Nueva Ecija Governor Czarina “Cherry” Umali is asking the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to clarify the powers vested upon local officials in issuing quarry permits.
In a letter addressed to Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu dated August 13, Umali wants Cimatu to settle once and for all the issue of jurisdiction over the issuance of quarry permit operation in the province.
According to Umali, as far as the law is concerned, the provincial government has the sole authority to issue a quarry permit.
“… this supposed undertaking is a manifest disregard of the jurisdiction and authority of the Provincial Government of Nueva Ecija over its territory. This we find offending, especially in the light of the issues and accusations involving quarry operations. With the special participation of the City Government of Cabanatuan, kept totally from the provincial government, after the conclusion of the congressional inquiry and pending release of the committee report is therefore highly suspect,” the letter read.
Umali said the provincial government of Nueva Ecija uncovered a memorandum of agreement entered into by the Cabanatuan City mayor with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Environment Management Bureau, Mines and Geosciences Bureau and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Region 3.
Under the arrangement, the city government would take control of the assessment of the water system, while the DENR and DPWH, along with the city government, shall have a collective power to supervise the dredging and desilting plan in the province’s district 3.
Because of the MOA, Umali lamented, the city mayor has the power to control the quarry operation in choosing the qualified haulers.
Umali, in a news statement after she submitted her letter to the DENR, expressed fears that their political rival is exerting efforts to fast track a report of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability holding her liable for alleged anomalous quarry operations since October 15, 2017.
She said they received reliable information that their political rival in the House of Representatives is pulling strings to influence a committee report that will blame on the provincial government officials, including her husband, ex-governor Aurelio “Oyie” Umali, the alleged irregularities in quarry operations.
Umali was alluding to the alleged “intrusion” of Nueva Ecija district 3 Rep. Rosanna Vergara in the ongoing committee hearings in the lower chamber.
In a privilege speech, the district 3 lawmaker blamed the Umalis for the poor revenue collections from quarrying operations against the high tax collections of quarrying operations in Pampanga.
But Umali clarified that Nueva Ecija is not competing with Pampanga since the latter is quarrying lahar with silica content in demand by different industries and washed sand.
In Nueva Ecija, she said quarrying involves quarrying of gravel and sand
Pampanga’s quarrying materials are widely used in Nueva Ecija and also reach other areas, including at some extent exports, unlike the quarry materials produced in Nueva Ecija, which cater to the small demand of the construction sector in the province.
She insisted it was wrong for Vergara to base her computation of the collected revenues on the commercial price of gravel and sand, and not on the fair market value “as extracted on site.”
Umali said the commercial price must not be the basis since other costs have been passed on, while raw materials do not entail added costing.