Myra Lapitan, owner of Jomara Group of Companies. | CDN Digital photo / Futch Anthony Inso
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu—A businesswoman said she filed a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against Minglanilla officials led by Mayor Rajiv Enad.
Myra Lapitan, owner of Jomara Group of Companies, did not elaborate on her complaint, but she said that it had something to do with the passage of a municipal resolution urging the Cebu Provincial Government to no longer renew their quarry and earthmoving permits.
The Capitol, she said, issues quarry and earthmoving permits every three months. In the absence of these permits, they won’t be able to operate their business.
READ: Capitol sends out inspection teams to check on quarry sites
Jomara Group of Companies is engaged in mining, quarry, and waste disposal activities.
Lapitan alleged that the LGU’s action was politically motivated. Her daughter, Jyra, is seeking election for town councilor in the 2025 midterm elections.
In 2022, a relative, Engineer Francis Gerard “Jigger” Selma Cañedo, also run for mayor against Enad but lost his bid.
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“Didto gyud nagsugod og kaaslom among relasyon,” Lapitan said during a press conference that she called at their Minglanilla office on Sunday, October 27.
Enad is yet to comment on Lapitan’s claims.
Quarry, earthmoving permits
The Minglanilla Municipal Council passed last April 16 a resolution urging the Capitol to no longer issue quarry and earthmoving permits to Jomara after the company allegedly failed to implement the recommendations of the Environmental Management Bureau in Central Visayas (EMB-7).
In addition, one of their trucks was apprehended for the violation of the truck ban.
Earlier, EMB-7 issued a cease and desist order (CDO) with a recommendation for Jomara to rehabilitate a portion of the river in Brgy. Guindarohan, where they quarry, after cracks were found on the soil.
Lapitan has denied the claims of the municipal government that EMB-7 made a recommendation to relocate the 23 families who live nearby, which they allegedly failed to do. She said EMB-7 only told them to rehabilitate the quarry site.
She also clarified that their quarry operations did not cause the cracks that were discovered in December 2021, shortly before Super Typhoon Odette devastated Cebu.
After their receipt of the CDO, Lapitan said that they immediate coordinated with concerned government agencies to address the concerns raised by EMB-7.
Rehabilitation plan
In July 2022, EMB-7 lifted the CDO following the implementation of their rehabilitation plan and after they extended assistance to the affected individuals.
“Ang barangay through a resolution dated July 19, 2022, walay objection ug nagtugot na sila sa Jomara nga motrabaho ug nabutang sa resolusyon nga kinahanglan ng gyud ang implementasyon (sa rehabilitation plan),” Lapitan said.
Lapitan said that the passage of the municipal resolution in April came as a surprise since they already complied with the recommendations mentioned by EMB-7.
She also claimed that they tried to seek an audience with the municipal government and the Capitol, with hopes that they will be able to also address the LGU’s concerns. But the letters and text messages that they sent were not answered.