VIRAC,
Catanduanes: House Bill No. 670, authored by Rep Cesar V Sarmiento of
Catanduanes lone district, was finally approved on third and final reading with
a vote of 211-0 that will ban mining in the island province of Catanduanes once
the legislative measure is signed into law.
The bill also
seeks to declare the island province as a mining-free zone.
Similar bill
filed by Rep Rufus Rodriguez was also approved for Cagayan de Oro.
The bill
prohibits “extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from
the earth” and related mining activities such as exploration, feasibility, development,
utilization and processing, and large-scale quarry operations involving cement
raw materials, marble, granite, sand and gravel construction aggregates.
It clarified,
however, that quarrying of gravel and sand for projects directly undertaken by national
government agencies or the affected local government unit is exempted subject
to existing mining and environment laws.
The law also
provides imprisonment of six to 12 years and a fine of P100,000 to P500,000 to
violators.
Sarmiento
expressed optimism that the Senate is likewise expected to pass its own version
of the bill and the President to sign it into law.
Under the
proposed law, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is
mandated to promulgate the bill’s implementing rules and regulations.
Sarmiento,
meanwhile, disclosed during a press conference that every municipality will be
equipped with a lighthouse facility following information from Philippine Coast
Guard (PCG) representatives Commodore Gilbert Rueras of the Philippine Coast
Guard and Lt Fernandez of the Marine Safety Services Command.
From the
present eight lighthouses in the province, additional new lighthouses will be
constructed in Palumbanes Island, Caramoran, Bagamanoc, and Gigmoto.
Sarmiento also
disclosed that he would soon re-file a bill declaring Puraran, the province’s
surfing site, as a tourist destination to allow more funding from the national
government for the continuous improvement of the place’s tourism facilities.
He also
informed members of the local media last week that representatives from the
Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) inspected the different
towns in the province for possible construction of fish landing ports in those
towns. -- PIA Catanduanes
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