Bobby Lagsa
Rappler Correspondent
Cagayan de Oro City – Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corporation –Industrial Authority Misamis Oriental (Phividec/PIA-MO) Administrator and Chief Executive Office Jose Gabriel la Viña On February 22, 2021 ordered the closure of all quarry operations along Tagoloan River that is within the land of PHIVIDEC in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Slapped with closure order are quarry operators Manuel Sukarno Alvarez operating in Lot No. 767, Pls-799 operating in Sitio Bontong, Santa Ana, Tagoloan.
Chique V. Cosin operating in Lot. No 404 and 1202, Pls-799, Sitio Mohon, Santa Ana, Tagoloan.
Nicomedes Achas of ORO NQA enterprises operating in Lot No. 598, 599 and 765, Pls-799, Sitio Bontong, Santa Ana, Tagoloan.
Salvador Fernandez operating in Lot 394,397, 398, 1196, 1195, 1194, 1193 Pls-799 Santa Ana, Tagoloan.
A 5th quarry operator is yet to be named as it is operating outside PIA land but uses its road network and the PIA legal team is still studying its legal remedies.
La Viña, a close ally of President Rodrigo Duterte said that the quarry operations within the PHIVIDEC land started in the 1990 and have since eats up 70 hectares of land of the 3 thousand hectares that PHIVIDEC owned.
PHIVIDEC is an industrial authority that promotes industrial lands and providing tax incentives to investors and operates between the towns of Tagoloan and Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.
La Viña said that based on the mandate of PHIVIDEC under Presidential Decree 538, PIA has the sole right to PIA lands.
La Viña said that the local government unit of Tagoloan have been issuing quarry permits to operators but the same operators are not registered with PIA thus their operations are legal as PIA-MO have not issued any business permits to these operators.
Atty Princess Ayoma, Legal Officer 3 of PIA said that the quarry operation is illegal because there is no permit from PIA for them to operate and only PIA has the sole police power to exercise over its land, “Under PD 538, PHIVIDEC has the sole authority and police power to exercise over its industrial estate,” Ayoma said.
Ayoma added that quarry operators needs to secure an area clearance from the landowner, “Definitely, these quarry operators did not secure an area clearance from PIA making this quarry operations illegal,” Ayoma said.
La Viña added that quarry operators have established their bunkhouses, operations center, equipment and stockpile inside PIA lands without permission.
La Viña also added that environmental degradation due to quarry jeopardizes the safety of the people and locators living inside PIA lands. “If there is flood, the safety of people and locators are in danger, thousands of people will lose their jobs. The locators are rich, they will not be affected, it is the people that will suffer for job losses,” La Viña said.
NO POWER
Tagoloan Mayor Gomer Sabio did not took the Cease and Desist Order by la Viña easily arguing that Phividec has no power over Tagoloan River.
“I don’t have copy of his Cease and Desist Order, and all of these quarry operations have permits,” Sabio said.
Sabio said that since he was elected as mayor of Tagoloan, a first class industrial and port municipality, he ordered closure to at least 10 illegal quarry operations.
The remaining five operators that la Viña ordered closed have quarry permits from the Misamis Oriental Provincial government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources –Mines and Geoscience Bureau and Environmental Management Bureau.
“These permits went through the process from DENR to Provincial environment and Natural Resources to Municipal environment and Natural Resources,” Sabio said.
Sabio added that on their Local government level, they issued business permit to quarry operators and their trucking services partners.
“Besides, Phividec has no power over the rivers, these quarry operations are providing (aggregates) supplies to the Build, Build, Build program of the national government,” Sabio said.
Sabio however agreed that Phividec have power over the lands where these quarry operators’ stockpiles and motorpool are located. “If the stockpiles and their equipment are located over their land, that they can order the removal but not the power to issue a Cease and Desist,” Sabio said.
Sabio also revealed that Phividec did not reached out to the LGU and neither do they have any plans to meet la Viña and passing the decision to the quarry operators if they will follow the Phividec order.
la Viña said that he will not allow any trucks from quarry operations to pass through Phividec roads.
Sabio for his part said that only the local government unit has the power to stop any quarry operations.