By Fernan Angeles
THE local government unit of a town in Rizal regarded as the Art Capital of the Philippines is taking a firm stand which they regard as their only ticket to prevent an imminent catastrophe by ending a 50-year operation of a mining company believed to be the reason behind flooding in their municipality.
In an exclusive interview, Angono Vice Mayor Gerardo Calderon said they would move heaven and earth to prevent the continued mining operation of the Concrete Aggregates Corporation and its partner, LaFarge Holcim.
According to Calderon, these two companies have been extracting rock mineral resources at the upland portion of their town since 1969 – or over 50 years. Their operation embarks on scraping the hills of its trees, blasting the area and quarrying for blue rocks which are crushed to become gravel and sand.
The operation, which embarks on a 212-hectare area, is covered by Mineral Production and Sharing Agreements No. 032-95-IV, covering an area of 192 hectares. This MPSA however already expired on June 15.
Twenty hectares of the upland area still have an existing permit covered by MPSA No. 055-96IV which would expire in October next year.
Calderon said that the two mining companies even tried to apply for a seven-year extension from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – something that the local government unit has strongly opposed.
He explained that a green light from the DENR would equate to another nine years. Worse, a DENR approval on their bid opens the gateway for the mining firms to secure from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, which has the discretion to issue an extension up to 25 years.
“They have exploited our place too much, destroyed our environment and exposed our lives in danger for the last 50 years. Isn’t that enough for them?” Gerardo said in Filipino.
He went on to say that CAC and LaFarge Holcim has already extracted no less than 400 million metric tons of its mineral deposit, leaving them with nothing but wasteland.
Earlier reports hinted at a calculation of independent mining experts who said that the area still has the capability to produce 58 million metric tons of rock deposits, but extracting what remains in the place would significantly trigger a catastrophe.
As such, the entire LGU — from the mayor down to the lowest official, signed a manifesto strongly dissuading the government from issuing permits to the CAC and LaFarge Holcim, citing imminent disaster.
In an effort to fortify their opposition to its continued operation, the local council passed Resolution No. 171 urging both the DENR and the MGB to reject extension bid of the quarrying operations of CAC and its partner, LaFarge.
In its resolution, the local council enumerated adverse effects of mining operations of both firms, which earlier bragged on the P33 million annual fees they pay to the municipality.
• The wanton disregard of environmental laws as shown in the physical destruction of the environment which now looks more of a wasteland.
• Illegal cutting of trees in the area, thus causing severe floods and landslides in the locality.
• An imminent threat should a strong earthquake aptly referred to as the “Big One” jolts the Marikina fault line, which incidentally is just 15 kilometers away.
• Exposure of local folks to pulmonary health problem as ambient air test conducted at the quarry areas was pegged way higher than tolerable – with documented incidents that saw 47 residents at the vicinity diagnosed with severe pulmonary ailment back in 2015, and grew to 72 in 2016, 66 in 2017 and 102 in 2018.
According to Calderon, the DENR has yet acted upon the application for extension of mining operation at the upland portion of their locality.
A check on how the LGU has fought its ground against continued mining in their locality showed that local folks went as far as staging symbolic protest action back in January this year.
“Maawa naman kayo sa amin. We have been working doubly hard to save what is left of our environment. Masyado nang malaki ang naging pakinabang niyo dito. Tantanan niyo kami,” appealed Calderon, himself a former DENR Assistant Secretary.
LaFarge Holcim, for its part, said it is practicing responsible mining and is even undergoing progressive rehabilitation of areas affected by its operations through tree planting.
The company added that its Angono operations also use a Zero Discharge System water treatment in its settling pond that prevents wastewater from being discharged from nearby water systems such as Laguna de Bay.
It also claimed to be a world leader in implementing international standards and sustainability in mining.