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By Anthony Bayarong, Correspondent
STA.CRUZ, Zambales: Benguet Corp. (BC)yesterday
distanced itself from the issue regarding the destruction of forest
and environment and instead pinned the blame on another mining
company operating in this mineral rich town.
In a statement, BC identified the mining company
as A3 UNA, being primarily responsible for causing inconvenience to
some residents due to dust, diesel fumes, mud and posing road
hazard.
In the same statement, BC also clarified that
they have not started hauling minerals in the 1,400 hectares of land
they occupy in Barangay Guisguis.
In a telephone interview, BC Senior Vice
President for Legal Issues Atty. Reynaldo Mendoza said that it was
not BC who is destroying the environment. In fact, he added that
they are now repairing the destruction brought about the illegal
mining of A3 UNA, which allegedly mined inside the 1,400-hectare
piece of land occupied by their company.
“Inaayos nga namin ngayon yung mga lugar na
sinira ng A3-UNA kasi pag nag umpisa na ang tag-ulan natatakot ang
mga residente na baka bumagsak ang lupa sa kanila at mag putik sa
kanilang mga lugar, natatakot din ang mga residente na baka putik na
ang dumaloy sa mga ilog dahil sa illegal mining ng A3 UNA, “
Mendoza told The Times.
“I don’t know why Sta. Cruz Mayor Luisito
Marty is so angry with us and not with the small mining company that
has no ECC, like A3 UNA,” he added.
He also explained that the company’s project
in Zambales has fully complied with mining laws and environmental
regulations.
He however confirmed that their company has not
paid direct taxes to the province of Zambales since they are paying
taxes directly to the national government.
“We recognized the claim of some local
officials that we do not pay local taxes but they must understand
that they have a share of the taxes we pay directly to the national
government; the problem is that the process of releasing their share
is slow,” Mendoza said.
He further explained that they are now lobbying
in congress a bill that if passed would pave the way to large-scale
mining companies’ direct payment of taxes to local governments,
including the provincial government, local municipalities and
barangays that are affected in mining operations.
The statement added that earlier this week, a
team from Mines & Geosciences Bureau (MGB) went to Sta. Cruz to
investigate the complaint of environmental damage filed by a certain
Barangay Captain Merced of Lomboy, a neighboring barangay to
Guisguis.
It was found by the MGB team after interviewing
residents and local officials in the two barangays that the
complaint was baseless. Ongoing works by BC inside the MPSA are
confined to road construction which is covered by a road
right-of-way permit issued by DENR, and slope stabilization and the
construction of silt ponds as part of pollution control measures
under the ECC to prevent erosion and siltation in the lower areas.
But as confirmed by the MGB investigators, no actual mining or
hauling of ore has yet been done by BC.
The MGB team was also informed that a large
excavation in Area 1 of the mineral production sharing agreement,
which used to be forested, was the result of illegal mining by A3
UNA.
Middle of last year, BC had to bring in a
composite PNP and MGB group to forcefully remove A3 UNA from its
claim. But A3 UNA was able to continue its illegal mining in other
areas adjacent to the mineral production sharing agreement of BC
because it was enjoying the support and protection of some local
officials in Sta. Cruz. The hauling trucks of A3 UNA that are
transporting illegally mined ore from various sources to its port in
Barangay Bolitoc, were the ones overrunning the barangay roads and
the subject of numerous complaints of residents affected by dust,
pollution and other road hazards.
The company, according to Mendoza, is now
undertaking construction of roads and siltation ponds (to serve as
catchments basin for silts that would otherwise pollute rice lands
located downstream), which involves no tree cutting. It has also
erected slope stabilization benches at the excavation site were A3
UNA allegedly illegally mined to prevent erosion.
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