Nabbed Chinese miners in Camarines Sur to be sued Monday

NAGA CITY—Philippine officials are to charge on Monday 13 Chinese nationals who had been arrested for illegal dynamite possession and illegal mining in a town in Camarines Sur.

The Chinese are now detained at the police station of Lagonoy town since their arrest on Friday during a raid on a mining site in a village of Lagonoy, Camarines Sur.

Police Officer 3 Francis Guevara, of the Lagonoy police, said two sacks and three cartons of dynamites were found in the possession of the Chinese during the raid in Barangay (village) Himagtocon.

The Chinese were identified as Liu Kai Liko, Cheng Wen Lai, Yang Zhen Yta, Gong Zhen Yin, Chang Ming Zhi, Gong Shun Jiu, Huang Yoan Bao, Tiun Zha Oheng, Zhang Liu Wen, Tiang Yong Hong, Liu Kaixi Any, Hong Guang Shun and Luo Kai Quiang.

Guevara said the mining site, operated by the firm Bicol Chromite and Manganese Corp. (BCMC), was raided because of the use of dynamites in the site.

BCMC, said Guevara, had been ordered to stop operating by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and has no permit to transport, store or use explosives in its operations.

Guevara said police are to file Monday charges of illegal possession of explosives against the Chinese at the regional trial court in San Jose, Camarines Sur.

Camarines Sur Governor Luis Raymund Villafuerte had assailed the renewal of BCMC’s permit to operate in a 2,741-hectare area in Barangay Himagtocon for “repeatedly violating mining laws and regulations.”

In a letter early this month, Villafuerte asked Environment Secretary Ramon Paje not to issue a mining permit to BCMC and file criminal charges against the mining firm.

BCMC had been mining Lagonoy town since April 28, 2005, under Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSAs) 2005211-2005-V and 212-205-V.

Villafuerte said BCMC violated the MPSA when it assigned rights and obligations to third parties, like Aggregate Ore Trading Corp., Gesthil Realty and Development Corp., Nomarang Mining Corp., Gerard F. Pilapil and Inchiban International Ventures Inc., without the approval of DENR.

Villafuerte cited a June 4, 2010, letter of Director Horacio Ramos, of Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), which called the attention of BCMC on violations of its MPSA when it entered again into an operating agreement with Primerock Philippines Inc. on Nov. 20, 2009, without the approval of MGB or DENR.

“Aside from that, Bicol Chromite has also conducted blasting activities in the area despite nonissuance of permit by the Philippine National Police,” Villafuerte said.

He said Lydia Y. Cu, president of BCMC, has certified that Chinese nationals were working at the site though they were employed by a different firm identified as Ley Construction & Development Inc.

“All this remarkably shows Bicol Chromite’s disrespect and blatant violation of our laws, which must not be tolerated or brushed aside,” Villafuerte told Paje.