THE consultative meeting on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, between the residents of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, and a concrete production firm, which was supposedly required to renew its quarrying permit in parts of Pilan River in Barangay Zone II, turned into a protest.
The residents protested against Horizon Concrete Products Corporation's plan to continue its decades of excavation in parts of Pilan River in Barangay Zone II as it was set to renew its five-year Industrial Sand and Gravel (ISAG) permit from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on December 13.
The consultative meeting was a requirement for the company to obtain the approval of the involved barangays to proceed with the renewal.
Barangay officials from Zone II, Zone IV, and Barangay Sinuron, which have jurisdiction over Pilan River, rallied behind the protesters and refused to approve the company's quarry permit renewal.
The barangay captains, who had already petitioned against the quarry operations long before the protest, explained their reasons for their refusal.
Zone II Punong Barangay Myla Garcia Arellano said she sympathizes with the residents, who are deprived of a clean water source due to the daily quarry operation of Horizon, a family business owned by former Sta. Cruz Mayor Jaime Lao.
Arellano also emphasized that Pilan River had been declared an ecotourism destination, which should be preserved at all costs.
Zone IV Punong Barangay Juniper Solamo shared the same sentiment claiming that the ongoing quarry activities have been contaminating the residents' water source.
"Mga tao diri nagreklamo na gyud kay wala na silay tubig mainom, unya kung manglaba, dili na pud nila magamit kay lubog naman pirmi ang tubig (The people here are already complaining that they didn't have water to drink anymore, and they could not even do their laundry because the water has already been always too murky)," Solamo said.
Meanwhile, Sinuron Punong Barangay Orlando Rivera expressed sympathy to the Indigenous People (IP) in the area, composed of Bagobo Tagabawa.
Elder Council member of the Bagobo Tagabawa, Matanam Edmundo Q. Udal, strongly disagreed with the renewal, saying it destroys their "market," the fish-abundant river, where they hunt their food.
For Cherry Casimero, a member of the Hugpong Farmers' Riverside Association and a vendor at Cawa-Cawa River Resort, she expressed concern that the quarry might soon affect their small source of income.
"Maguol lang mi basig abot sa panahon, maabot na diri sa amoang sapa ang pag-backhoe nila ug madaot na ang sapa, mulubog na ang tubig ug basig delikado na sa mga maligo (We are worried as time might come that their quarrying activities will reach our river and destroy our river, its water will become murky, endangering the lives of those who would swim)," she said.
After hearing all the sentiments and complaints, Sta. Cruz Mayor Jose Nelson "Tata" Sala vowed to side with the people over the company.
Sala said they would further investigate the company's activities and scrutinize their permits.
The Local Chief Executive claimed that the documents presented by Horizon were anomalous, as the initial permit submitted to the LGU had no date, followed by another permit with a date attached.
Horizon plant administrative officer Elsa Montecillo, in a separate interview, defended their operations, asserting that they have permits from the MGB.
"Adtoa nalang ninyo sa MGB sa Davao para makita ninyo kung ilegal ba among ginauhat (Just go there at the MGB Office in Davao to see whether our operations are illegal)," she said.
Montecillo's document is the same permit that Sala presented to the local media. CEA