Governor Corazon Malanyaon asserted the provincial government’s authority to regulate the extraction of sand and gravel, and other aggregates in Davao Oriental in a bid to protect the environment and mitigate the impacts of extraction activities in the communities.
“The authority given to you as a permittee for sand and gravel, whether industrial or commercial, is only a privilege. Don’t ever have that mindset that it is a right. If it is a privilege, you must have compliance and standards to follow,” Governor Malanyaon stressed during the first-ever held dialogue that gathered all permittees and contractors for commercial and industrial sand and gravel in the province, held earlier today, April 27, at Lanes Kitaanan in the City of Mati.
During the heart-to-heart interfacing dubbed “Pakighinabi,” the Governor expressed her plea to the permittees to help protect the province’s resources by following the environmental standards based on the terms and conditions under the Republic Act 7942 or The Philippine Mining Act of 1995.
Governor Malanyaon is known for championing the cause for the environment. A testament to her determination to conserve the province’s natural resources was the successful inscription of Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary in the UNESCO World Heritage List – the only one in Mindanao.
𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗨𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
Aside from the interest of protecting the province’s natural resources, the strict enforcement of permits would also compel permittees to pay the required taxes, which the provincial government desperately needs amidst the massive decrease in its share from the National Tax Allotment and huge debt servicing from previous loans.
“I need to raise all the revenues to make up for the loss of the P400 million NTA and the debt servicing of P400 million a year. We need to raise the revenue that we can afford to collect to augment income for the province’s operations,” she said.
Governor Malanyaon tasked Retired Brigadier General Leopoldo Imbang, Jr., Chief of the Natural Resource Conservation and Operations Division, to enforce strict regulations, especially in revenue generation.
While the provincial government is the authorized collecting agency for sand and gravel extraction, the province only gets 30 percent of the total collection. The 40 percent goes to the barangay where the extraction activity is situated, while the remaining 30 percent goes to the city or the municipality.
“All these efforts are for our total development, not only for the province but also for the barangays and the municipalities,” she said.
“This is not for my personal interest. My dream is to get this province developed, become progressive, and of course, this time, meet our province’s requirements. Our people are hard up already. That’s why I want to talk to you heart-to-heart. I am appealing to you because I want to bring this province into genuine development,” the Governor appealed.
Permittees and contractors who were present signified their support for the Governor’s cause and vowed to comply with the province’s requirements.
Also expressing their commitment was the law enforcement and security sector. 701st Brigade Commander Brigadier General Oliver Maquiling and Davao Oriental Police Provincial Office Provincial Director Pol. Col. Francis Donald Brillante expressed their commitment to ensuring environmental laws and regulations are in place.
Forester Donald Benigno, Chief of the Forest and Biodiversity Management Division under the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, committed to providing the agency’s technical expertise to ensure applicants’ compliance, particularly with the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) requirements. ʙʏ ᴋᴀʀᴇɴ ʟᴏᴜ ᴅᴇʟᴏꜱᴏ | ᴘʜᴏᴛᴏꜱ ʙʏ ᴍᴀʀᴋ ᴏʟɪᴠᴇʀ ᴀʟᴠɪᴛᴇ
