House bill seeks to declare Eastern Samar mining-free

MANILA, Philippines - Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone yesterday filed a bill seeking to declare his province “mining-free.”

The administration lawmaker filed House Bill 5898 after multi-sectoral groups, led by the League of Municipalities’ Eastern Samar Chapter, the Region 8 offices of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and the Diocese of Borongan called for a suspension of mining operations in the province.

If passed into law, the major areas that will be affected by the bill are Homonhon and Manicani islands, the municipalities of Guiuan, Salcedo, Gen. MacArthur, Llorente, Hernani, Maydolong, Giporlos, Balangiga, and Quinapondan, and Borongan City, which are rich in mineral resources.

“The province of Eastern Samar is hereby declared a mining-free zone and all mining operations in the province of Eastern Samar are hereby prohibited,” the bill stated.

Under the measure, it shall be unlawful for any person to conduct mining operations in Eastern Samar, and violators shall be penalized with imprisonment of six years but not more than 12 years and a fine of at least P200,000 but not more than P500,000, Evardone said.

“If the offender is a corporation, firm, partnership or association, the penalty shall be imposed upon the officer or officers of the corporation, firm, partnership or association responsible for the violation. If the offender is an alien, after service of sentence and payment of fine, he will be deported immediately without further proceedings,” the bill read.

Evardone said, “Some areas or locations, on account of their peculiar soil composition and geological setting as a whole, need to be preserved and insulated from the destructive effects inherent in the conduct of mining. And Eastern Samar is one such place.”

He said that pursuant to the DENR-MGB geohazard map for Eastern Samar, the province is “highly susceptible to landslides and flashfloods.”

However, Evardone said despite the MGB’s call on local governments to implement geohazard maps, mining activities were allowed even in areas identified as highly susceptible to landslides and flashfloods.

Earlier, MGB-Region 8 director Roger de Dios recommended to Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje the suspension of all small-scale mining permits in Eastern Samar after it found out massive illegal small-scale mining operations detrimental to the environment.

De Dios said the MGB has in fact issued cease-and-desist orders to stop the illegal mining activities in the province.

However, the MGB complained that its order was not implemented by Eastern Samar Gov. Conrado Nicart Jr.

In a congressional hearing, De Dios said Nicart has been allegedly issuing small-scale mining permits without the recommendation of a duly constituted Provincial Mining Resources Board.

BFAR already wrote the DENR to stop mining operations in Eastern Samar as they adversely affect the marine resources of the province.