MONITORING SYSTEM - NLEX CCTV
300/truckload
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2004/sept/15/yehey/prov/20040915pro6.htmlSeptember 15, 2004
Guiao said the data from the National Resources and Development Corp. (NRDC) showed that about 3,000 to 5,000 trucks were hauling sand and lahar materials in Pampanga daily. The NRDC used to manage quarry operations in Pampanga as well as in Tarlac and Zambales during the time of the deposed President Joseph Estrada.
City of San Fernando: The Pampanga provincial board will decide on Monday whether to allow the Natural Resources Development Corp. to take control of the multimillion-peso quarrying in the province.
The company had promised the board that it would increase the provincial governments revenue from quarrying fees by at least P36 million annually.
The NRDC is the marketing and corporate arm of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It had supervised quarrying in the lahar-affected provinces of Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales under the Estrada administration. The NRDCs responsibility ended on April 23, 2002, when President Arroyo signed Proclamation 183 giving the local government units of the three provinces supervision over quarrying in their areas.
PROCLAMATION NO. 183
Revoking Proclamation No. 66, Series Of 1999, Declaring the Lahar-Affected Rivers and Embankment Areas in the Provinces of Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales as Environmentally Critical Areas and as Mineral Reservation Under the Direct Supervision and Control of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
PROCLAMATION NO. 183
REVOKING PROCLAMATION NO. 66, SERIES OF 1999, DECLARING THE LAHAR-AFFECTED RIVERS AND EMBANKMENT AREAS IN THE PROVINCES OF PAMPANGA, TARLAC AND ZAMBALES AS ENVIRONMENTALLY CRITICAL AREAS AND AS MINERAL RESERVATION UNDER THE DIRECT SUPERVISION AND CONTROL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
WHERAS, Proclamation No. 66 dated January 11, 1999, declared the lahar-affected rivers and embankment areas in the provinces of Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales as environmentally critical areas as mineral reservation under the direct supervision and control of the Department of Environment and Natural resources.
WHERAS, the Local Government Code of 1991 mandates that local government units shall have an equitable share derived from the utilization and development of the national wealth within their respective areas, including sharing the same with the inhabitants by way of direct benefits.
WHEREAS, Proclamation No. 66, series of 1999, has virtually deprived the three (3) provinces aforementioned and/or their component cities and municipalities supervision and control over the river systems and embankment areas found within their respective territorial jurisdictions.
WHEREAS, sound governance demands that control and supervision over these river systems and the exploitation and utilization of the sand lahar deposits in the area be returned to the local government units concerned.
NOW, THEREFORE, I GLORIA MACAPAGAL-AROYO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby revoked Proclamation No. 66 dated January 11, 1999 and hereby set aside the area covered thereby for public and quasipublic purposes under the provisions of Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended, subject to private rights, if any there be.
The area thus set aside and the disposition of sand and lahar deposits found therein shall be placed under the direct supervision and control of the local government units where part or parts of the reserve area is/are located.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is hereby instructed to issue the necessary guidelines for the implementations of this proclamation, with due regard to the demands of sound environmental management.
This Proclamation shall take effect immediately.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.
DONE in the City of Manila this 23rd day of April, in the year of our Lord, two thousand two.
DISSENT IN PAMPANGA
Quarry order strains
Macapagal-Lapid ties
Posted: 10:22 PM (Manila Time) | Jul. 19, 2003
By Tonette Orejas
Inquirer News Service
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- In a move indicating a strained alliance, Governor Manuel Lapid on Thursday ordered the provincial attorney to question the legality of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Executive Order 224 that placed the quarry industry under the direct control of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.
Lapid declined to issue a statement but described the order, signed on July 4 and received by the MGB on Tuesday, as "parang yung order ni Erap (similar to Proclamation 66 of former President Joseph Estrada)."
Through the proclamation, Estrada ordered the Natural Resources Development Corp. of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in February 1999 to take over the management of the quarry industry, including the collection of revenues.
The takeover occurred six months after Lapid and four other officials were charged with graft for allegedly collecting 80 pesos on top of the 40-peso tax allowed by law for every truck of sand hauled out of the province.
Provincial attorney Filmer Abrajano said he was finalizing a petition to annul EO 224.
The draft copy showed the petition rests on the same argument that enabled the provincial government to regain control of the quarry industry in January 2002.
It said the collection of local taxes from mineral resources is an exclusive right and authority of the provincial government.
The Local Government Code of 1991, Abrajano said, empowered the provincial government to exercise autonomy.
He said he was confident of the soundness of this argument, explaining that the regional trial court, in December 2001, upheld the mandate of the provincial government over local resources.
Ms Macapagal, in April 2002, issued Proclamation 183, saying "sound governance demands that control and supervision over those river systems and the exploitation and utilization of sand and lahar deposits in the area be returned to the local government units concerned."
Abrajano said EO 224 was "like (Estrada's) Proclamation 66, (which is) illegal and unconstitutional."
He said the task force created under EO 224 and headed by the DENR's MGB regional director as the team leader should not be allowed to collect taxes because that function was solely the authority of the provincial treasurer.
The order, which also covers the provinces of Tarlac and Zambales, relegated provincial governors like Lapid to the role of deputy team leaders.
"This is really in violation of the (local government) code," Abrajano said. "It's quite obvious that Pampanga was singled out."
Abrajano cited a section in the President's order where she ordered the task force to "immediately monitor all reported illegal mining and quarrying operations and, for this purpose, set up as may be necessary checkpoints and other monitoring stations within the territorial jurisdiction of the province of Pampanga."
The President's order came two weeks after the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial council) required provincial treasurer Jovito Sabado and the provincial quarry task force led by provincial administrator Benalfre Galang to provide an official report on the income from quarry revenues.
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7942
[AN ACT INSTITUTING A NEW SYSTEM OF MINERAL RESOURCES EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT, UTILIZATION, AND CONSERVATION]
Section 3
Definition of Terms
p. Existing mining/quarrying right means a valid and subsisting mining claim or permit or quarry permit or any mining lease contract or agreement covering a mineralized area granted/issued under pertinent mining laws.
ar. Quarrying means the process of extracting, removing and disposing quarry resources found on or underneath the surface of private or public land.
as. Quarry permit means a document granted to a qualified person for the extraction and utilization of quarry resources on public or private lands.
at. Quarry resources refers to any common rock or other mineral substances as the Director of Mines and Geosciences Bureau may declare to be quarry resources such as, but not limited to, andesite, basalt, conglomerate, coral sand, diatomaceous earth, diorite, decorative stones, gabbro, granite, limestone, marble, marl, red burning clays for potteries and bricks, rhyolite, rock phosphate, sandstone, serpentine, shale, tuff, volcanic cinders, and volcanic glass: Provided, That such quarry resources do not contain metals or metallic constituents and/or other valuable minerals in economically workable quantities: Provided, further, That non-metallic minerals such as kaolin, feldspar, bull quartz, quartz or silica, sand and pebbles, bentonite, talc, asbestos, barite, gypsum, bauxite, magnesite, dolomite, mica, precious and semi-precious stones, and other non-metallic minerals that may later be discovered and which the: Director declares the same to be of economically workable quantities, shall not be classified under the category of quarry resources.
CHAPTER VIII
QUARRY RESOURCES
Section 43
Quarry Permit
Any qualified person may apply to the provincial/city mining regulatory board for a quarry permit on privately-owned lands and/or public lands for building and construction materials such as marble, basalt, andesite, conglomerate, tuff, adobe, granite, gabbro, serpentine, inset filling materials, clay for ceramic tiles and building bricks, pumice, perlite and other similar materials that are extracted by quarrying from the ground. The provincial governor shall grant the permit after the applicant has complied with all the requirements as prescribed by the rules and regulations.
The maximum area which a qualified person may hold at any one time shall be five hectares (5 has.): Provided, That in large-scale quarry operations involving cement raw materials, marble, granite, sand and gravel and construction aggregates, a qualified person and the government may enter into a mineral agreement as defined herein.
A quarry permit shall have a term of five (5) years, renewable for like periods but not to exceed a total term of twenty-five (25) years. No quarry permit shall be issued or granted on any area covered by a mineral agreement or financial or technical assistance agreement.
Section 44
Quarry Fee and Taxes
A permittee shall, during the term of his permit, pay a quarry fee as provided for under the implementing rules and regulations. The permittee shall also pay the excise tax as provided by pertinent laws.
Section 45
Cancellation of Quarry Permit
A quarry permit may be cancelled by the provincial governor for violations of the provisions of this Act or its implementing rules and regulations or the terms and conditions of said permit: Provided, That before the cancellation of such permit, the holder thereof shall be given the opportunity to be heard in an investigation conducted for the purpose.
Section 46
Commercial Sand and Gravel Permit
Any qualified person may be granted a permit by the provincial governor to extract and remove sand and gravel or other loose or unconsolidated materials which are used in their natural state, without undergoing processing from an area of not more than five hectares (5 has.) and in such quantities as may be specified in the permit.
Section 47
Industrial Sand and Gravel Permit
Any qualified person may be granted an industrial sand and gravel permit by the Bureau for the extraction of sand and gravel and other loose or unconsolidated materials that necessitate the use of mechanical processing covering an area of more than five hectares (5 has.) at any one time. The permit shall have a term of five (5) years, renewable for a like period but not to exceed a total term of twenty-five (25) years.
Section 48
Exclusive Sand and Gravel Permit
Any qualified person may be granted an exclusive sand and gravel permit by the provincial governor to quarry and utilize sand and gravel or other loose or unconsolidated materials from public lands for his own use, provided that there will be no commercial disposition thereof.
A mineral agreement or a financial technical assistance agreement contractor shall, however, have the right to extract and remove sand and gravel and other loose unconsolidated materials without need of a permit within the area covered by the mining agreement for the exclusive use in the mining operations: Provided, That monthly reports of the quantity of materials extracted therefrom shall be submitted to the mines regional office concerned: Provided, further, That said right shall be coterminous with the expiration of the agreement.
Holders of existing mining leases shall likewise have the same rights as that of a contractor: Provided, That said right shall be coterminous with the expiry dates of the lease.
Section 49
Government Gratuitous Permit
Any government entity or instrumentality may be granted a gratuitous permit by the provincial governor to extract sand and gravel, quarry or loose unconsolidated materials needed in the construction of building and/or infrastructure for public use or other purposes over an area of not more than two hectares (2 has.) for a period coterminous with said construction.
