

Following a hearing conducted last July 27, Hadap said his committee has "strongly recommended that the DENR-EMB revoke the ECC granted to Ocampo and that in the meantime, a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) be issued to stop further operation".

The recommendation was based on findings that Ocampo violated his ECC and SSMP that allow him only small-scale mining operations referred to by Republic Act No. 7076 or the People's Small-scale Mining Act of 1991 as "mining activities which rely heavily on manual labor using simple implement and methods and do not use explosives or heavy mining equipment", he said.

Upon ocular inspection, Hadap said "it was established that the operation of Mr. Ocampo is no longer small-scale mining considering the use of sophisticated heavy equipment making the same a large-scale mining".

A team of the EMB that inspected the mining site last May 8 reported a similar finding and noted that the operations involved 11 dump trucks, a bulldozer, two backhoes, a rock breaker and a compactor which was "contrary to the provision of DENR Memorandum Order 2007-07 which restricts the use of sophisticated mining/heavy equipment."

In a letter-report dated May 12, 2010 to then Gov. Sally Lee, the EMB team said it was observed that Ocampo's mining activities have been encroaching on vast territories outside the 19.4840-hectare covered by his SSMP and ECC.

The EMB team also sought clarification on discrepancies with the ECC issued to Ocampo that states in the project description to cover "a Small-Scale Iron Mining Project but in the succeeding paragraph, it covers extraction of sand and gravel. Iron ore extraction and sand/ gravel extraction are different activities."

It was also established according to the report of Hadap's committee that "the river system of Barangay Balocawe and neighboring areas that is particularly used in irrigation purposes is now depleted or running shallow aside from the fact that it is no longer clear and clean as before".

All those findings warrant the suspension of the mining operations and yet, both the EMB and the Office of the Governor that have authority to void its permits based on those deliberate violations appear to be playing deaf and blind amidst popular uprising against it, provincial board member Vladimir Frivaldo told the PNA on Tuesday.

"We at the provincial board are now in the process of passing a resolution condemning the mining operations and urging for its termination," he added.

Fr. Aleander Jeruz, the town's Parish priest, said the entire municipality particularly farmers and environmentalists have gone restless over this mining operation that they see as very destructive to the environment and threatening the source of irrigation water for the farms.

Chairman Rogelio Gamis of Barangay Gadgaron, a village seven kilometers down the mining site said his people are strongly opposed to Ocampo's activities that they see would later redound to miseries of their lives in the community.

"The people of Matnog and all Sorsogueños who care for the environment and the future of the next generations have all the reasons to rally against this mining venture but our problem is our governor who had the authority to void the SSMP yet'lawyering' for Ocampo," Frivaldo said.

During a recent committee hearing of the Matnog municipal legislative council, Gov. Lee openly spoke in favor of Ocampo's mining activities and downgraded the sectors composed of the local hierarchy of the Catholic Church and villagers opposing it, Frivaldo said.