MALASIQUI—Mayor Armando Domantay Sr. has called on the Sangguniang Bayan members to pass an ordinance that will penalize illegal quarrying operators in this town.

Domantay made the appeal to completely stop the illegal quarrying in the town.

A petition was sent to the mayor’s office late last year by residents of Barangay Lunec, asking to immediately stop the illegal quarrying operation in a private lot in the barangay.

Residents claimed that the quarrying was damaging their road and causing pollution.

An investigation confirmed that the quarrying operation was illegal since the operators could not present a permit from the local government unit (LGU) nor an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) from the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR).

The SB immediately passed a resolution stopping the illegal quarrying operation in Lunec during their last session in 2013.

However, the LGU does not have the authority under a local ordinance to penalize the operators and require them pay the damages.

“I have reiterated the request to the SB members to create an ordinance to strengthen the implementation of laws in our town as to the illegal quarrying operations and to penalize the operators,” Domantay said.

He said he was assured that the ordinace will be adopted soon after conducting committee hearings and investigations.

The mayor said the investigation indicates that the operators were from Pampanga and that the soil extracted from quarrying was used in the construction of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, a major road project under the national government.—Dada Austria

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