DAVAO CITY — The Mines and Geosciences Bureau has assured Davao Oriental Governor Governor Corazon Malanyaon that there is no mining activities near Mount Hamiguitan.
Lawyer Jasper Lascano, the director of MGB XI came to see Malanyaon on Wednesday and held a briefing on the current status of the national parks and the mining activities in her province.
The MGB has assured the governor that the world heritage park is free from mining activities.
The meeting came after the governor strongly reiterated her position in enforcing strict regulations on all mining activities in the province of Davao Oriental.
During the briefing, Malanyaon checked the inventory of all existing mining tenements in the province and the status of mining operations and permits granted by the MGB.
“Davao Oriental has never made mining a priority,” she stressed.
As it is now, Lascano said, the only mining activity in Davao Oriental is in Banaybanay town, which operated by the Riverbend Consolidated Mining Corporation-Arc Nickel Resources.
The Riverbend-ARC, according to Lascano has just resumed operations following the lifting of the cease-and-desist order after the company complied with the required and “costly” corrective measures.
Malanyaon who understands that sustainable mining is part of the national policy wants the mining company to pay rightful taxes to the provincial coffers, an imposition which some mining companies failed to comply in some areas.
“If there are no taxes and our province is being exploited, anong benepisyo sa aming mga tao? (What will our people the benefit). I am just here to protect the interest of my people and my province,” the Governor emphasized.
Given the stiff mining policies and regulations which the provincial government want to enforce, Malanyaon appointed retired military officer, Brigadier General Leopoldo Imbang, Jr. to enforce mining regulations and environmental laws in the province
Imbang served as the Commander of the 28th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army, and later became the Deputy Commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“I requested General Imbang to help me see to it that everything that is due the provincial government will be given to us, especially concerning extraction and mining fees,” she said.
Impang will work hand in hand with Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO), Environment Planner Dolores Valdesco, ENRO Officer, to ensure that environmental protection, preservation, and conservation are implemented.
It can be recalled that during her inaugural speech, Malanyaon specifically stated her policy on revenue generation, “We will intensify the collection of real property taxes. We will undertake all measures possible to collect every centavo of the extraction and permit fees on sand and gravel, aggregates, stones, and ores sourced everywhere in the province, and which tax collection will be shared with the barangays, municipalities/city.”
She stressed that the government will collect taxes and laws must be implemented, saying it is the lifeblood of the province,
Aside from the strict enforcement of mining laws, Malanyaon is also firm not to allow mining operations within the vicinity of the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, Mindanao’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site, saying she will object any mining expansion operations within the range and the foothills of Mount Hamiguitan.
“This early, they [mining operators] should be warned that there should be no encroachment in the protected areas of Mount Hamiguitan,” said Gov. Malanyaon, noting the province’s painstaking efforts to have it inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2014 and its agreement with the UNESCO to “protect the area from any intruder.”
Duringteh brirfing Lascano assured the Governor that the DENR-MGB fully supports the stand of the province and will make every effort to ensure that people of Davao Oriental and its interest are protected. – with reports from Karen Lou Deloso
