PENRO bares errant quarry operators

CEBU, Philippines — After a month-long suspension of quarry operations in Cebu, the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) has uncovered multiple violations among operators during its enforcement and permit compliance review.

PENRO Chief Rodel Bontuyan said show-cause orders were already issued to non-compliant operators, while a volumetric survey is being conducted to measure the extent of possible over-extraction.

He explained that the survey will compare current extraction data with official records to determine whether companies exceeded their approved limits. If proven, this could result in penalties or even permit revocation.

“Kung molapas sila, that is subject to penalty and payment of appropriate volume without prejudice to revocation of their permits pursuant to our ordinance,” Bontuyan stressed.

The suspension covered 19 permits — 10 quarry permits and nine special disposal permits. While some operators were found compliant, others committed multiple violations, he said.

Among the most common violations found were operators exceeding their designated extraction areas and failing to install visible boundary markers.

“Dapat visible sa operator sa backhoe para makaingon nga ‘uy, nalapas na ‘ta,’” Bontuyan said, adding that the absence of markers makes it easy for operators to encroach beyond their limits.

He also noted that some of them were caught overstepping their assigned boundaries, while others had repeated violations, despite being penalized in the past.

“Despite na penalize na, we still conducted a volumetric survey to determine the actual volume extracted. If malapas sila, subject gihapon na sa penalty,” Bontuyan said.

The volumetric survey involves measuring the actual materials extracted from a site and comparing them with the previous volume profiles recorded by the government.

Bontuyan said this scientific process ensures transparency and fairness in evaluating whether quarry firms respected the conditions of their permits.

Not all of the 19 suspended permittees received show-cause orders, as some were already found to have complied with the suspension and permit conditions.

Those who received notices, however, must explain their violations and justify why their permits should not be revoked. Some operators have already submitted responses.

Once all quarry operators have submitted their responses and the volumetric survey is completed, the findings will be forwarded to the Provincial Attorney for investigation and for the recommendation of appropriate penalties.

If proven guilty of significant violations, quarry operators risk having their permits revoked — a consequence that Bontuyan emphasized would effectively shut down their businesses. “Kung mawad-an kag permit, stop imong negosyo,” he stressed.

The suspension of quarrying stemmed from Governor Pamela Baricuatro’s order on July 28, after she received complaints from communities about poor quarrying practices and their environmental impact.

Baricuatro said the 30-day suspension was necessary to give the provincial government ample time to review and evaluate the legality and environmental soundness of ongoing operations.

“We created a special review committee to conduct a comprehensive review of all special permits issued by the Cebu provincial government,” said Baricuatro in a previous press briefing. — /RAE (FREEMAN)