Republic of the Philippines HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Quezon City FIFTEENTH CONGRESS First Regular Session HOUSE RESOLUTION No. 381 __________________________________________________________________________________ Introduced by Reps. TEDDY A. CASIÑO, NERI JAVIER COLMENARES and LUZVIMINDA C. ILAGAN ___________________________________________________________________________________ RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES TO CONDUCT AN INVESTIGATION, IN AID OF LEGISLATION, ON THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES (DENR) APPROVAL OF THE ALLEGEDLY ILLEGAL OPERATIONS OF THE ROSEMOOR MINING AND DEVELOPMENT CORP. IN THE BIAK NABATO MOUNTAINS IN SAN MIGUEL, BULACAN DESPITE THE OPPOSITION OF LOCAL AND PROVINCIAL OFFICIALS AND THE PEOPLE WHEREAS, on November 16, 1937, then President Manuel Quezon issued Proclamation No. 223 which declared parts of BiaknaBato as national park. The park covered 2,117 hectares covering the villages of Kalawakan and Talbak in Doña Remedios Trinidad town and the villages of BiaknaBato and Sibul in San Miguel; WHEREAS, on April 11, 1989, then President Corazon Aquino issued Proclamation No. 401 which redefined the boundaries of the BiaknaBato National Park. The proclamation set aside 952 hectares as mineral reservation, 938 hectares as watershed reservation, and 480 hectares as forest reserve; WHEREAS, on January 13, 2009 then Bulacan Gov. Joselito “Jonjon” Mendoza assailed the Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR) for allowing the transport of marble ore from the Biak naBato mountains despite an appeal from the provincial government to stop it; WHEREAS, Gov. Mendoza said that acting director Danilo Uykieng of the DENR Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Central Luzon issued an ore transport permit (OTP) to the Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. (RMDC) on Dec. 23, 2008; WHEREAS, Uykieng said his office issued the OTP based on an order from then Environment Secretary Lito Atienza lifting the suspension of RMDC’s operations in July 2008;
WHEREAS, the permit was issued despite the Bulacan government’s official appeal dated September 2008 to Secretary Atienza to again suspend the mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) granted to RMDC; WHEREAS, in July 2006, former Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes suspended the MPSA and the operations of RMDC in its 330hectare mining and quarry sites at the BiaknaBato National Park’s mineral reservation area pending the firm’s compliance with DENR directives. The provincial board also passed a resolution canceling the MPSA that granted RMDC 25 years to operate in the BiaknaBato mountains; WHEREAS, in October 2007, personnel from the DENR in Bulacan, MGB regional office, the police, environmental groups and provincial and local officials inspected the RMDC mining site and found several violations, including the lack of public consultation and lack of approval or endorsement from the barangay and town councils and the provincial board for its operations; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Committee on Natural Resources investigate, in aid of legislation, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) approval of the allegedly illegal operations of the Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. in the BiaknaBato Mountains in San Miguel, Bulacan despite the opposition of local and provincial officials and the people. Adopted,
TEDDY A. CASIÑO Bayan Muna PartyList
NERI JAVIER COLMENARES LUZVIMINDA C. ILAGAN Bayan Muna Partylist
Gabriela Women’s Party