By JUAN ESCANDOR JR
DAET, CamNorte: The governor of this
province has dismissed allegations that the proliferation of small-scale mining
in the province of Camarines Norte has his “blessings”.
Gov Edgardo “Egay” Tallado explained
that the granting of permits to small-scale mining ventures, mostly in the
towns of Paracale and Panganiban, is ministerial on his part.
Tallado said the governor is the last
one to sign documents regarding permits to small-scale mining after the
endorsement of barangay authorities and
the compliance of requirements issued by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB)
of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
“With more than 10,000 people depending
on mining for their livelihood, how can I reject the permits when they are already
endorsed by barangay officials and the community and the MGB,” the governor said.
Acknowledging that there are illegal
small-scale mining operations in CamNorte, Tallado cited the difficulty in
stopping them as the illegal operations are like “cat and mouse” scenario which
the local authorities cannot totally monitor.
He said the Philippine National Police
do not have enough manpower to go after illegal miners in the far-flung
villages who operate whenever authorities are not around.
Tallado said that it’s when accidents
happen that these illegal mining activities are discovered.
He said the granting of small-scale
mining permits has generated a revenue of P15 million for the provincial
government from nothing.
He added that the mining activities
during the previous administration had been almost the same but the provincial
government did not benefit without revenue collection from small-scale mining.
Tallado mentioned the recognition given
by the Bureau of Local Government Finance
because of the phenomenal increase in revenue of the provincial government
brought about by the collection of fees from small-scale mining operations.
In July, the late Interior and Local
Government Sec. Jesse M. Robredo has ordered a probe on the alleged illegal
mining activities in CamNorte.
Robredo had accused Tallado that the
governor was condoning illegal mining activities in two mineral-rich towns of
CamNorte based on complaints that reached the former’s department and the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Tallado had welcomed the probe because
he said he will be given a chance to clear his name.
He blamed politicians to be behind the
move to destroy his name as the local election nears.
Robredo ordered the agents of the
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Office of Internal Security
and the DILG Region 5 Director Blandino Maceda to investigate the case against
Tallado as soon as possible.
He said the complaints lodged against
Tallado are serious enough to warrant an
immediate investigation.
The complaint about “flagrant violation
of environmental laws” of three mining companies was lodged by Rio G Paliza,
president of Paracale chapter of the Junior Chamber International Philippines,
which was sent to Robredo, Environment Sec. Ramon Paje and Customs Commissioner
Ruffy Biazon in a letter dated June 18.
Paliza complained the operations of the Uni Dragon Mining and Development
Corp., the Bao Tong Mining Corporation, and Lioaning Fenghua Group Philippine
Mining Company, Inc had been inflicting much damage on the environment, particularly the Paracale
shoreline.
He said the three companies were issued
Temporary Small-Scale Mining Permits by Tallado’s office. – Bicol Mail
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