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Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Padilla welcomes DENR cease order on mining


Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya (September 20, 2018) – As the death toll of super typhoon Ompong rise in the neighboring Benguet province, Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Carlos Padilla was jubilant when DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu swiftly issued an order to check mining operations in the Cordillera Administrative Region.

“The order of DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu to stop small-scale mining operations in the Cordilleras in the wake of a tragedy brought by Typhoon Ompong is a timely move,” Gov. Carlos Padilla said.

On Monday, Cimatu told a press conference in Benguet, “I officially ordered cease and desist of illegal small-scale mining operations in the whole of Cordillera Administrative Region.”

The situation of Nueva Vizcaya and Benguet is very similar as both provinces have identified many geo-hazard prone areas due to their mountainous topography.

“Aside from sharing a common border and similar terrain, we have our share of Typhoon Ompong casualties in Kayapa, and I am worried that if mining will continue to endanger our fragile mountains, we would either suffer sudden death in times of disasters or die from hunger for either loss or contamination of water,” Padilla said.  

“We, therefore, appeal to Secretary Cimatu to include Nueva Vizcaya in the coverage of the order to suspend mining activities including the multinationals operating in Didipio and Runruno,” Padilla added. 
In a related development, a multi-sectoral inter-agency “Water Summit” was set on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018 at the Nueva Vizcaya Convention Center here. Approximately 500 participants were invited to help craft a “2018 Nueva Vizcaya Declaration on Water.”

Dr. William Dar, former agriculture secretary and ICRISAT Director General for 14 years, will give a keynote message during the water summit. ICRISAT stands for International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.

“We need to act fast and be categorical in our policy, and in this case, the choice is whether to mine or not,” Padilla said. (By Caryl Mae T. Pillora)

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