SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—The Bureau of Customs (BOC) will not issue clearances to at least six small-scale miners, who were given permits by Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and who were allegedly engaged in the theft of mineral ore in the province, Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino Biazon said on Wednesday.
Biazon, who inspected the Port of Subic during his first official visit here, told the Inquirer that the BOC is “very much aware” of the illegal export of mineral ore in Zambales.
“We are in close coordination with the party involved,” he said.
Biazon said Consolidated Mines Inc. (CMI) had furnished the BOC with the cease-and-desist orders (CDOs) issued to small-scale miners by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Lormelyn Claudio, Environmental Management Bureau director in Central Luzon, had issued CDOs to Camilo Esico, Reynaldo Dait, Dennis Ocon, Efren Melgar, Amor Echon and Jeff Elago, who are operating in the Coto mines in Masinloc town, for noncompliance with Presidential Decree No. 1586 (Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System Law).
“You are further directed to cease and desist from conducting further mining activities in the area until such time that an environmental compliance certificate is secured from this office,” Claudio said.
Earlier, Benicio Eusebio, CMI president, has accused Ebdane of abusing his authority to issue small-scale mining permits that encroached on the Sitio Coto mineral reservation of CMI, which has been conducting business in the country for more than 20 years.
“The value of CMI’s losses so far … may soon double at the rate the chromite stockpiles are being depleted with the use of backhoes and huge cargo trucks,” Eusebio said.
CMI said more than 35,000 metric tons (MT) of chromite, valued at P81 million, had been hauled by the small-scale mining firms to a port owned by another firm.
Eusebio said three vessels loaded with chromite, totaling 20,000 MT, had sailed out to China earlier.
Biazon said: “We did not issue customs clearance to the vessel [that the small-scale miners used to ship the mineral ore to China]. But in spite of that, it sailed, with chromite on board. The report to me is that the Philippine Ports Authority allowed it.”
He said the small-scale miners had been claiming that they have a permit from Ebdane, “so they say what they are doing is legal.”
“On the other hand, there are CDOs from the DENR, which were the bases of our non-issuance of customs clearance,” Biazon said.
The Inquirer had repeatedly tried to get Ebdane’s reply to CMI’s accusation but until Friday, he and his information officers and staff members neither took calls nor replied to text messages.
Biazon said the mining problems in the province should be investigated to determine who has the final authority in allowing small-scale miners to ship ore to China.
“As long as there is compliance on documents, we are bound to give customs clearance. But if there is a CDO, we can’t allow it,” Biazon said.
He said the issue has to be resolved soon because the government is losing revenues in the form of taxes.
“The stockpile belongs to CMI and it is being taken with permission and assistance of the provincial government. There is a corresponding penalty for shipping out these mineral ore without customs clearance,” Biazon said. Robert Gonzaga, Inquirer Central Luzon