Gov allowed quarrying in Pampanga by firm with expired ECC

PORAC, Pampanga—Gov. Lilia Pineda had allowed a company to quarry rocks near the Malele River here four months after its environmental clearance certificate (ECC) expired in January last year, documents showed.

Upon the recommendation of the Provincial Mining and Regulatory Board (PMRB), Pineda approved the quarry permit of Clarkstone Corp. on May 6, 2011, even though the ECC lost its validity on Jan. 29, 2011. The permit expired on May 6 this year and the governor has not renewed it due to opposition by members of the Nagkakaisang Mamamayan para sa Kalikasan at Agrikultura (Namaak), a farmers’ group.

PMRB recommended the approval of the quarry permit through Resolution No. 22-2011, despite opposition cited in the same resolution.

Oscar Cabayanan, former director of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), noted on ECC R3-0812-484-2236 of Clarkstone Corp. that this was to be “valid for two years.”

The ECC was attached to the application of the company for an industrial sand and gravel permit from the Pampanga government, a set of documents showed.

Dated Jan. 26, 2009, the ECC lapsed on Jan. 26, 2011. The quarry permit issued by Pineda was dated May 6, 2011, or four months after the ECC lost its validity.

Pineda said she was having the documents reviewed by provincial administrator Andres Pangilinan, a lawyer.

PMRB will deliberate on the issues once the reports are done, said Danilo Uykieng, head of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Central Luzon and PMRB chair.

Gilbert Baquing, Clarkstone president, said the ECC issued to his firm remained valid. In text messages on Sunday, Baquing said the ECC has been “renewed for a month now.”

This could not be immediately confirmed with EMB.

The quarry site, stated in the ECC to be 37,134 square meters, turned out to be composed of five lots covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Five farmers obtained titles to the lots through emancipation patents (EPs) issued to them in 1990.

On Thursday, when farmers gathered at the riverside land, Dominador Mendoza, chair of the Barangay Agrarian Reform Council in Barangay Pio here, showed a survey plan listing the names of 69 beneficiaries of EPs.

CARP beneficiaries are required to seek clearance from the Department of Agrarian Reform to use CARP land for purposes other than agricultural, said Teofilo Inocencio, DAR director in Central Luzon.

What was attached to Clarkstone’s applications was a copy of a resolution by a judge that dismissed the claim of Belmonte Agro-Industrial Development Corp. over the lots that were previously mortgaged to the Philippine Veterans Bank.

The owners of the five lots gave Baquing a special power of attorney to “extract quarry materials” on their lands.

The ECC authorized Clarkstone an annual extraction rate of not more than 40,000 metric tons.

Pablo Sese, one of the lot owners, said he wanted the rocks removed from his land so he can resume planting rice on it.

Lazaro Santos, former village chief of Pio, said the operations of Clarkstone destroyed the riverbed of the Malele River and reduced the supply of irrigation water. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon