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WHAT INITIAL NEWS THEY DIDN’T GIVE. Early media stories of Cebu Capitol’s cease-and-desist order against two dolomite companies based in Alcoy, Cebu, did not make it clear that all operations would be discontinued.
The discontinuation of dolomite mining and processing carried the descriptive phrase “for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay.” Was the order to stop only the use of minerals for the Manila Bay project?
No. Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia’s Executive Order # 25, 2020 series, dated September 8 and published on Wednesday September 9, directed that Dolomite Mining Corp. (DMC) and Philippine Mining Services Corp. ( PMSC) stop “extracting, treating, marketing and transporting dolomites, associated mineral deposits and other resources from the quarry” in the town of Alcoy.
Not just the extraction and processing of dolomites for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay, but for all labor activities, including processing and marketing, of the two companies – the entire business operation. And not only the dolomite, but all the “quarry resources” that they extract in any way from Alcoy.
THE PAST GOVERNORS LOST IT. They did not see the problem or it was not raised with them. Pablo P. García, who was governor from 1995 to 2004; his daughter Gwen, from 2004 to 2013; and Hilario Davide III, from 2013 to 2019.
DMC, which has a “mineral production participation agreement” with the government over a claim of 571 hectares, began mining in 1998, while PMSC, a mineral processing permit holder that processes and sells the dolomites that produces DMC, started in 2001.
Each company, according to news reports, has a 25-year grant: DMCs expire in 2023; EMSP in 2025. That has already spanned 22 years, counted from 1998 to 2020, in the second year of Governor Gwen’s new term.
If the dolomite operations have been causing damage to the ecology of the province, they have already been several years. And before the noses of public officials, more closely, the leaders of the Alcoy city government, particularly those of Barangay Pugalo.
Governor Gwen, who returned to the Capitol last year, is now taking the environmental lead.
And it was not a protest from the people of Pugalo and the rest of Alcoy that prompted her to move. EO # 25 says it was the September 5 news “in national and local newspapers” about the controversy in Manila. The furor has been due to the use of “fine white sand”, which turned out to be crushed dolomite rocks from Cebu, to beautify a stretch of the coast of Manila Bay.
PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT, SAVE ‘SILOY’. The main reason for the request is to “avoid further damage” to the “land environment” in Alcoy. The city, Capitol says, is an “environmentally critical area”, having been declared a habitat for the famous “siloy” bird. In addition, says the EO, the extraction of dolomites is being carried out “in an area with a critical slope.”
Saving the people would be a more compelling argument than saving Black Shama, albeit “endemic to the island” and in danger of extinction. The threat to workers and the public safety of townspeople, if shown to be true, is mentioned marginally, almost a side note.
It may be because the actual danger to the environment and public safety has not been measured. There was no or no evidence of the impact of dolomite projects on the environment or public safety.
If the records show that an impact study was conducted, the next question is whether there was a periodic review of the study, since the operations have been in operation for several years.
If there were illnesses or injuries or deaths of persons that could be attributed to the operations of DMC and PMSC, none have come to public attention.
As for the adverse effects on the environment, the law enforcement agencies are silent. The two ore transportation permits issued by MGB-Central Visayas for PMSC to transport “seven wet metric tons” of dolomite demonstrated that for regulators there is no problem related to the ecology or the well-being of people.
AUTHORITY USING GUV. Capitol lawyers were on a roll, pitching EO readers a host of provisions and legal principles to support Governor Garcia’s action against the two dolomite companies.
Here are a few: Basic laws and regulations, including the Constitution, the Local Government Code, the Mining Law, and DENR administrative orders.
And precepts such as the “precautionary principle of environmental law”, the “hard gaze” environmental doctrine, the general welfare clause and the constitutional right to “a balanced ecology in accordance with the rhythm and harmony of nature.”
ALLEGED VIOLATIONS. The EO cites the violations that it alleges form the basis of what critics may view as “a drastic and dramatic move.”
There was, or should have been, no environmental impact study. This study would also have complied with the requirement of public notification and consultation, components of the transparency rule established by the Mining Law. At the same time, there is still no assessment of the actual damage that may have been caused by the operations of the two companies for approximately two decades.
And the main reason reported in the first news: not informing the Provincial Government and the Alcoy City Council about the Manila Bay project.
That must perplex some observers who wonder why it is necessary to inform the Capitol and the people of the destination and destination of the Alcoy dolomites. Several similar shipments must have been made, to various buyers and for different uses over the years. Did Capitol or Alcoy town require prior notice by ordinance? Is the information not required only by MGB under the DENR rules?
Would the province have complained if the shipment had gone elsewhere and had not moved a hornet’s nest? Maybe they can look at the shipping permits and find out where all those other dolomite shipments were used.
COLLATERAL DAMAGE. The main entities that are destined to suffer economic damages are the two companies that are ordered to close.
Those expected to be economically harmed are also workers in Alcoy and nearby towns employed by DMC and PSMC. Information on the number of employees and dependents has not yet come out. Are they paid by companies during closing?
Then there must be the small businesses that thrive on the operations of the two companies. At this point in the epidemic, the closure of DMC and PSMC will mean a further assault on depleted profits.
This must be the first thing that worried the Mayor of Alcoy, Michael Sistoso, when he heard the news about the order from the Capitol. Companies can bear their losses. The mayor’s people may not.
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