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Dolomitic rock extraction site in the city of Alcoy, in the south of Cebu | Photo courtesy of MGB – 7
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The local CEO of Alcoy City, in southern Cebu, confirmed on Saturday, September 12, that his city has not received any input from mining operators that supply and sell dolomite rocks.
“Tinuud nga wala my share. (It’s true, we have nothing to do with it), ”Mayor Michael Angelo Sestoso told reporters on a teleconference on Saturday.
Sestoso’s statement came days after Governor Gwendolyn García pointed out that the local government of Alcoy, a fifth-class municipality located 102 kilometers southeast of Cebu City, was unable to make a profit from the companies that extracted and processed dolomite rocks there.
The Capitol has stepped in to address issues related to the controversial transport of crushed dolomite rocks to Manila Bay.
Sestoso, for his part, said that they would support all the plans of the provincial government to help his town.
“The municipal government of Alcoy supports the orders that our governor has given in relation to the extraction of dolomitic rocks,” said Sestoso in Cebuano.
The mayor also said that the local government of Alcoy had requested dolomite extraction and sale companies to cooperate with orders from the Capitol.
“We will meet with representatives of the mining companies next week, but we have already notified them about the orders from the Capitol,” Sestoso said in Cebuano.
“But we would be happy if the companies fully cooperate with what the provincial government has proposed,” he added.
The Central Visayas Office of Mines and Geosciences (MGB-7) previously confirmed that the raw materials used to transform Manila Bay into an artificially made white sand beach were sourced from a supplier mining dolomite in Barangay Pugalo, Alcoy.
More than 3,500 metric tons of crushed dolomite were shipped from Alcoy, Cebu for the controversial project in Manila.
The rocks, they said, were transported by a mineral processing company also based in Alcoy.
This fact led the Capitol to issue a cease and desist order to the two mining operators in Alcoy, ordering them to stop the shipment of processed dolomite to the country’s capital.
READ MORE: García: CDO covers only transportation, sale of dolomite in local market
García also called several meetings with local officials from Alcoy and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to clarify the matter.
The governor expressed concern that continued quarrying in the Alcoy mountains could eventually lead to a deadly landslide, citing the tragedy in the city of Naga in 2018.
Sestoso said that an interagency team from several national government agencies and the Capitol would conduct a quarterly inspection at the quarry site to check for signs of soil erosion. / dbs
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