Farmers urge governor to cancel quarry firm permit

PORAC, Pampanga—A company operating with an expired mining permit has diverted water to a pit it carved next to the Malele River here, reducing irrigation in Barangay Planas and posing danger to the stability of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), a farmers’ group said.

Based on the appeal of the Nagkakaisang Mamamayan para sa Agrikultura at Kalikasan (Namaak) in a May 15 letter, Gov. Lilia Pineda on Thursday sent a team to investigate the alleged violations of Clarkstone Corp.

Namaak asked Pineda not to renew the permit of the company.

The Inquirer on Thursday saw three backhoes at the site.

The area being quarried is a private land, said Gilbert Baquing, owner of Clarkstone and village chief of Calantas in Floridablanca, in a telephone interview.

Baquing said he has not pulled out the equipment because he was expecting the provincial government to renew his permit.

The provincial government has not issued a quarry permit along the Malele River, said Arthur Punsalan, head of the Pampanga environment and natural resources office.

Mayor Condralito de la Cruz said he did not give Clarkstone a clearance to quarry rocks in Barangay Planas.

Jacinto Morales, Namaak president, said Clarkstone violated Section 6 of its quarrying permit. This states that “no extraction or removal of materials shall be allowed within a distance one kilometer from the boundaries of reservoirs established for public water supply and/or any public or private works or the consent of the owner concerned is obtained.”

Baquing said he did not know that this provision was imposed by the permit.

The permit showed that Clarkstone’s one-year industrial sand and gravel permit over 3.7134 hectares in the village had expired on May 6. A video footage taken by a resident showed it was quarrying rocks on May 8, two days after the permit expired.

Baquing denied sole use of the water, saying what flows in also flows out. The company trained the water into a pit, using boulders to form small dikes.

Morales said the low level of water and damage to the river bed limited the supply of water for farming for some 500 hectares. The water that comes out of the pit is muddy, having been used for washing the rocks.

The services of the National Irrigation Administration do not reach Planas, according to the group Kapampangan Manalakaran Inc. (Kamai), which is giving legal and networking aid to Namaak.

Morales said the quarry activities of Clarkstone should be stopped to preserve the rocks that slow down the flow of water during rainy months.

Morales said because of loose soil and without the rocks, the flow of water and debris would be fast, threatening to hit the concrete posts of the SCTEx some 2 kilometers east downstream.

Government built the SCTEx on Japanese loans to connect the Clark and Subic freeports and the Luisita Industrial Park in Tarlac.

“We appeal to you to help declare the Malele River and lands near it as no-quarry zone,” Namaak told Pineda.  Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon