Wednesday, October 01, 2008 Ricafort says yes to forming of TWG By Ian Ocampo Flora
CLARK FREEPORT -- Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president Benigno Ricafort on Tuesday said he has agreed to Governor Eddie Panlilio's proposal to create a technical working group (TWG) to once and for all settle the issue of alleged "illegal quarrying" inside the Clark Freeport Zone.
But Ricafort stressed that it should be Panlilio who should organize the TWG.
"Actually it was me who first gave an idea of a working group. But if he wants a TWG, then he should be the one to organize it and not the CDC," he said.
Last Monday, Panlilio proposed the establishment of the TWG that would determine the "complicated" issue of hauling of sand materials from the Sacobia River with focus on the pertinent provisions of the law.
In a phone interview Tuesday, Panlilio said he will immediately create the TWG as soon as he gets back from his trip in Iloilo.
The governor said he will also ask the help of Danilo Uykieng of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and other "competent individuals" in the creation and on the composition of the TWG.
Last September 17, Panlilio wrote Ricafort a letter on the alleged "illegal quarrying" at the Sacobia River after provincial quarry monitoring teams were able to intercept an alleged "quarry permittee" who yielded several receipts issued by the CDC that charged P75 for every truckload of quarry materials hauled from Sacobia River.
Panlilio requested Ricafort to stop the quarry operations along the river and submit the list of all "quarry permittees" in the Clark sub-zone.
But in Ricafort's reply to Panlilio last September 26, he denied the existence of any illegal quarrying in the Sacobia River, adding that Panlilio's letter was "obviously uncalled for."
"We feel that your letter to CDC is highly inappropriate considering we have met on September 2, 2008 in our office and we have clarified to you that CDC has been undertaking desilting and excavation for the purpose of removing obstruction to the flow of the Sacobia River and thus put in place slope protection in our area of jurisdiction," Ricafort said.
The other day, Panlilio and Ricafort talked over the phone to patch things up. Among the subject of their conversation was the creation of the TWG to look into the "desilting" operations along Clark's sub-zone.
The priest-turned-governor also admitted that his letter came as "a bit strong" to Ricafort.
