TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Some residents of this city and province are alarmed and even angered by the sight of haulers continuously transporting boulders from the Chico River to outside the province notably Cagayan province.
Photos of the haulers have recently been posted in social media touching off spirited discussions with retired prosecutor Arthur Kub-ao Sr. going as far as calling the activity “raid, rape and plunder of our natural resources along the Chico River.”
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) Committee on Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Energy called a meeting on September 13 because of complaints from residents along the road to Tuguegarao City that their sleep is disturbed by the rumbling of trucks in the unholy hours of the night and likewise how the heavy trucks might affect the weak Aliog Bridge in barangay Nambaran.
During the meeting, Roderick Dumallig, one of the most vocal critics of the continuing traffic of boulders, said that the public is worried that if the activity continues, the locality might eventually run out of boulders for use by succeeding generations and demand for boulders outside the province might trigger increase in selling prices for these resources which will definitely hurt local consumers.
Dumallig also raised the risk of vehicular accidents posed by the speeding haulers and the concern of whether or not the LGUs are getting their fair share from the proceeds of sales from the resource.
The representatives of the executive department could not give a specific figure as to how much income is being derived by the province from the boulder trade during the meeting.
It was revealed during the meeting that the in response to complaints about irresponsible quarrying, the SP passed Resolution No. 2017-051 on March 21, 2017 immediately stopping the transport of Chico River boulders to places outside the province.
The resolution stated that continuous quarrying of boulders would destroy the river bed and banks “resulting to severe damage on agricultural and residential lots along the river.”
Asked during the meeting why his office is not implementing the resolution, Environment and Natural Resources Officer Dominic Jude Sugguiyao said that a mere resolution cannot supersede the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 which states that any citizen could quarry provided he pays the corresponding fees and taxes.
Sugguiyao clarified that initially, joint personnel of the Kalinga LGU and the police had stopped the hauling of boulders to Cagayan but that there were subsequent meetings with the Committee on Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Energy where the issue of consistency with national laws was raised and which eventually led his office to believe that it could issue permits for the transport of boulders under certain conditions.
SP member Danzel Langkit reacted that the executive should have formally communicated to the SP its objections to the resolution because the inaction of the executive on the resolution is affecting the legislative department.
Eventually, the committee directed Sugguiyao to submit the position of the executive on resolution so that the SP could repeal or amend the resolution if need be even as it made it clear that in the meantime, the resolution stands.
When Dumallig asked the committee if its decision to stand pat by the resolution means total stoppage of the transport of boulders outside the province, SP member Emilio Kitongan said that the question should be addressed to the executive because with the principle of separation of powers, the job of the legislative was completed with the passage of Resolution No. 2017-051 and it is now up to the executive to act on the legislation.
The committee will write the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to expedite the agreed upon staking of the 300-meter wide track of the river channel, the only area where quarrying will henceforth be allowed.
SB member Eduardo Sarol said that the markings will simplify the problems attending quarrying in the Chico River including the extraction and transport of boulders outside the province because with all the extraction to be done in the proposed Chico River megadike channel, all quarrying activities thenceforth will be in aid of desiltation and dredging.
There was a consensus among members of the committee that the permanent solution to Chico River quarry extraction-related problems is the expedition of the passage of the ordinance regulating the quarrying operations in the province proposed by the ENRO. **By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
