Environment department continues crackdown on violators
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has continued with its crackdown on erring mining companies and other firms violating the Environmental Compliance Certificates.
In a press conference in Quezon City, Environment Secretary Gina Lopez said her office has cancelled the certificate of Century Communities Corp., which has a project to build houses in a 58-hectare property located in the La Mesa watershed.
While the certificate was issued during the previous administration for the housing project in the La Mesa watershed, Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Maria Paz Luna said there were conditions before the company could push through with the project, one of which is getting permit for cutting trees.
"We are constrained not to give the permit in tree-cutting," she said.
Lopez explained there were studies showing that if the 58-hectare land would be inhabited, the water reservoir, which is the source of water in Metro Manila and nearby areas, could be contaminated.
"The DENR is committed to social justice and common good," Lopez said.
The DENR officials said they expect the developer would question their decision.
The certificate of Austral-Asia Link Mining Corp., a mining firm in Davao Oriental, was also cancelled because it is located near the two heritage sites and the area has a "tremendous biodiversity," Lopez said.
The department also did not renew the environment compliance certificate of the Ipilan Nickel project and Nickel Deposit Mining project, both in Ipilan, Brooke's Point, Palawan; Lupon Mining Project in Lopon, Davao Oriental; and Sacobia Sun Valley Resort in Clark Economic Zone, Mabalacat in Pampanga.
It also denied the application of Egerto Mining, a gold mining site in Lobo, Batangas, for an environment compliance certificate.
The department issued a show cause order to Benguet Mining Corporation for not rehabilitating an open site for the past 25 years, and "for negligence that has caused toxic spill in the 1.8-kilometer river in Cordilleras," Lopez said.
Other companies ordered to explain why their environment compliance certificates should not be cancelled were the SMTC Chromite Mining and Trading project in Mati, Davao Oriental; consolidation of quarry projects of Mindanao Portland Cement Corp. in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte; Iron Ore Pelletizing Plant project in Katipunan Villanueva, Misamis Oriental; proposed Limestone, Pozzolan and Associated Minerals Quarry Project in Cebu;
Cement Plant and Power Plant project in Cebu; Bulalacao Coal Mining project in Oriental Mindoro; Iron Ore Mining Corp. in Bulacan; Smelting Plant Project in Pampanga; Wellex Area II Mining Project in Dinagat Island; Barobo Alluvial Gold Mining project in Surigao del Sur; and Veneer Manufacturing Expansion project in Agusan del Sur.
The department also sent a show cause order to a resort in Boracay Island for violating the Clean Water Act.
The evaluation of the environment compliance certificate of the companies are on top of those mining firms undergoing audit by the DENR. Celerina Monte/DMS
