13 nabbed for illegal quarrying in Davao
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 19 November) – Authorities arrested 13 individuals allegedly involved in illegal quarrying during a raid conducted around 10:30 a.m. on Monday along Tamugan River in Barangay Tamugan, Marilog District, Davao City, officials of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-Davao said.
NBI-Davao spokesperson Ely Leano said during a press conference on Tuesday that the agency immediately launched an operation after receiving a complaint from the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) of illegal quarry operations along the river.
Panigan-Tamugan Rivers provide 70 percent of the city’s water requirement through the Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project, a multi-billion peso project of the Aboitiz-led Apo Agua Infrastructura inaugurated last February 7.
Leano said the illegal quarry site was located in a far-flung area of Barangay Tamugan that could be reached by big trucks after an hour-long ride through rugged roads from the highway.
When NBI operatives reached the site Leano said several workers scampered away, but some were arrested, mostly laborers, truck drivers, and backhoe operators.
The agency also confiscated two dump trucks, one backhoe, and several log books containing the details of the persons behind the illegal quarry operation and the list of its “regular buyers,” which included construction companies.
Leano refused to disclose the identity of the quarry site owners pending further investigation, but said that they were operating as a syndicate and had connections to local government and barangay officials who were in cahoots with them.
“We cannot disclose the identity of the person behind this illegal quarrying, because we hatched the interdiction and arrest, he was not in the area, but we have strong evidence, which would link and connect him that indeed he was the one responsible for all this illegal quarrying in Tamugan river,” he said.
He said they will disclose the name of the principal “in a few weeks.”
The arrested individuals were scheduled for inquest on Tuesday. They might face violations of Republic Act 7942, also known as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, which prohibits illegal quarry operations.
NBI-Davao assistant regional director Gerald Laude Intes said they did not coordinate with the barangay in conducting the surveillance and operation to avoid compromising the raid.
He said previous operations failed to arrest suspects because barangay officials tipped off the operators about the raids.
“We did not coordinate with the barangay officials knowing that the first report of CENRO that there were barangay officials in cahoots with those syndicates. So, we did the work on our own, we validated, conducted surveillance, and conducted the operations on our own without the coordination with the barangay,” he said.
He said Philippine laws provide that all minerals belong to the State and that no private individuals could appropriate them for their exclusive benefit without proper permits.
He said other illegal quarry sites in the third district of this city will be inspected.
Leano added that illegal quarrying must be addressed because the city faces a “flood problem.”
“If there are unregulated activities of extracting quarry materials, this would result in an imbalance of the flow of the water. We are not knowledgeable on the environmental aspect of the action of the river, but for all we know, if there is a massive abuse of our nature, it would give the problem to the community,” he added. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
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