House to impose tighter controls on quarrying

May 30, 2018

The House committee on good government and public accountability chaired by Rep. Johnny Ty Pimentel ended its deliberations Tuesday a resolution seeking an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into quarrying activities in Nueva Ecija and other parts of the country.

The resolution calls for an investigation on alleged corruption and irregularities in the imposition, collection, and distribution of taxes and fees on the quarrying operations also in Cebu, Marinduque and Negros Oriental.

Pimentel said the primary issue presented to the committee refers to the power of the local government to impose taxes and fees on quarrying operations within its territorial jurisdiction.

Under Republic Act 7160, also known as the Local Government Code of 1991, the local government units are authorized to impose taxes, fees and charges on sources of revenue.

Pimentel said the LGUs are authorized to issue quarry permits and collect quarry fees exclusively by the provincial government, although tax revenues from quarrying operations are shared among local government units.

During committee meetings, different opinions and contrasting interpretation of the laws applicable to quarrying of natural resources cropped up.

The provincial government of Nueva Ecija asserted their authority to issue quarry permits for commercial sand and gravel is vested under RA 7160 and RA 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it has the exclusive authority to issue the environment compliance certificate (ECC) for any quarry permit.

Another contentious issue the panel took up was the proper and timely distribution of the shares of the LGUs on the collected taxes from the quarry operations.

Pimentel said the mandate of the committee is to determine whether laws have been violated and whether public officials and employees can be held liable.

“In the final analysis the committee will determine whether remedial legislation would be necessary to address the issues referred to the jurisdiction of this committee,” Pimentel said.

Rep. Ria Vergara, one of the authors of the resolution, proposed for the panel to recommend to the Ombudsman the filing of the appropriate criminal and administrative charges against the responsible provincial government officials for their malfeasance and misfeasance.

She said the progression of the inquiry had led to the discovery of other anomalies in the investigation of quarry operations in Nueva Ecija.

These include the disregard of the system of checks and balances put in place by the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and its implementing rules and regulations by relegating the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board as a useless regulatory body.

“The brazen violations of our environmental laws by the provincial government when they, without any legal basis, required quarry operators to secure another tool for corruption – ‘local ECCs’ in lieu of the ECC issued by the DENR,” said Vergara.

Vergara also cited the provincial government’s violations of the provisions of its own Revenue Code as regards the submission of hauling slips and production reports and the timely and orderly and orderly distribution of quarry tax shares of the LGUs.

Vergara proposed the review of the relevant provisions of the Local Government Code, the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and the relevant rules and regulations to ensure that the quarry operations will be carried out with proper and adequate system of checks and balances.

Rep. Arnulfo Teves, Jr. pressed for immediate filing of cases against quarry operators in his province of Negros Oriental who violate conditions of the ECC. DMS