REP. Leila De Lima (PL, Mamamayang Liberal) yesterday filed House Bill (HB) No.1843, which seeks a ban on black sand or magnetite mining, including operations under the guise of dredging activities.
“The danger to the lives and property of residents, massive residential displacement, flooding, landslides weakening or destroying the natural defense and barriers of coastal communities and loss if fishing livelihood due to exploration and mining operations necessitate the passage of a law that completely stops black sand mining in the Philippines and imposes stiff penalties for violation thereof,” House Bill No. 1843 said.
The proposed Anti-Black Sand Mining Act seeks to penalize violators with imprisonment of not less than six years but not more than 12 years and a fine of not less than P1 million but not more than P10 million.
However, if the offender is a public officer, he or she shall suffer the maximum penalty and fine on top of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, both appointive and elective.
“Studies by environmental groups in areas with black sand mining showed that black sand mining operations contributed to the depletion of fisheries, erosion of land and severe flooding in coastal and riverside communities,” the bill said.
The measure was filed amid the call of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) for an independent and comprehensive investigation into what it called the “destructive” dredging operations in the Cagayan River that took place under the Duterte administration.
The militant group suspects that the Chinese-led dredging operation is a mere front for black sand extraction and not a genuine effort to rehabilitate the river.
When she was still a senator in the 18th Congress, De Lima filed Senate Resolution (SR) No. 687 to look into the Cagayan Offshore Magnetite Mining Project for its alleged negative environmental and social impacts on local communities and ecosystems in the province.
HB 1846 seeks to prevent black sand mining that is “under the guise of dredging” by mandating permits requiring that all dredged materials collected in sites where black sand or magnetite exists be disposed of in government-controlled dredge fills.”
“Dredging permits shall likewise require a prior certification from the Mining and Geosciences Bureau, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on whether black sand or magnetites exist in (the) proposed mining sites,” the bill said.
The bill cited a warning that areas mined for magnetite or black sand “could sink and be underwater within 30 to 70 years as rapid subsidence will highly expose the said areas to flooding and seasonal typhoons.”
“In a press conference in September 2013, Ofelia Fuentes of Samahan ng Kababaihan sa Buguey at Sta. Teresita said that due to black sand mining in the Cagayan River and coastline, houses are crumbling because the sand underneath it are getting eroded, rice fields are shrinking and harvests are becoming less as the fields are inundated by saltwater, and fisherfolk are reporting reduced catch,” it said.
Aside from environmental damage, the bill also cites reports that black sand mining operations could also pose serious health issues, such as skin and lung diseases.
The bill defines black sand or magnetite as the “mineral resource used in the production of steel, the generation of high-intensity concrete, in making ink or toner for photography machines, for high-temperature coating for some steam boilers, magnets, paint, paper, jewelry and cosmetics.”
