The extraction of dolomite rocks in the southern town of Alcoy in Cebu province has damaged the

marine ecosystem in the area, according to the provincial government.

An inspection conducted by the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) last week
showed that corals within a 500-meter area of Barangay Pugalo’s waters were destroyed due to heavy
siltation caused by crushed dolomite spilling into the sea during its transfer to bulk carrier vessels by
conveyor belts.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia asked the Environmental Management Bureau to investigate the
destruction of corals in Alcoy, a fifth-class municipality (annual income not more than P25 million) about
90 kilometers south of Cebu City.

“An inspection of the seabed in Barangay Pugalo, Alcoy, showed heavy siltation and damage to the
area’s marine ecosystem, raising the possibility of the issuance of another cease-and-desist order
against the mining firms,” the provincial government said in a news release.

“Particles from the crushed dolomite fell to the sea when transported to the bulk carrier vessels. Initial
reports indicated that corals were destroyed within 500 m of seawater because of heavy siltation,
causing the corals and the seabed to turn white,” it added.

At least 10,500 wet metric tons of dolomite from Alcoy were supposed to be transported to Manila
before the order was issued. This shipment was in addition to the 7,000 wet metric tons of crushed
dolomite used for the transformation of a 500-m strip of Manila Bay along Roxas Boulevard into a
“white sand beach.”

Garcia said crushed dolomite in Alcoy was sold as a substitute for sand and gravel in the domestic
market, but this was done without securing the necessary permits from the provincial capitol and
payment of local taxes.

Provincial treasurer Roy Salubre said that based on their initial computation, DMC and PMSC should pay
P726,923.077 to the province for the volume of dolomite shipped to Manila.

“We don’t get involved in a project of DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) to
nourish the beach by getting their resources elsewhere. But you are getting resources from the province
supplied by DMC, extracted by DMC, and under the provincial ordinance, our tax code, they are
supposed to pay 10 percent of the fair market value of the quarry resource,” she said.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Central Visayas earlier issued two ore transportation
permits (OTPs) to PMSC authorizing the shipment of dolomite, valued at P1.64 million, to Manila. Three
OTP applications are pending in the MGB.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Tuesday issued a cease and desist order against two mining companies
in the southern town of Alcoy, stopping the extraction of dolomites used in the Manila Bay nourishment
project.

Garcia signed Executive Order No. 25 ordering Dolomite Mining Corporation (DMC) and Philippine
Mining Service Corporation (PMSC) to “immediately cease and desist from further extracting,
processing, selling, and transporting of dolomite, associated mineral deposits, and other quarry
resources”.

The order, she said, was “to further prevent more damage to the terrestrial environment in the
Municipality of Alcoy,” claiming that the activities of the companies that undertook the extraction and
transport of dolomites to Manila are not covered with Environmental Impact Study as mandated under
Proclamation No. 2146.

“The Provincial Government of Cebu, and even the Municipality of Alcoy, was not informed of the
beautification project nor was there any public consultation held before the issuance of the two OTPs
(ore transport permits) to PMSC for the transport of said dolomite rocks from Cebu to Manila,” she said
in the order.

The OTPs allowed the company to transport seven wet metric tons of dolomite to Manila to be used for
a Manila Bay beautification project.

Garcia, however, said issuance of such OTPS to the mining firm, PMSC, was without proper notice to the
Alcoy municipality, noting that the absence of public consultation “clearly lacks transparency" on the
part of MGB and the mining firms.

She said it violated Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order
2010-21 which defines the role of an LGU in ensuring compliance with “public notice, public consultation
and public participation”.

“The absence of Environmental Impact Study is a clear and blatant violation of DENR Administrative
Order No. 2003-30, the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Presidential Decree No. 1586,
establishing the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System,” she added.