TACLOBAN CITY – The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Leyte during their 30th regular session once again called for the presence of Mines and Geosciences Bureau Region 8 Director Roger De Dios to appear before the members of the provincial board this forthcoming regular session on March 1 (Tuesday) to discuss the problem regarding the reported on-going commercial mining operation of Nicua Mining Corporation in the municipality of MacArthur, Leyte.
The presence of De Dios in the forthcoming regular session of the provincial board was requested through the motion of Leyte First District Board Member Roque Tiu who is the chairman of the committee on environment and natural resources.
De Dios presence at the regular session is expected to shed light on the on-going commercial operation of Nicua Mining Corporation as the national government had already issued a memorandum order implementing a moratorium on mining operation in the entire country.
Tiu added that with the De Dios appearing before the members of the provincial board they will be provided answer to the problem on why Nicua has started its operation even without prior consultation and notification with the members of the provincial board as agreed during their previous meeting with Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio, MGB National Director Leo Jazareno, MGB Regional Director De Dios and Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla.
De Dios is also expected to bring all documents pertaining to the operation of NICUA Mining Corporation in the municipality of MacArthur.
Tiu added that they are also expecting for De Dios to bring with him the list of all mining companies that are actively operating in the province of Leyte after the cleansing the list of all mining companies conducted by the MGB.
In January 18, DENR Secretary Ramon Paje issued Department Memorandum Order 1 suspending the acceptance and processing of new mining application in all regional offices of the MGB that covers application for permit for exploration, mineral sharing agreement, financial and technical agreement, and industrial sand and gravel permit.
The memo set two deadlines for MGB Regional Director for sanitizing all pending and inactive applications, first was last February 20, 2011 for the 50% while the remaining 50% will be on the month of December this year.
Moreover, Leyte SP through the motion of Tiu also passed a resolution addressed to the Secretary of the DENR asking for the temporary suspension of mining activity of the NICUA mining corporation pending to the consultation process required by the local government code and the environmental code of the province of Leyte.
The said motion was the action of the provincial board members to address the problem in MacArthur as Nicua has failed to comply with the requirements set by the national and local law while the national law only allows the head of the agency concerned for the approval of mining permit to have the power in cancelation, revocation or temporarily stopping any permit issued to mining firms.
Based on the information provided by the MGB Regional Office to the provincial board members, the mining firm was able to comply with the requirements of the law for conducting consultation activities in the barangay and municipal level, but failed to make a consultation with the provincial board members which is provided in the provision of the Mining Act. (ROEL AMAZONA)
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