Bulacan execs shrug off mining firm’s complaint vs gov

MALOLOS CITY — The Bulacan provincial government merely shrugged off a complaint which a mining company recently filed against Gov. Josie de la Cruz with the Office of the President, saying it is "just part of a grand propaganda to destroy her credibility" and an "attempt to discredit the crusade" to save the Biak-na-Bato National Park.

In a statement, the Capitol said the allegations of Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. against De la Cruz was a "diversionary tactic" to "confuse the public" and to "muddle the issue."

Rosemoor, it added, was merely resorting to "forum shopping" to destroy the growing support of Bulakeños for De la Cruz’s crusade and to disappoint several environmental groups.

Last Tuesday, Rosemoor filed a 10-page administrative complaint against the governor with the Office of the President, accusing her of grave misconduct, oppression, and abuse of authority.

In the complaint affidavit, engineer Constantino Pascual, Rosemoor president, said De la Cruz "made an earnest effort to put on the back burner herein complainant from quarrying operation."

Pascual claimed that in her intention to take full control of the marble business in Bulacan, De la Cruz filed a "baseless" complaint against Rosemoor with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) last Feb. 16, questioning its mining and processing of marble, including its mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA).

But the DENR subsequently upheld the company’s MPSA.

Pascual further claimed that on April 5, 1999, Tea Rose Marble Corp. (TRMC), with principal offices at JM Mendoza Commercial Complex in Abangan Norte, Marilao town, was created and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The TRMC’s incorporators, Pascual alleged, are relatives of De la Cruz, while the governor’s father owns the commercial complex where TRMC holds office.

To supposedly control the marble business in Bulacan for the benefit of TRMC, Pascual said De la Cruz "designed a plan to obstruct the operation of (Rosemoor) by filing a complaint with the DENR, questioning the legitimacy of its operations in mining and processing of marble."

Pascual also accused De la Cruz of pursuing a media campaign to claim that Rosemoor was mining inside the Biak-na-Bato National Park.

But Pascual said such an accusation was "baseless" and "unsubstantiated," adding that its mining site was located seven kilometers north of Biak-na-Bato.

De la Cruz’s crusade has prompted environmental groups to press the government to restore the original 2,117-hectare area of the Biak-na-Bato National Park as declared by former President Manuel L. Quezon.

On June 5, 1982, former President Ferdinand Marcos issued Proclamation 2204 setting aside 330.3062 hectares of the national park as a mining area.

Nearly two months later, on Aug. 3, 1982, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau issued Quarry License No. 33 to Rosemoor.

However, former Environment Minister Ernesto Maceda cancelled Rosemoor’s quarry license on Sept. 6, 1986.

During her term, former President Corazon Aquino issued Proclamation 401 in 1989 dividing the 2,117-hectare Biak-na-Bato into a national park (658.8499 hectares), watershed forest reserve (938.7805 hectares, which included an area not included in the original park), forest reserve (450.53 hectares), and mineral reservation (952.343 hectares).

On Dec. 12, 2002, the DENR granted Rosemoor MPSA 188-2002-III, which the provincial government claimed was illegally issued.