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CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines – Cebu Governor Gwendolyn García stopped the extraction and transportation of dolomite for the Manila Bay beautification project to prevent a repeat of the 2018 mining accident that killed 77 people in the Naga city, a lawyer for the capital said Wednesday.
“The governor does not want another tragedy to occur in Cebu,” said provincial legal consultant Marino Martinquilla in an interview with ABS-CBN TeleRadyo.
Martinquilla said provincial officials were not only concerned about the legal shortcomings of what they considered an unstudied project, but also about the effects of dolomite processing on residents of the province.
The Health Department warned Tuesday that crushing dolomite can lead to respiratory illnesses.
The Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Roy Cimatu, also clarified that the crushed dolomite that is dumped on the shores of Manila Bay was 100 times larger than the dust that could be harmful to people’s health.
During the last six years, Cimatu added that there were no problems or complaints against the public beach in Dalaguete, Cebu that was also made with dolomite.
Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, on the other hand, said he would be the first to seek prosecution of officials if the project is found to be detrimental to the public’s health.
But Martinquilla said there are other problems against dolomite mining in the province.
The lawyer noted that the extraction of limestone from Naga, Cebu killed at least 77 people in September 2018 and that project was also approved by the Bureau of Mines and Geosciences (MGB).
Martinquilla said the mining operations violated several environmental laws, including a lack of coordination with the local government and the lack of a study on their impact on Alcoy, home to an endangered species of bird.
“The province of Cebu has not received its fair share in terms of income from this extraction,” Martinquilla said, adding that the capital was carrying out a ground and aerial study to determine the extent of mining in Alcoy.
A Manila-based coalition of environmental groups agreed that the project did not undergo an environmental impact assessment study, as required by law, and called for
Domogoso, Congress and the Ombudsman’s Office in an online petition to prosecute those responsible for the project.
The project was not even part of the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan approved by the National Economic Development Authority, the groups said.
In fact, Neda’s 2019 MBSDMP situation analysis report made no reference to a beach nutrition project or the dolomite sand dump on the bay’s shoreline.
At press time, the petition was just 30 signatures short of its target of 400 signers. DENR could not be immediately reached for comment.
But after Cimatu and the DOH cleared up legal and health concerns about the project, Domogoso said he supports the rehabilitation of Manila Bay, particularly the part in Manila.
“While we are grateful for the project, we also protect our people. We are already in a health emergency due to the pandemic, so something like this comes up, ”he said.
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