BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO – A fact-finding committee created by the provincial government has commenced its investigation on the alleged illegal quarrying in Leganes town.
Committee chairman, Atty. Suzette Mamon said they already sent a notice to the village chief of Brgy. Nabitasan, Leganes (the site of the alleged quarrying), the permitee or the quarry contractor, and the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO).
Mamon said the committee has received a letter complaint from a concerned citizen, and the report of PENRO.
Mamon said they will schedule a visit to the alleged quarry site.
She previously said the investigation may take 30 to 60 days to complete, depending on the witnesses or evidentiary documents that they may obtain.
Some 100 to 400 cubic meters of sand are allegedly being extracted from a river in the barangay everyday on both sides of Tubigan Bridge, openly defying the law prohibiting quarrying within one-kilometer perimeter of a bridge or dike.
Big boats (locally known as batel) have been photographed loading sacks of sand dug out from within the vicinity.
Under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, extraction or removal of materials shall not be allowed within the distance of one kilometer from the boundaries of reservoirs established for public water supply, archeological and historical sites, or of any public or private works or structures, unless with prior clearance of the agency or owner concerned is obtained.
The Act defines “quarrying” as the process of extracting, removing and disposing quarry resources found on or underneath the surface of private or public land./PN
