TACLOBAN CITY ?Environment Secretary Lito Atienza was asked to cancel a mining permit he issued in October to a Makati-based company allowing it conduct mining operations in the historic island of Homonhon in Eastern Samar.

Eastern Samar Governor Ben Evardone said that allowing the Canbayas Mining Corporation (CMC) to conduct mining operations on Homonhon Island, Guiuan municipality, would be a violation of a local ordinance promulgated in 2003 prohibiting any large-scale mining or logging operations on the entire island.

"I am calling on Secretary Atienza to cancel the permit he issued to the Canbayas Mining Corp. to explore mines on Homonhon Island," Evardone said in a telephone interview on Thursday.

Evardone said the issuance of the mining permit was questionable because no public consultation was held and no environmental clearance certificate issued in favor of CMC.

The governor said he was surprised to learn that the company's mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) application was approved by Atienza on October 23 this year.

"I just learned about it just a few days ago," Evardone said.

He said will soon issue a position paper registering strong opposition to CMC's application for a permit or for any other mining operation on Homonhon Island.

Evardone said he has the support of the local Catholic Church officials on this issue.

Records made available by the Eastern Visayas office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau show that CMC, through its chief executive officer Yan Ming, applied for a 25-year mining permit in February of this year.

The mining permit sought by the CMC covers 3,500 of the island's total land area of 10,407 hectares.

The historic island, site of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan's landing in March 1541, is rich in high-grade chromite, which has various industrial uses, including the production of metal plating.

Nonita Caguioa, officer-in-charge of the mine and management division of the regional mines office, said that while she respects the stand of Evardone, the ordinance cited by the governor could not supersede Republic Act 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, which allows such mining operation.

"That cannot be the case. National laws always prevail against any local ordinance," Caguioa said.

She said her office forwarded all documents related to the mining operations of the CMC to Evardone's office by through registered mail last December 13.

As to the absence of an ECC and lack of public consultation, Caguioa said these requirements were not yet needed at this time because no actual mining operation has been started by CMC.

CMC paid P263,775 to the treasure's office of Guiuan, the mainland town that has jurisdiction over Homonhon, last November 17 representing the registration fee required under the mining law. It also deposited a sizeable amount with the government to be used in case of any destruction of the environment in the course of its operations, Caguioa said.

Another mining company, Heritage Mining Co., operated on Homonhon since 1993 until its right to mine chromite on the island ended last March.

Heritage Mining owes the provincial government around P50 million in real property rent, Evardone said.