CDN Photo by Junjie Mendoza
The Apo Land and Quarry Corporation (ALQC) stood firm that they have not started any quarrying activities in Barangay Tinaan, City of Naga.
The corporation made this clarification amid allegations that the quarry operations in Sitio Tagaytay caused the massive landslide in adjoining Sitio Sindulan.
Chito Maniago, a representative of ALQC, said the only activity that they have undertaken in the area was road access development.
Maniago said the resident may have mistaken their activities as quarrying since they have also used heavy equipment.
Following the landslide yesterday, Naga City Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong has already issued a cease and desist order (CDO), prohibiting quarry operations in the area.
Chiong has also requested the Sangguniang Panlungsod to place the whole City of Naga under a state of calamity.
Barangays Tinaan, Naalad, Mainit, Cabungahan, and Pangdan were declared under state of calamity since Thursday (September 20).
Chiong has issued earlier a CDO on August 29 to stop the quarry activities after residents reported some cracks on the surface of the mountain near the quarry site.
But the order was lifted after the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Central Visayas (MGB-7) issued a clearance for the activities to resume.
The MGB-7 found that”the fissures were not caused by the quarry and do not pose an imminent danger to the neighboring community.”