Kapitan Gonzales in hot water for illegal beach quarrying
AFTER he was recently publicly rebuked for the unabated illegal drug trading in his barangay, city hall is finally set to throw the books at Barangay Binloc Chairman Pedro Gonzales but this time for quarrying illegally in Sitio Korea in Bonuan Binloc last July 10.
Newly designated City Legal Officer George Mejia said his office will file the charges against Gonzales once it receives the incident report from City Engineer Virginia Rosario.
It was Rosario who received a call from a concerned citizen early morning of July 10 reporting that illegal quarrying of sand was going on in Bonuan Binloc’s beach area.
Rosario, accompanied by other engineering office staff, rushed to the barangay early Thursday and proceeded first to the house of Gonzales to inform him about the reported illegal activity as a matter of protocol before proceeding to the reported quarry site.
However, the city engineer, noticed the high mounds of beach sand at the premises of Gonzales, that indicated that the village chief was involved in the illegal quarrying.
When confronted, Gonzales admitted to the illegal activity and assured Rosario that he will stop the quarrying.
When informed by Rosario about it, Mayor Belen Fernandez promptly ordered Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (Cenro) Raymundo Gayo to stop the illegal quarrying of the barangay chief.
Gayo later reported that more than a hectare of beach land has already been quarried, which he said is a clear case of illegal extraction.
Fernandez vowed not to take Gonzales’ illegal quarrying lightly since it had made the sitio vulnerable to critical erosion from the sea.
The mayor directed the legal officer and the city engineer to collaborate closely to ensure that a tight case could be filed immediately against those responsible for the illegal quarrying.
Rosario said that while at the quarry site, she spotted a dump truck presumably owned by Gonzales, arriving for another haul but immediately turned back when the driver saw the personnel of the city engineering office in the area.
Gonzales who was recently criticized by Dangerous Drugs Board Chairman Antonio Villar for his failure to stop illegal drug trading in his community, is the grandfather of Councilor Chester Gonzales, SK barangay chairman, in his capacity as SK Federation chairman.
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