FEB.

14, 2015

NR # 3742B

Lawmakers laud DOJ Secretary De Limas action to stop illegal mining

Lawmakers have expressed elation over praiseworthy action by the Department of Justice which
stopped illegal mining activities in the province of Camarines Norte.
Congress should commend Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for taking positive action against
illegal mining operations in the First District of Camarines Sur, Rep. Catherine Barcelona-Reyes (1 st
District, Camarines Norte) and Rep. Francisco Matugas (2nd District, Surigao del Norte) insisted.
The lawmakers have filed House Resolution No. 1745 strongly citing Secretary de Lima for
enforcing the cease-and-desist order against the rampant illegal mining operations in the province.
Barcelona-Reyes noted persistent reports of unabated illegal mining operations being undertaken
by Bohai Top Mining International and other mining companies in the 1st District of Camarines Norte,
particularly in Barangays Napaod and Benit, in the municipality of Labo, as well as in Barangay
Bagumbayan in the municipality of Paracale.
These illegal mining activities have been ongoing for more than three years, and the companies
involved are reportedly owned by Chinese nationals who are allegedly in cahoots with some municipal
and provincial officials, the authors said.
These mining operations, they added, have adversely affected the environment and have caused
the untaxed depletion of mineral resources, the pollution of water supply, and the erosion of land
resulting to the destructive inundation of the area by flash floods.
These unregulated mining activities are violations of the provisions of Executive Order 79,
Reforming the Philippine Mining Sector, issued on 06 July 2012, and Republic Act 7076, also known as
the Peoples Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991, and other environmental laws, the authors pointed out.
They noted that despite a Cease-and Desist Order (CDO) by the Department of environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) Region V to Bohai Top International, the company continued its operations,
flagrantly ignoring the CDO.
Upon orders of DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima, a composite team was organized to enforce the
CDO, the lawmakers elatedly revealed, adding that positive and prompt actions by government should
not remain unnoticed.
They recalled that on February 6, 2014, a composite team of the NBI, Mines and Geosciences
Bureau (MGB), Bureau of Immigration (BI), and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force
(PAOCTF), conducted a dismantling operation upon the order issued by the DENR of the mining
companies at Barangays Napaod and Benit, in Labo and Barangay Bagumbayan, in Paracale, Camarines
Norte.
The said raid, the authors noted in HR 1745, resulted in the apprehension of fourteen (14) Chinese
nationals who were found to have been illegally working as miners or mining supervisors.
As a result of the said operation in February 2014, illegal mining activities in the First District of
the province have stopped, the lawmakers declared. (30) dpt