Extraction of sand and gravel in Toledo City’s Sapangdaku River even without valid quarrying permits. In this May 2012 photo, heavy equipment operate in the river in the guise of rechanneling. (CDN FILE PHOTO)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — More stringent requirements and higher fees await applicant of quarry permits in Cebu province.
Among the documents needed in the initial stage of the permit application are a six-month banking statement of the applicant, list of trucks that will be used in their operation and transport of quarry materials, and an updated work plan designed by a mining engineer or a civil engineer.
Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) chief Rodel Bontuyan said the requirement on the applicant’s banking statement is intended to make sure that the applicant is not a dummy of another person.
Bontuyan added that the applicant needs to submit the list of all the trucks that it will use in its operation and the transport of quarry materials in order to provide a mechanism for the province to trace the amount of materials that an operator has hauled from his/her permit site.
Bontuyan also said that Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has asked the Provincial Board to pass a legislation lifting the cap on the load limit of the trucks that haul quarry materials from the sites.
At present, the provincial government limits each truck to carry a maximum of 12 cubic meters of quarry materials.
“With the trucks that are being used now, some have an actual capacity of 18 to 20 cubic meters but because of the load limit, they only indicate in their delivery receipts that they are carrying 12 cubic meters of extracted materials,” said Bontuyan.
Declaring less than the actual volume of materials that they carry means that the permittees are not paying the province the rightful dues.
The province has been collecting P20 per cubic meter of extracted materials since 2008.
In a meeting with quarry permitees on Tuesday afternoon, September 24, Bontuyan said the permittees were informed that the province will also be imposing a new schedule of payments for the extracted materials.
Based the consumer price index of 2019 against that of 2008 when the Revenue Code of Cebu was passed, Bontuyan said the collection per cubic meter was expected to rise by 224 percent or to P48.80 per cubic meter from the present P20 per cubic meter.
Read more: Gwen orders halt on all small-scale quarry operations in Cebu
Apart from the documentary requirements, applicant permittees will also need to submit an updated work plan that is prepared by a mining engineer for quarry operations or at least a civil engineer for sand and gravel extraction.
Bontuyan said the permittees were already told to comply with these requirements before they will be allowed to resume operations.
Capitol hoisted a temporary suspension of all quarry operations in the province last July pending the review of all permits granted by Penro./elb