Biak-na-Bato quarrying still on

The Central Luzon director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) clarified yesterday that the government did not suspend any permit in connection with the controversial marble quarrying in the mineral reservation area of the Biak-na-Bato National Park in Bulacan.

In a phone interview, MGB regional director Angel Bravo said the quarrying of Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. continues but that its ore transport permit (OTP) has already been used up and the company could not transport ore at the moment.

However, he said Rosemoor has a pending application for a new OTP that the MGB regional office has yet to approve.

"No permit whatsoever is being suspended or cancelled here," Bravo told The STAR. "The report could have been misinterpreted."

"What I was saying is that Rosemoor cannot transport ore now because they have yet to secure a new OTP. Besides that, (its) operation (continues)," he said.

Rosemoor’s last OTP, which Bravo issued last month, was for the transport of only 400 cubic meters.

Bravo said he would send his technical people to Rosemoor’s quarry site to conduct a verification and assessment before determining the volume which its new OTP would cover.

He said his office could issue an OTP within two to three days.

"But now we are taking so long because we have so many activities since this month is Environment Month and the people involved in processing the OTP are busy participating in the activities," he said.

"Nobody, at this point, could stop us from issuing an OTP (to Rosemoor). We don’t have any constraint to issue the OTP because there is no legal impediment for us not to issue (it)," he added.

Bravo said not even the pending investigation into Rosemoor’s operations by the MGB central office could stop the regional office from granting the new permit to the company.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes has formed a committee to investigate the alleged anomalous acquisition by Rosemoor of its mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) and its alleged failure to secure an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

The committee, led by MGB executive director Jeremias Dolino, conducted its first hearing two weeks ago. It is expected to come up with its recommendations next week.

"The quarry operations of (Rosemoor) did not stop. Well, they only stopped for the past two weeks because of the rains... because it would be difficult for them to operate under such a condition where the roads are muddy and slippery," Bravo said.

Meanwhile, former DENR Secretary Heherson Alvarez said the MPSA granted to Rosemoor is restricted to the mineral reservation area of Biak-na-Bato.

In a statement, Alvarez said the MPSA, which allowed Rosemoor to mine a 330-hectare area in Biak-na-Bato, "was not granted to mine inside the national park, but outside the park and within a mineral reservation area where mining is allowed by law."

According to Alvarez, about 658 hectares of Biak-na-Bato had been declared a national park and 480 hectares a forest reserve, and that during the time of DENR Secretary Fulgencio Factoran, 953 hectares were set aside as a mineral reservation.

"The DENR granted the MPSA to Rosemoor (as an implementation of a) Court of Appeals ruling (that acknowledged) the legal rights of Dr. Lourdes Pascual (over the area)," he said.

In 1937, then President Manuel L. Quezon, recognizing the mountain’s historical significance, proclaimed the 2,117-hectare Biak-na-Bato as a national park. 

However, in 1982, former President Ferdinand Marcos excluded 330 hectares from Quezon’s proclamation and awarded them to Rosemoor owner by Pascual.

Pascual fought a 20-year legal battle, beginning in 1986, for the right to mine in the area for 25 years.

In 2001, the Court of Appeals decided in favor of Rosemoor, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court on March 30, 2004. Alvarez issued the MPSA to Rosemoor in 2002.

"However, the MPSA was granted under very strict (conditions), among which was the use of sustainable rules in mining that require modern cutting tools... that bans destructive and obsolete dynamite blasting," Alvarez said.

He said a mining permit is a mere privilege and not a license that vests absolute rights on the holder to mine.

"(Rosemoor) was given an MPSA in a mineral reservation but they cannot mine against the rules of sustainable development," he said.

"So, once (Rosemoor’s) operations go against the conditions of sustainable development, which was the basis for the granting of the MPSA in the first place, its permit must be revoked or cancelled," he added.

Former President Corazon Aquino intended the Biak-na-Bato mineral reservation as a source of livelihood because the area is one of the only two sources of pink marble with white strands in the world.