MANILA – Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Friday sought a Senate inquiry into reported destructive mining operations and excavations in Zambales province.
Under Senate Resolution No. 92, Lacson sought to investigate the alleged exploitative activities that harm the environment, including the alleged smuggling of soil and rocks to build Chinese islands in the West Philippine Sea.
He cited reports of mining activities practically flattening the mountains and damaging a large area of forested highlands in Santa Cruz town.
He further said that some reports had quoted Zambales Governor Amor Deloso as saying that soil and rocks taken from these areas were “shipped, dumped and used to reclaim almost 3,500 hectares of the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea, which caused massive, unspeakable damage to the marine environment therein”.
Another article dated Nov. 2015 quoted a source from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency as saying the mining firms were smuggling soil and rocks “to build a chain of Chinese islands in the West Philippine Sea”.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has formed a task force to look into the reported reclamation work.
Lacson noted the need to assess affected areas to determine the extent of the damage and the appropriate actions to rehabilitate them, and address the allegations of possible breach of national security.
“There is a need to account for the personalities behind (these) highly anomalous, illegal and treacherous acts that tend not only to destroy our environment, but also make a mockery of our laws to the prejudice of the Filipino people and constitute a possible breach of our national security,” he said.
The investigation, he said, has “the end in view of adopting remedial measures to strengthen our environmental protection and conservation laws and address the possible breach of our national security”./PNA/CVL/ANP