Protests vs 'Black sand mining'

CEBU, Philippines - Tanjay City residents barricade dredging site Irate residents in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental on Friday warned they will continue with their barricades leading to the site of the dredging operations, which they believed also involved black sand mining, at sitio Tambakan in Poblacion Barangay 4, until the contractor will move out of the area.

This act of protest came as tension rose in Tambakan starting Thursday afternoon when residents claimed the contractor, Sino-Italy Philippines, Inc. allegedly operated its mechanical equipment for a few hours despite a cease and desist order issued by Governor Roel Degamo.

Aida Elopre, president of the core group in Barangay 4, said that, as soon as the residents heard the machine operating, they decided to form barricades along the road leading to the site to prevent workers of Sino-Italy to enter or leave the area.

Elopre disclosed that policemen responded later to pacify the angry crowd and allow workers of the contractor to leave but the protesters refused to budge until Councilor Juanito Condes arrived to talk to them.

During negotiations Thursday evening, Condes managed to convince the crowd, reportedly numbering more than a hundred, to allow the foreign nationals working for Sino-Italy to leave the area, with police escorts securing them. The residents however only allowed the foreigners to leave on condition that the latter should no longer be allowed to return, Elopre said, adding that only a couple of security guards and a few workers were left inside the operations site and were not allowed to leave.

On Friday morning, tension rose again when Tanjay City Mayor Lawrence Teves, accompanied by Sr. Teddy Picardal, chief of the City Police, and other city officials went to the area to dismantle the barricades.

Elopre said a backhoe was deployed to the site when the mayor arrived. Teves reportedly talked to the protesters for about half an hour but left later, unable to convince them to remove the blockade.

Barangay chairman Ricardo Fabe, for his part, disclosed that he is supporting his constituents and other residents in opposing what they believed was black sand mining under the guise of dredging the Tanjay River.

Fabe said that, when he learned that the contractor had allegedly operated their machines, he immediately called the governor, even if they learned that the activity on Thursday afternoon was just a test operation.

Residents insisted it was not a test operation but that black sand was allegedly being separated from materials being extracted from the area. They further said they did want the local police, but only those from the provincial headquarters, to be deployed to Tambakan to ensure that the governor's order will be enforced.

Degamo earlier issued the cease and desist order after it was discovered that Sino-Italy had not yet obtained a permit from the provincial government for its supposed dredging operations.

The dredging project, costing millions of pesos, became controversial after opposing quarters warned against it, saying it was actually an alleged black sand mining operation.

The city government had entered into a memorandum of understanding with Sino-Italy for the dredging project at no cost to the LGU to clear the Tanjay River of debris to prevent future flooding. In return, the contractor will get whatever volume of magnetite or black sand that can be extracted from the dredged materials while the waste matter will be used as backfill for the planned rehabilitation of the city's port.

Reporters on Friday afternoon attempted to get a statement from Mayor Teves at the City Hall but his personal secretary, Wilfredo Calumpang, Jr. said he was attending a meeting at the public market. The meeting was closed door and text messages sent to the mayor were not answered, as of press time.  (FREEMAN)