After winning a case against illegal miners operating within the Taal Volcano protected area landscape last October, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) arrested another set of illegal quarrying operators in the same area last November 24.
“These illegal quarrying operations cannot be stopped if we remain complacent with enforcement operations. This is the reason why the DENR has bolstered training for our enforcement personnel and more reasons why the legislative arm of the government should expedite the Environmental Protection and Enforcement Bureau (EPEB) Bill,” said DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu, in a statement.
The DENR said 15 illegal miners were apprehended and are currently undergoing legal procedures for violating the Expanded National Integrated Protected Area Systems Act of 2018, the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, The Revised Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines, and the Clean Water Act.
Confiscated during the operations were three backhoes, two screeners used to define and segregate the liberated and extracted sand and gravel materials as well as a truck loaded with 127 board feet of round logs and 122.83 board feet of lumber.
The DENR said its operatives also discovered the area was used as a crude firing range with blue barrels filled with gravel and sand serving as target papers . Bullet slugs were also found in the area.
Last October, the DENR won the case against illegal miners apprehended in the area last 2019.
In a two-page decision, the 5th Municipal Circuit Trial Court in Talisay-Laurel, Batangas province has found six individuals guilty of illegal quarrying and extraction of 14,430 cubic meters of palanas minerals.
Cimatu said that the palanas minerals recovered had an estimated value of P2.46 million.
The apprehended individuals were ordered to pay a fine of P10,000 each with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency.
The DENR said once EPEB bill becomes a law, more stringent penalties can be imposed. – Jed Macapagal
