Phividec orders stop to quarrying on its 3,000-hectare estate in Misamis Oriental
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) has ordered a stop to illegal quarrying within its 3,000-hectare industrial estate in Misamis Oriental province.
Jose Gabriel La Viña, PIA administrator and chief executive officer, said Phividec started serving cease and desist orders to at least five quarry operators on Phividec property at the village of Sta. Ana in Tagoloan town.
La Viña, who assumed office only on Sept. 16, 2020, said the operators were given five days starting on Monday (Feb. 22) to remove their equipment and structures from the quarry site and leave the area.
Established in 1974 by Presidential Decree No. 538, the Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corporation (Phividec) Industrial Authority is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) that manages the 3,000-hectare property spanning 13 villages in two towns—Tagoloan and Villanueva.
La Viña said PIA never granted quarry permits to any operator but it had lost some 70 hectares of land due to extensive quarrying in the area.
“The sand along the banks of the river within the estate has been depleted due to band erosion,” La Viña said.
Article continues after this advertisementIf the quarrying operation was allowed to continue, it would cause environmental disaster that would ruin communities and bring losses to companies inside and near the PIA estate, he said.
Article continues after this advertisementLawyer Princess Ayoma, of PIA’s legal services division, said the operators were given permits to quarry by the Misamis Oriental provincial government but under PD 538, the PIA had sole authority and police power over the estate.
La Viña said the provincial government also failed to obtain a Certificate of No Objection from PIA before issuing permits.
But even if the permits were valid, operators also violated the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) policy against quarrying beyond a one-meter depth limit from the river bed.
“It did not happen overnight,” he said, referring to the violations. “It started in the 90s but was not acted upon,” he added.
He said that it took him months to act on the violations as his office had to gather facts and study these before taking any legal action.
Dozens of companies and industries, including power plants and steel factories, have established their businesses inside PIA’s economic zone.
