The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) yesterday said 18 illegal miners, five of them Chinese, were arrested in a raid on illegal mining operations in Misamis Oriental last Saturday.
In a statement, DENR said several heavy equipment that caused damage on roughly 7.6 hectares of land along the Iponan river in Opol, Misamis Oriental were also seized from the miners.
The agency said the raid was carried out by joint operatives from the local DENR office led by Northern Mindanao regional executive director Henry Adornado and DENR Undersecretary for field operations in Mindanao Joselin Marcus Fragada, as well as the Mines and Geosciences Bureau; North Eastern Mindanao regional office of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI); and the special forces of the Philippine Army 4th Infantry Division.
Adornado said the operation had no mining permit nor a proper company that operates it, adding there is an ongoing investigation to find out the real financer or owner of the illegal operations.
Adornado added that reports of the illegal activities were first received by a field team that was confirmed through the DENR’s satellite imagery at the DENR Central Office.
The suspects were brought to the detention facility of the NBI North Eastern Mindanao regional office at Cagayan de Oro City and are now facing charges for violation of several environmental laws, including the Philippine Mining Act, the Philippine Clean Water Act and the Forestry Code of the Philippines.
